科技互联网中级07:23团队协作

Build a Tower, Build a Team

搭一座塔,建一支团队

设计思维专家汤姆·伍耶克借风靡全球的「棉花糖挑战」揭示团队协作的本质:为什么幼儿园孩子能胜过商学院毕业生?为什么原型迭代是成功的关键?为什么高额奖金反而让团队全军覆没?这场演讲是学习产品开发与团队管理地道表达的绝佳材料。

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台词(52 句)

00:15

Several years ago here at TED, Peter Skillman introduced a design challenge called the marshmallow challenge.

几年前,就在 TED 的讲台上,彼得·斯基尔曼介绍了一项名为「棉花糖挑战」的设计挑战。

00:22

And the idea's pretty simple: Teams of four have to build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow.

规则很简单:四人一组,用 20 根意大利面条、一码胶带、一码绳子和一颗棉花糖,搭出最高的独立结构。

00:32

The marshmallow has to be on top. And, though it seems really simple, it's actually pretty hard because it forces people to collaborate very quickly.

棉花糖必须放在顶端。这听起来非常简单,做起来却相当难,因为它逼着人们在极短时间内展开协作。

00:41

And so, I thought this was an interesting idea, and I incorporated it into a design workshop.

我觉得这个点子很有意思,就把它纳入了自己的设计工作坊。

00:46

And it was a huge success. And since then, I've conducted about 70 design workshops across the world with students and designers and architects, even the CTOs of the Fortune 50, and there's something about this exercise that reveals very deep lessons

结果大获成功。从那以后,我在世界各地办了大约 70 场设计工作坊,参与者有学生、设计师、建筑师,甚至还有财富 50 强企业的首席技术官。这个练习总能揭示出一些非常深刻的道理,

01:01

about the nature of collaboration, and I'd like to share some of them with you. So, normally, most people begin by orienting themselves to the task.

关于协作本质的道理,今天我想和大家分享其中几条。通常,大多数人一上来都会先熟悉任务:

01:11

They talk about it, they figure out what it's going to look like, they jockey for power.

他们讨论一番,构想成品的样子,还要争夺主导权。

01:16

Then they spend some time planning, organizing, they sketch and they lay out spaghetti.

接着他们花些时间计划、组织,画草图、摆面条。

01:21

They spend the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures.

他们把大部分时间都花在把面条一根根拼成越搭越高的结构上。

01:25

And then finally, just as they're running out of time, someone takes out the marshmallow, and then they gingerly put it on top, and then they stand back, and -- ta-da! -- they admire their work.

最后,眼看时间快用完了,才有人拿出棉花糖,小心翼翼地放到顶端,然后大家退后一步——「哒哒!」——欣赏自己的杰作。

01:39

But what really happens, most of the time, is that the "ta-da" turns into an "uh-oh," because the weight of the marshmallow causes the entire structure to buckle and to collapse.

但大多数时候实际发生的是,「哒哒」变成了「哦豁」,因为棉花糖的重量会让整个结构弯折、坍塌。

01:49

So there are a number of people who have a lot more "uh-oh" moments than others, and among the worst are recent graduates of business school.

有些团队的「哦豁」时刻明显比别人多,其中表现最差的,是商学院的应届毕业生。

01:59

They lie, they cheat, they get distracted and they produce really lame structures.

他们撒谎、耍赖、分心,搭出来的结构实在拿不出手。

02:04

And of course there are teams that have a lot more "ta-da" structures, and among the best are recent graduates of kindergarten.

当然,也有些团队能搭出更多「哒哒」级的作品,其中表现最好的,是幼儿园的「应届毕业生」。

02:13

And it's pretty amazing. As Peter tells us, not only do they produce the tallest structures, but they're the most interesting structures of them all.

这相当令人惊讶。正如彼得所说,他们不仅搭得最高,而且造型也是所有作品里最有趣的。

02:22

So the question you want to ask is: How come? Why? What is it about them? And Peter likes to say that none of the kids spend any time trying to be CEO of Spaghetti, Inc. Right?

你肯定想问:凭什么?为什么?他们有什么特别的?彼得爱说:没有一个孩子会浪费时间去争当「意面公司」的 CEO,对吧?

02:33

They don't spend time jockeying for power. But there's another reason as well. And the reason is that business students are trained to find the single right plan, right?

他们不会把时间花在争权夺位上。但还有另一个原因:商科学生受的训练,是找出那个唯一正确的方案,

02:42

And then they execute on it. And then what happens is, when they put the marshmallow on the top, they run out of time and what happens?

然后照着执行。结果呢,等他们把棉花糖放上去时,时间已经耗尽——接下来会怎样?

02:48

It's a crisis. Sound familiar? Right.

危机爆发。听着耳熟吗?没错。

02:53

What kindergarteners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow, and they build prototypes, successive prototypes, always keeping the marshmallow on top, so they have multiple times to fix when they build prototypes along the way.

幼儿园孩子的做法不一样:他们从棉花糖入手,不断搭建原型,一个接一个,始终把棉花糖放在顶上。这样一来,他们在过程中就有多次修正的机会。

03:06

Designers recognize this type of collaboration as the essence of the iterative process.

设计师们把这种协作方式视为迭代过程的精髓。

03:11

And with each version, kids get instant feedback about what works and what doesn't work.

每做一版,孩子们都能立刻得到反馈,知道哪些可行、哪些不可行。

03:15

So the capacity to play in prototype is really essential, but let's look at how different teams perform.

