畢加索與愛因斯坦教給創業者的寶貴經驗

Creativity isn’t some esoteric quality that only the Bob Marleys and Salvador Dalís of the world possess — it’s a learnable, trainable skill that can be honed into a process. Once you have the process down, you can use it to solve problems in innovative, interesting ways that make others look at your work and say, “Hey, that’s neat. Why didn’t I think of that?”

創造力並不是一種深奧的技能，並非只有鮑勃o馬利和薩爾瓦多o達利這樣的天才才能擁有——它是一種通過磨練便可以學會和掌握的技能。經過磨練，你便可以用創新有趣的方式解決問題，當其他人看到你的作品時會驚呼：“哇，真是巧妙。我爲什麼就沒想到呢？”

Creativity is your power tool regardless of whether the problem you’re solving is a musical scale, a business plan, a painting on canvas or a line of code. Let’s look at how three of history’s most creative geniuses used their gifts to change the world — and how you can adapt their tools to do the same.

不論你要解決的問題涉及音階、商業計劃、油畫還是程序代碼，創造力都是強大的工具。下面我們來看看三位世界歷史上最有創造力的天才如何利用他們的天賦改變世界——以及你如何藉助他們的工具做出同樣了不起的成就。

Pablo Picasso: Work backwards.

畢加索：逆向創作

To many beginning entrepreneurs and artists, nothing is more daunting than the blank slate.

對於許多剛剛起步的創業者與藝術家們來說，最令人氣餒的事情莫過於腦中一片空白。

“What type of business should I start?” (Try one of these ideas)

“我應該創建什麼類型的公司？”

“Is my idea any good?”

“我的想法好嗎？”

Nagging questions like these haunt us, and sometimes make throwing in the towel before we even begin. Coming up with good ideas is so freaking hard. Picasso knew this, so he devised a strategy to work around creative blocks. It’s pretty simple. He said:

這些令人煩惱的問題會一直困擾我們，有時候讓我們還沒有開始便選擇放棄。想出好的創意並非易事。畢加索很清楚創作的艱難，所以他選擇了一種繞過創作障礙的策略。這種策略非常簡單。他說道：

“I don’t have a clue. Ideas are simply starting points. I can rarely set them down as they come to my mind. As soon as I start to work, others well up in my pen. To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing… When I find myself facing a blank page, that’s always going through my head. What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.”

“我毫無頭緒。想法只是起點。我幾乎很難在腦海中產生想法的時候便將它們記錄下來。在開始創作的時候，我的畫筆之下又會誕生新的想法。要想知道你要畫什麼，首先你應該開始畫……每當我的大腦一片空白時，我總會這樣提醒自己。我覺得，在忘我狀態下捕捉到的靈感，比最初的想法更爲有趣。”

For Picasso, the key was getting started before he knew exactly what he was doing. Doing the work IN SPITE of yourself (a concept we’ve talked about before in The 70% Solution).

畢加索創作的關鍵，是在並不知道自己具體應該做什麼之前便行動起來。忘我地進行創作。

Inspiration then, comes not from the original idea — but from what happens when you allow yourself to start working without restriction or fear of “messing up.” In order to find a great idea, you have to start backwards: First start working.

若你能讓自己打破約束或克服對“陷入困境”的恐懼，行動起來，你便可以獲得靈感。靈感並非源自最初的想法，而是源於行動的過程。爲了找到了不起的創意，你必須逆向思考：首先要行動起來。

Then, let your work lead you to your highest creativity. Remember, the root of “creativity” is “create.” So start making something.

然後，通過努力達到最高的創造力水平。記住，“創造力”的根源是“創造”。所以，先來進行一些創造吧。

Stephen King: Set daily quotas for yourself.

