????類推創(chuàng)新

????從泡在浴缸里的阿基米德到乘電梯考慮相對論的愛因斯坦，但凡偉大的創(chuàng)新者都會用類推解決復(fù)雜的問題。為幫助解決挑戰(zhàn)，我們運用類推方式，將自認(rèn)為了解的某領(lǐng)域（來源）信息轉(zhuǎn)移到某陌生的領(lǐng)域（目標(biāo)）。例如真空吸塵器，這款機器的設(shè)計將近一個世紀(jì)都沒有變動過。它的發(fā)明者詹姆斯?戴森當(dāng)年類推了自然界里旋風(fēng)的方式，通過一臺離心分離機的旋轉(zhuǎn)力分離顆粒物。

????類推可用于顛覆慣性思維，以便為新的創(chuàng)意開路。同樣地，借助類推，我們可以用已知的事物模擬未知事物，從而幫助我們利用自己的體驗，這樣的類推過程反過來也能奏效。這就是說，我們可以根據(jù)自認(rèn)為了解的事物類推、創(chuàng)造未知事物。藝術(shù)家將這一過程稱為“變熟為生”（defamilarization）。法國小說家阿爾貝?加繆就常以家蠅的角度講述自己的故事。假設(shè)你已經(jīng)完成了戰(zhàn)略開發(fā)過程，不妨換個角度，不要站在股東或者客戶的角度看待，而是從你孩子的角度考慮這一開發(fā)過程看起來會是什么樣。

????敘事創(chuàng)新

????你有沒有聽說過孩子需要努力學(xué)習(xí)把故事講清楚？或許你有個好朋友講什么精彩的笑話總是讓人聽不明白到底哪里好笑。這兩類例子都說明，要連貫一致、言之有物地講述一個故事，同時吸引聽眾是一件多么不容易的事情。

????故事集合角色、行為、情節(jié)、描述和語法于一身的綜合體。最重要的是，它有一種敘述的語氣，那是我們的聲音，是真實的或者擬人化的口氣。我們說故事的方式既可以讓最平淡的軼事生動有趣，也可以讓最煽情的傳說沉悶乏味。

????記敘文是按順序組織的一個故事，這種文體其實就是講述故事的方式。為了形成不同的版本，或是創(chuàng)造新的綜合體，可以把故事解構(gòu)，然后重新組織合成。比如Dos Equis牌啤酒。上世紀(jì)70年代，許多美國人要等到上大學(xué)才能第一次品嘗到這個牌子的啤酒。在美國加州或者墨西哥州，每逢寒假，大家聚會時都會一起喝這種酒。但它算不上什么高端的品牌。后來，從1900年起經(jīng)營啤酒生意的酒廠Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery推出了一則“全球最有趣男士”的廣告，改變了這個品牌的故事。廣告的主人公是007特工詹姆斯?邦德和美國文學(xué)家歐內(nèi)斯特?海明威的合體，廣告以時間順序回放了主人公英勇無畏的舉動，顯示了他堪稱男子漢的種種成就。通過改變敘事體，Dos Equis牌啤酒雖然身處日漸萎縮的市場，卻迎來了爆炸式的增長。

????直覺創(chuàng)新

????到了這種層次，創(chuàng)新的規(guī)模會變得更大，可能會超出我們的能力范疇。直覺就是接收了多少創(chuàng)意就能進(jìn)行多少創(chuàng)新。許多方法可以讓思維突破束縛，清除老舊的思想，如冥想、瑜伽和誦經(jīng)。這些方法的基本目的是要分散注意力，讓精神松弛下來，創(chuàng)造一種意識流的狀態(tài)，讓創(chuàng)意能來去自如。信徒們一般會拜在公認(rèn)的宗師門下，常常修習(xí)數(shù)年以求掌握這些思維技巧。

????首位榮獲諾貝爾文學(xué)獎的亞洲文學(xué)大師拉賓德拉納特?泰戈爾專為提高個人的創(chuàng)新能力開發(fā)了一些練習(xí)冥想的方法。開創(chuàng)華德福（Waldorf）教育體系的魯?shù)婪?斯坦納也設(shè)計過一些冥想法。直覺創(chuàng)意的方式數(shù)不勝數(shù)，實在難以一一例舉。它們范圍很廣，既包括自動寫作，也包括服用影響正常思維的藥物（當(dāng)然，我們并不推薦這種方法）。

????也許你無法成為莎士比亞、倫勃朗和達(dá)芬奇那樣的一代文壇或畫壇巨匠，但你可以始終為提高自身的創(chuàng)造力而努力。所有這些方式都沒有超出大家的能力范圍，只不過必須不斷嘗試新鮮事物。請記住，創(chuàng)新的一生就意味著生命不息、攀登不止。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????杰夫?德拉格夫是教授、作家、演說家及數(shù)百家機構(gòu)的顧問。了解杰夫的最新動向可關(guān)注他的twitter賬號 www.twitter.com/JeffDeGraff。

????Analogical Creativity

????Great innovators, from Archimedes in his bathtub to Einstein riding his elevator of relativity, have used analogies to solve complex problems. We use analogies to transfer information that we believe we understand in one domain (the source) to help resolve a challenge in an unfamiliar area (the target). For example, vacuum cleaner design was largely unchanged for nearly a century when inventor James Dyson used a different analogue -- cyclones -- to separate particles through the spinning force of a centrifuge.

????Analogies can be used to disrupt habitual thinking to make way for new ideas. In the same way that an analogy helps us make sense of our experiences by assimilating what we don't know into what we do know, the process also works in reverse. That is, we can take something we believe we know and use an analogy to make it unknown. Artists call this defamilarization. Albert Camus frequently narrated his stories from the point of view of a housefly. Consider what your strategy development process would look like if it were done from the point of view of your children instead of your shareholders or customers.

????Narrative Creativity

????Have you ever heard a child try to get a story straight? Or maybe you have a dear friend who always blows the punch line of a good joke. Both are examples of how hard it is to tell a coherent, meaningful and compelling tale.

????Stories are a complex mash up of characters, actions, plots, description, and grammar. Most importantly, they have a narrative voice -- our voice -- authentic or personified. How we tell the tale can either energize the most mundane anecdote or dampen even the most rousing spellbinder.

????Narrative is a story communicated in sequence. It is how the tale is told. Stories can be readily deconstructed and reconstructed to make different versions or new concoctions. For example, many American's first drank Dos Equis beer in the 1970s during their college years while on winter break in California or Mexico. It wasn't exactly a premium brand. Then the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, which had been in business since 1900, changed the story of the product with an advertising campaign about "The Most Interesting Man in the World." This character was a combination of James Bond and Ernest Hemmingway and the commercials chronicled his manly feats of derring-do. By changing the narrative, Dos Equis experienced explosive growth in a shrinking market.

????Intuitive Creativity

????This is where creativity becomes bigger and possibly beyond us. Intuition is about receiving ideas as much as generating them. There are several methods for freeing and emptying the mind -- meditation, yoga, and chanting to name a few. The basic idea is to distract and relax the mind to create a flow state of consciousness where ideas come easily. Disciples are typically apprenticed by acknowledged gurus and often take years to master these techniques.

????Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate, developed some meditative practices specifically to enhance personal creativity, as did Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the Waldorf education system. The approaches to intuitive creativity are too numerous to chronicle here. They range from autonomic writing to taking mind altering drugs (not recommended).

????You may not be a Shakespeare, Rembrandt, or Leonardo, but you can always work to increase your own creative capacity. All of these approaches are within your power -- you just have to keep trying new things. Remember, a creative life means you make it up as you go along.