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Harnessing the Power of Creativity 活用创意的力量

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Learn how to apply the principles used by the inventor of the light bulb  学一学如何运用电灯发明者爱迪生使用的原则

With more than 1,093 patents to his name, Thomas Alva Edison ranks as the archetypal inventor and innovator – a modern day Prometheus, the figure from Greek mythology whose wily intelligence allowed him to steal fire from the gods and harness it for mankind.

名下有超过一千零九十三项专利的爱迪生，是典型的发明家和创新者──宛如现代的普罗米修斯，这位希腊神话中的人物用计从众神国度智取盗火以供人类使用。

For Edison, who actually encouraged such lofty comparisons, the results of his creative “fire” are admired for their sheer volume and breadth: electric lighting, electric power, the phonograph, motion pictures, improvements to the telephone and telegraph, domestic cultivations of rubber, artificial cement and even wax paper.

至于爱迪生本人，其实可能会蛮鼓励大家拿他和伟大的希腊神话英雄相提并论，而他创意之「火」的成果，无论是在量或广度上，都令人赞叹不已：包括了电力照明、电力、留声机、电影、改良了电话和电报、在美国境内种植橡胶、人造水泥，甚至是蜡纸都包含在内。

In terms both reverential and candid, Edison on Innovation portrays a man at times mythical in his creative prowess but whose work often centered on creating reliable income streams and exploiting under-served markets with modest or incremental improvements. Ever the self-promoter, Edison deliberately blurred distinctions between minor innovations and major innovations, making itappear that everything he was working on represented a sophisticated breakthrough, and he rarely gave credit to any of his employees, experimenters, scientists and craftsmen.

《爱迪生看创意》（暂译）一书同时以虔敬和率直的笔触，来描绘出爱迪生这位创造力非凡、有时充满神话色彩的人物，但他在工作中却往往偏重于创造出稳定、源源不断的收入来源，而且恐怕还剥削了受到不当对待的市场，而他对这些市场所带来的改善只不过平平，或仅逐步缓慢的改善而已。永远都很懂得自我推销的爱迪生，会刻意模糊掉小幅创新和重大发明之间的区别，而使他从事的一切努力变为看似极其复杂的重大突破，而且他也鲜少把功劳归给旗下员工、实验人员、科学家和技工。

Still, there remains the question: Can we harness Edison’s creative genius and apply it to spark our own innovative thoughts and deeds in a focused and consistently productive way?

不过，问题在于：我们是不是能利用爱迪生的创意天才，并透过专注而持续具有建设性的方式，用来激发我们本身的创新思惟和行动呢？

Duplicating the process  复制爱迪生的创意过程

Author Alan Axelrod, who has penned numerous business and management books, answers that question with a resounding “Yes!” by reducing Edison’s creative process into 102 pithy lessons.

针对上述问题，商业和管理书籍著作等身的作者艾伦．爱克瑟罗德所给的答案是：如雷贯耳的「可以！」，而他的做法是把爱迪生的创意过程浓缩归纳为一百零二个简洁有力的宝贵功课。

“The truth is that most of us, most of the time, feel as remote and removed from creativity as we do from genius,” Axelrod writes. “What the example of Edison demonstrates is that creativity of the very highest order can indeed be made to happen, summoned up at will, and even reduced to a reliable working method and set of principles.”

「事实上，大多数人多半时间往往感觉创造力和我们之间遥不可及，就像我们和天才之间的距离一样遥远，」爱克瑟罗德写道，「爱迪生的例子却证明了，最顶尖的创意的确可以刻意引发出来，随传随到，甚至还可以简化成一套确实可靠的运作方式和一系列原则。

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Prometheus [prəˋmiθɪs] n.【希神】普罗米修斯

wily [ˋwaɪlɪ] adj. 诡计多端的; 使用计谋的

admire [ədˋmaɪr] v. 钦佩；欣赏[（+for）]

breadth [brɛdθ] n. 宽度；幅度

phonograph [ˋfonə͵græf] n.【美】留声机，唱机

cultivation [͵kʌltəˋveʃən] n. 栽培；养殖

reverential [͵rɛvəˋrɛnʃəl] adj. 虔诚的; 恭敬的

candid [ˋkændɪd] adj. 坦率的，直言的

mythical [ˋmɪθɪkəl] adj. 神话的；神话般的

prowess [ˋpraʊɪs] n. 非凡的能力；高超的本领

under-served [͵ʌndɚˋsɝvd] adj.【美】未受到政府足够关心的

credit [ˋkrɛdɪt] v. 功劳[U][（+for/to）]

spark [spɑrk] v. 发动；引发; 激励；鼓舞

resounding [rɪˋzaʊndɪŋ] adj. 响亮的

pithy [ˋpɪθɪ] adj. 简洁有力的；简练的

removed [rɪˋmuvd] adj. 远离的；分离的

order [ˋɔrdɚ] n. 状况；良好的状况

summon up 唤起; 使想起

summon [ˋsʌmən] v. 使出，唤起，鼓起（勇气），振作（精神）[（+up）]

at will 随意地, 任意地

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While his book is not a biography, Axelrod loads it with enough historical perspective to provide the proper context to each management lesson. Fortunately, he has abundant resources from which to draw, including Edison’s meticulous notes, extensive diaries and detailed memos he used to keep his assistants in the loop. To ensure the reader makes the appropriate connection, each segment ends with a key management message.