史蒂芬o金：爲自己設定每天的工作定額。

Stephen King is one of the most prolific writers of our generation, having written 55 novels (49 of which became bestsellers), hundreds of short stories and half-a-dozen nonfiction books. Oh…and he’s also pulling in about $40 million per year, which makes him one of the wealthiest writers in the world. So there’s that…. The guy knows how to GET IT DONE! But how does he unleash the creative beast so consistently, and with such high quality? His answer shouldn’t surprise you:

史蒂芬o金是當代最多產的作家之一，他寫了55部長篇小說（其中有49本爲暢銷書），數百篇短篇小說，以及6本非虛構類圖書。他的年收入達到4000萬美元，是全世界收入最高的作家之一。所以，他很清楚如何完成創作！但是，他如何做到始終如一地釋放自己的創意，並保證作品的高質量呢？他的回答應該不會讓你感到意外：

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

“若想成爲作家，你必須做好兩件事：多讀書，多寫作。我認爲，除此之外，別無他法，沒有任何捷徑可走。”

You might be wondering how much qualifies as “a lot.”

你或許會質疑多少纔算“多”。

According to King, he writes about 10 pages a day — which equates to about 2,000 words, seven-days a week, every week. Even holidays. Do you think this type dedication and consistency sounds crazy? Consider the fact that creating a daily quota and sticking to it is one of the most powerful habits you can ever create.

史蒂芬o金表示，他堅持每天寫10頁——相當於2000個單詞。節假日也不例外。你認爲這種敬業和持之以恆的精神聽起來有些瘋狂？不妨考慮一下這個事實：制定每天的工作定額並堅持執行下去，是你可以養成的最強大的習慣之一。

Just imagine what your life would be like if you took that “hobby” and finally became serious. Learned that language. Started that business. Wrote that book. What would happen if you worked on it for 365 days without stopping? You’d have incredible results. You might be the next Stephen King of your field. Start with a small quota for yourself and work on your craft every day.

想象一下，如果你養成了這樣的習慣，並最終能夠嚴肅對待它，你的生活會變成什麼樣？學習一種語言。創辦一家公司。寫一本書。如果你一年365天從不停歇地努力，又會發生什麼？你會取得驚人的成果。你或許也會成爲你所在領域的下一個史蒂芬o金。從小做起，每天堅持磨練自己的技藝。

Albert Einstein: Engage in “combinatory play.”

愛因斯坦：投入“組合遊戲”

Yes, yes. Einstein was history’s most famous physicist, but he was also an amateur violinist and pianist. He often incorporated ideas from his musical background into his physics work to help he deal with challenging problems.

愛因斯坦是史上最有名的物理學家，也是一位業餘小提琴手和鋼琴師。他經常將從音樂中得到的創意用於物理學研究，幫助自己解決棘手的問題。

In order to break through plateaus in his work and see these problems from different angles, Einstein used his mind to “mash up” several different ideas and concepts and rearrange them at will — a process which he called “combinatory play”.

爲了突破工作瓶頸，能夠從不同角度思考問題，愛因斯坦腦子裏會把不同的想法與理念“攪成一團”，然後隨意地重新進行排列組合——他將這個過程稱爲“組合遊戲”。

While it may seem a little “out there” for some, Einstein’s approach is actually pretty simple: strip down your ideas to their most basic components — without words. Next, use those visualizations as puzzle pieces and test different arrangements and orientations to see which pieces fit together. Combine seemingly disparate elements and look for new patterns. Play.

愛因斯坦的方法聽起來有點怪，但實際上非常簡單：將你的創意抽絲剝繭，抓住最基本的內容——不需要文字。之後，就像拼圖一樣，測試不同的安排與方向，檢驗可以合在一起的創意。將表面上看起來毫不相干的元素結合在一起，尋找新的模式。你也可以這麼玩。

Learn to break the rules.

學會打破規則。

If you take the time to study more of the world’s greatest thinkers, you’ll see over and over again that they don’t adhere to conventional wisdom about what’s “supposed” to work.

如果你能拿出時間向世界上最偉大的思想家們學習，你會發現，許多人並沒有遵守那些“理應”有效的傳統智慧。

Everybody’s creative process is different — but just like these three geniuses, you can find something that works for you. Then you’ll be unstoppable!

每個人的創造過程千差萬別。但如同上述三位天才一樣，你肯定也能找到適合自己的方式。然後，你將所向披靡！