The conclusion: “Group brainstorming, over a wide range of group sizes, inhibits rather than facilitates creative thinking.” The groups produced fewer and worse results because they were more likely to get fixated on one idea and because, despite all exhortations to the contrary, some members felt inhibited and refrained from full participation.

　　得出的结论是：“团队进行头脑风暴，在一个大规模的团队里，只会抑制而不是促进创造性思维的产生。”团队合作所产生的点子之所以相对少和不足的原因在于，团队人员更倾向于妥协某一固定的想法，以及，因为团队里的特有的训导，让某些员工无法全心投入地轻松表达自己的想法。

　　Another assumption of brainstorming is that suspending judgment is better than assessing ideas as they appear.

　　另外一个关于头脑风暴的假设就是，对点子的延迟评判比即时评估来得有效。

　　Researchers in Indiana tested this by asking groups of students to think of brand names for three different products.

　　印第安纳州的研究者们测试了这个假设：询问多组学生对三种不一样商品品牌名字的看法。

　　Half of the groups were told to refrain from criticism and half were told to criticize as they went along.

　　在这些组别中，有一半的学生被限制了对品牌的评判，而另外一半则要求在这过程中不停地做出自己的评判。

　　Once again, independent judges assessed the quality of each idea. The groups that did not stop to criticize produced more ideas, but both groups produced the same number of good ideas. Deferring criticism added only bad ideas. Subsequent studies have reinforced this.

　　再一次，中立的评估者评估每一个学生点子的质量。一直给出评判的小组能够想到更多的想法，不过两个测试小组都有相当数量的好点子。延迟判断只会增加糟糕的想法。后续的研究进一步验证了这个观点。

　　Research into brainstorming has a clear conclusion. The best way to create is to work alone and evaluate solutions as they occur. The worst way to create is to work in large groups and defer criticism.

　　关于头脑风暴的研究有一个明确的结论。最佳的工作方式就是独立工作并在提出解决方案的时候及时作出评估。而最糟糕的工作创造方式则是在规模大的团队里工作和延迟评判。

　　Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs’s cofounder at Apple and the inventor of its first computer, offers the same advice:

　　Steve Wozniak, 苹果公司的创始人之一及其首台电脑的发明者，提供了相一样的建议：

　　“Work alone. You’re going to be best able to design revolutionary products and features if you’re working on your own. Not on a committee. Not on a team.”

　　“独立工作。通过自行努力，你就能够设计出最具有革命性的产品和功能。这不是一个委员会能做到的，也不是一个团队能做到的。”

　　Brainstorming fails because it is an explicit rejection of ordinary thinking  —  all leaps and no steps  —  and because of its unstated assumption that having ideas is the same as creating. Partly as a result, almost everybody has the idea that ideas are important.

　　头脑风暴之所以不奏效原因是它明确拒绝常规思维——都是大跳跃没有小步伐——也因为它的不确定的假设：有想法如同创造。因此在某种程度上，几乎每个人都被困在了“点子很重要”的死胡同里。

　　According to novelist Stephen King, the question authors signing books get asked most often  —  and are least able to answer  —  is “Where do you get your ideas from?”

　　根据小说家Stephen King的说法，作者在为书本签名时最常被提问的问题，也是最难回答的问题就是：你的灵感来源是什么?

　　Ideas are like seeds: They are abundant, and most of them never grow into anything. Also, ideas are seldom original. Ask several independent groups to brainstorm on the same topic at the same time, and you will likely get many of the same ideas.

　　灵感就像是种子：它们是大量的，但大多数都无法长出点什么。再者，灵感是极少独创的。如果同时就同一话题让多个独立的小组进行头脑风暴，你会发现有很多同样的想法。

　　This is not a limitation of brainstorming; it is true of all creation. Because everything arises from steps, not leaps, most things are invented in several places simultaneously when different people walk the same path, each unaware of the others.

　　不仅仅是头脑风暴，所有事物都有这样的局限。因为万事的发展都是一步接一步，而非一步跳到另一步。许多发明也是在不同地方同时产生的，只因不同的人走了同一条道，而没有意识到别人也在做同样的事。

　　For example, four different people discovered sunspots independently in 1611; five people invented the steamboat between 1802 and 1807; six people conceived of the electric railroad between 1835 and 1850; and two people invented the silicon chip in 1957.

　　举个例子，有4个不同的人各自在1611年发现了太阳黑子;有5个人在1802年和1807年间发明了轮船;有6个人在1835年和1850年间构想了电气轨道;还有两个人在1957年发明了硅片。

　　When political scientists William Ogburn and Dorothy Thomas studied this phenomenon, they found 148 cases of big ideas coming to many people at the same time and concluded that their list would grow longer with more research.

　　当政治学家William Ogburn和Dorothy Thomoas研究这个现象的时候，他们发现那些意义非凡的想法当中，有148例同时出现在许多人的脑海里，并且他们认为随着研究深度的增加，这个名单会扩大。

　　Having ideas is not the same thing as being creative. Creation is execution, not inspiration. Many people have ideas; few take the steps to make the thing they imagine.

　　有想法不等同于具有创造力。创造是一种执行力，而不是激发力。许多人都有想法，但是很少人能够花一点功夫在这些想法上。

　　更多精彩内容 >> 新东方网英语频道 

　　全国新东方英语课程搜索

（责任编辑：何莹莹）