虽然爱克瑟罗德所写的《爱迪生看创意》一书并不是爱迪生的传记，但作者在书中穿插了大量历史背景，好为每个管理功课提供适当的来龙去脉以供参照左证。所幸，作者提供了丰富的资源让读者可藉以汲取灵感，包括了爱迪生巨细靡遗的笔记、无所不包的日记和议尽的备忘录，这些都是爱迪生用来让助手能随时掌握各项进度的方式。为了确保能正确引导读者，书中每节末后都会附上重要的管理讯息。

For instance, after a detailed explanation about Edison’s work on the carbon button transmitter used to improve the fidelity of telephone transmissions, Axelrod writes, “By thoroughly understanding the properties – the inherent potential – of whatever materials you work with (and this includes ideas and people as well as physical substances), you increase your chances of discovering new applications for all that you already possess or have access to.”

举例来说，爱克瑟罗德在书中详尽解释过爱迪生利用碳键传送器来改善电话传输的保真度之后，接着写道，「藉由彻底了解你手边可以运用的素材（这包括了点子、人及物质）的特性──也就是它们固有的潜质，你就有更高的机率可以运用手边现有或有权使用的一切事物来创造出新发明或应用。」

The success of failure  失败为成功之母

Just as Edison learned from his mistakes, Axelrod helps us learn from our own mistakes. One particularly intriguing episode involves the electric vote recorder that Edison tried to sell to local, state and federal legislative bodies with the idea of providing a quick and efficient way of recording votes. But Edison failed to do his homework. While the machines worked as promised, he discovered the legislative process thrives not on efficiency but on the extra time involved in the roll-call process that gave legislators time for marshaling the required votes.

正如爱迪生也是从错误中学习，爱克瑟罗德也协助我们从自己的错误中学习宝贵的功课。有个特别有趣的插曲，就是当年爱迪生试图把电动投票记录器推销给当地、州立和联邦立法机构，因为这个装置能迅速、有效率地记录票数。只不过，爱迪生没有先做好功课，因为虽然这款机器如预期般地运转自如，但爱迪生最后却发现，原来立法的过程并不是靠投票的效率，而主要是靠点名时额外多花的时间，因为立法者就可以趁这段空档来召集更多人手以便达到所需的票数。

From that moment on, Edison resolved to determine “the existence of a market and a need before embarking on any other invention,” Axelrod writes. “From him, that lesson was sufficient to turn momentary failure into lifelong success.”

打那时起，爱迪生就痛下决心，一定要先判定「市场和需求是否存在，才愿意着手展开其他发明，」爱克瑟罗德写道，「对他来说，那个宝贵的功课足以将暂时的挫败转化为终身的成就。」

Similarly, Axelrod portrays with admiration Edison’s relentless pursuit of the ideal filament material to use in his incandescent lamp. For Edison, any trial or any experiment that yielded data was a success, even if it did not produce the result that had been anticipated or hoped for.

同样地，爱克瑟罗德也以钦佩的笔触来描述爱迪生持续不懈地想为他发明的白炽灯找到理想的灯丝素材。在爱迪生眼中，任何尝试或实验只要能产生出数据信息，就可以视为成功，即使最后没能获得预期或期望的结果也没关系。

Axelrod also digs deeper into Edison’s philosophy on failure: “Only if the failure is the result of a careful process – the best thought and work we are capable of – can one reasonably assess the reason for the failure and thereby learn something of value.”

爱克瑟罗德也不忘深入探索爱迪生如何看待失败的哲学：「只要这失败的确是经过了审慎过程后的结果──而我们也的确尽心尽力了──那么我们就能合理地评估这失败的原因，这样就能从中学到宝贵的功课。」

All total, Edison on Innovation makes for an enlightening read.

总括来说，《爱迪生看创意》一书堪称启迪人心的读物。

−Review by Tom Moore

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biography [baɪˋɑgrəfɪ] n. 传记

context [ˋkɑntɛkst] n.（事件的）来龙去脉，背景

in the loop 在参与机密的智囊团内; 圈内 having knowledge of and involvement in something

fidelity [fɪˋdɛlətɪ] n. 保真度; (声音、色彩等)逼真

intriguing [ɪnˈtrigɪŋ] adj. 引起兴趣的

do (one’s) homework 做准备工作

thrive on 因……蓬勃发展; 喜欢…

roll-call 点名；点名号角；点名时间

determine [dɪˋtɝmɪn] v. 确定

filament [ˋfɪləmənt] n.（电灯泡的）白热丝，灯丝

incandescent [͵ɪnkænˋdɛsnt] adj. 炽热的，白热的

enlightening [ ɪn'laɪtnɪŋ] adj. 有启发作用的，使人领悟的

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Vocabulary Focus

archetypal [ˋɑrkɪ͵taɪp!] adj. 典型的; 有代表性的; 原型的 referring to a typical example of something

lofty [ˋlɔftɪ] adj. 崇高的，高尚的 of high principles or standards

creative prowess 创新能力 an exceptional ability to use one’s imagination to create new ideas or things

exploit [ɪkˋsplɔɪt] v. 开发; 利用 to use something well for one’s advantage

incremental [ɪnkrəˋmənt!] adj. 递增的 increasing gradually in regular amount

meticulous [məˋtɪkjələs] adj. 过分精细的；小心翼翼的 very careful and with great attention to every detail

inherent [ɪnˋhɪrənt] adj. 内在的；固有的，与生俱来的 existing as a natural or basic part of something

marshal [ˋmɑrʃəl] v. 召集; 安排；整理 to gather or organize people or things, especially in order to achieve a particular aim

embark on 着手, 开始 to start something, especially something large, important or new