所以,能够「玩着做原型」的能力至关重要。不过,我们再来看看不同团队的表现。

03:22

So the average for most people is around 20 inches; business schools students, about half of that; lawyers, a little better, but not much better than that, kindergarteners, better than most adults.

大多数人的平均高度在 20 英寸左右;商学院学生大约只有一半;律师稍好一点,但也好不了多少;幼儿园孩子则超过了大多数成年人。

03:32

Who does the very best? Architects and engineers, thankfully.

谁的成绩最好?建筑师和工程师——谢天谢地。

03:42

Thirty-nine inches is the tallest structure I've seen. And why is it? Because they understand triangles and self-reinforcing geometrical patterns are the key to building stable structures.

我见过的最高结构是 39 英寸。为什么是他们?因为他们懂得,三角形和自我加固的几何结构,才是搭建稳定结构的关键。

03:54

So CEOs, a little bit better than average, but here's where it gets interesting.

CEO 们比平均水平略好,但接下来才是有意思的地方。

03:59

If you put an executive admin on the team, they get significantly better.

如果给团队里加进一位行政助理,成绩会显著提升。

04:05

It's incredible. You know, you look around, you go, "Oh, that team's going to win." You can just tell beforehand. And why is that? Because they have special skills of facilitation.

简直不可思议。你环顾四周就会说:「哦,那个队要赢。」你事先就能看出来。为什么?因为他们拥有特殊的引导协调技能。

04:13

They manage the process, they understand the process. And any team who manages and pays close attention to work will significantly improve the team's performance.

他们管理流程、理解流程。任何一个善于管理流程、密切关注工作进展的团队,表现都会显著提升。

04:25

Specialized skills and facilitation skills are the combination that leads to strong success.

专业技能加上引导技能,正是通往成功的组合。

04:31

If you have 10 teams that typically perform, you'll get maybe six or so that have standing structures. And I tried something interesting.

如果有 10 支正常发挥的团队,大概会有 6 支左右能搭出立得住的结构。后来我试了件有意思的事。

04:36

I thought, let's up the ante, once. So I offered a 10,000 dollar prize of software to the winning team.

我想,来加一次筹码吧。于是我给获胜团队开出了价值一万美元的软件大奖。

04:42

So what do you think happened to these design students? What was the result?

你们猜,这些设计专业的学生表现如何?结果怎样?

04:48

Here's what happened: Not one team had a standing structure.

结果是:没有一支队伍搭出立得住的结构。

04:54

If anyone had built, say, a one inch structure, they would have taken home the prize.

哪怕有人搭出一英寸高的结构,都能把大奖抱回家。

04:59

So, isn't that interesting? That high stakes have a strong impact. We did the exercise again with the same students.

有意思吧?高风险、高赌注会带来强烈的冲击。后来我们让同一批学生再做了一次这个练习。

05:06

What do you think happened then? So now they understand the value of prototyping.

你们猜这次怎么样?这时他们已经懂得了原型的价值。

05:12

So the same team went from being the very worst to being among the very best. They produced the tallest structures in the least amount of time.

于是同一支团队从倒数第一跃升到名列前茅,用最短的时间搭出了最高的结构。

05:20

So there's deep lessons for us about the nature of incentives and success.

这里蕴含着关于激励与成功本质的深刻教训。

05:25

So, you might ask: Why would anyone actually spend time writing a marshmallow challenge?

你可能会问:为什么会有人专门花时间研究棉花糖挑战?

05:30

And the reason is, I help create digital tools and processes to help teams build cars and video games and visual effects.

原因是,我的工作是打造数字化工具和流程,帮助团队开发汽车、电子游戏和视觉特效。

05:38

And what the marshmallow challenge does is it helps them identify the hidden assumptions.

而棉花糖挑战的作用,是帮他们识别那些隐藏的假设。

05:43

Because, frankly, every project has its own marshmallow, doesn't it?

因为说白了,每个项目都有它自己的「棉花糖」,不是吗?

05:48

The challenge provides a shared experience, a common language, a common stance to build the right prototype.

这项挑战提供了共同的体验、共同的语言、共同的立场,帮助大家搭建正确的原型。

05:55

And so, this is the value of the experience, of this so simple exercise. And those of you who are interested may want to go to MarshmallowChallenge.com.

这就是这个如此简单的练习所带来的价值。感兴趣的朋友可以访问 MarshmallowChallenge.com。

06:02

It's a blog that you can look at how to build the marshmallows. There's step-by-step instructions on this.

那是一个博客,教你如何开展棉花糖挑战,上面有一步一步的操作指南。

06:08

There are crazy examples from around the world of how people tweak and adjust the system.

还有世界各地玩家改造和调整规则的疯狂案例。

06:13

There's world records that are on this as well. And the fundamental lesson, I believe, is that design truly is a contact sport.

上面也记录着世界纪录。而我认为最根本的一课是:设计确实是一项「身体对抗性运动」。

06:21

It demands that we bring all of our senses to the task, and that we apply the very best of our thinking, our feeling and our doing to the challenge that we have at hand.

它要求我们调动全部感官投入任务,把最好的思考、感受和行动,都用在眼前的挑战上。

06:31

And sometimes, a little prototype of this experience is all that it takes to turn us from an "uh-oh" moment to a "ta-da" moment.

有时候,一次小小的原型体验,就足以让我们从「哦豁」时刻走向「哒哒」时刻。

06:38

And that can make a big difference. Thank you very much.

而这能带来巨大的改变。非常感谢。