Innovation. It’s easy to talk about it — it’s probably one of your department’s key goals or built into your company’s mission statement — but it’s not so easy to do. It’s even harder to make it a habit in your day-to-day workflow. ? ?As an innovation consultant and entrepreneur, I was recently given a sneak peek at a new book on innovation called?A Beautiful Constraint. In short, it teaches you to take your constraints — budget, time, resources, whatever — and make them work for you in your quest for innovation. ? ?It sounds simple, and in many ways it is. Electrified by the read and brimming with inspiration for the new year ahead, I’m suggesting four easy ways to up your innovation game.
創(chuàng)新。談論一下倒是挺容易的，也許就是部門目標之一或公司的任務計劃，但實行起來一點都不容易呀。甚至還比把它成為你每天的習慣更困難。作為一名創(chuàng)新咨詢師和企業(yè)家，筆者最近看了一本書名為A Beautiful Constraint。簡而言之，這本書教導人們?nèi)绾渭s束自己——包括預算，時間，資源，等等，并讓它們在你需要創(chuàng)新的時候起作用。聽起來很簡單，不過在很多方面也的確很簡單。受到了本次閱讀的靈感觸動，筆者建議這4種讓你產(chǎn)生創(chuàng)造力的方法。

1.Turn “can’t” into “can if”
1. 把“不能”變?yōu)椤翱赡堋?/strong>

Problems make us feel paralyzed. When you?meet a roadblock, it’s?natural to throw your hands up and want to walk away. But next time you find yourself brainstorming on something and saying “We can’t because…” try starting the sentence “We can if…” instead.
各種問題麻痹了我們的神經(jīng)。當我們遇到了障礙，自然而然地我們就想舉起雙手調(diào)頭就走。但下次你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在頭腦風暴的時候在說“我們不能……是因為……”，換另一種說法：“我們可以……”

Here’s an example: Recently, my business?Never Liked It Anyway?made a venture into creating its own content. We needed an army of talented writers. Immediately, we waved the “We can’t because we don’t have money” flag. It didn’t serve us very well. Then, we shifted to thinking about options: “We can if… we identify talented, aspiring writers and offer them mentorship instead,” and “We can if… we align them to our vision of ousting Cosmopolitan magazine and invite them to be part of that journey!” ?
舉個例子，最近，我的專欄Never Liked It Anyway冒險地增設了內(nèi)容，我們需要許多有才的寫手。很快的，我們舉了“我們不能找到人因為我們沒有資金”的白旗。這讓我們的感覺都不會。然后我們轉(zhuǎn)換了思維方式：“我們能夠做到如果……我們找到了有才的，有激情的作家，并為他們提供培訓來補償。”或“我們能夠做到如果……我們把他們與我們的大都會雜志的理念聯(lián)合起來，并要求他們成為其中的一員！”

Simple, right? We now have five talented writers on our team, and we’re growing fast.
很簡單，對吧？筆者的團隊如今已經(jīng)有5位才華洋溢的作家了，并且我們還在快速發(fā)展之中。

2.Access your assets
2. 獲得資產(chǎn)。

Ownership is becoming an antiquated concept, replaced by the shared economy. Companies like Zipcar, Netflix, Songza, Rent the Runway, and Dropbox have smashed ownership into oblivion. This “access” mode of thinking should apply to your business assets and resources, too. Rather than thinking about what assets you own, consider what assets you can access. ?
所有權已經(jīng)是一個過時的概念了，已經(jīng)被分享經(jīng)濟所取代。諸如Zipcar, Netflix, Songza, Rent the Runway還有Dropbox這些公司都已經(jīng)把公司的所有權粉碎得遺忘了。這個“通行證”的思維模式也應該應用在商業(yè)資產(chǎn)和資源之中。與其計算自己擁有多少資產(chǎn)，還不如考慮你能獲得的資產(chǎn)有多少。

3.Ask impossible questions
3. 提出不可能的問題。

Weirdly, in the context of innovation, impossible questions are more useful than hard questions.
Impossible questions collide the scale of your ambition with the problem itself.?This turbocharges creativity and catapults us into problem solving mode instantly.
奇怪的是，在談論創(chuàng)新的語境中，不可能的問題比困難的問題來得更有用。不可能的問題使你的志向幅度和問題本身相碰撞。這樣的渦輪式的壓力所產(chǎn)生的創(chuàng)造力引發(fā)我們瞬間解決問題的可能。

4.Put constraints on yourself
4. 嚴格約束自己。

We’re not always up against constraints. In some parts of our working lives, we actually have it pretty good. Ironically, this can be a challenge in itself and often results in us moving slowly and less creatively against our problem.
我們總不是一直面臨著現(xiàn)在。在我們工作生活的一些部分，我們的確受到很大的限制。現(xiàn)實的是，這也能成為一項挑戰(zhàn)并常常讓我們在問題面前進度緩慢，創(chuàng)造力低下。

The solution? Put constraints on yourself. That’s right: Deliberately limit your time, budget, or resources. I’m in the process of launching a podcast series. Each week, I watched it slide off my task list and land on next week’s to-dos. Then, I decided to put a constraint on myself: Just spend 15 minutes each day working toward this goal. Of course I have 15 minutes to invest in this project every day! In five days, I made more progress than I had in the previous five weeks. Progress begets progress, and now the project has momentum of its own.
解決方法是？約束你自己。對的，故意限制自己的時間，資金或資源。筆者正在進行著播客系列的內(nèi)容創(chuàng)建，每周我都會看著它在我的待辦事項中消失，然后出現(xiàn)在下周的清單中。然后，我覺得給自己一些限制：每天只花15分鐘完成這件事。當然我每天都有15分鐘完成這件事！堅持五天后，我所取得的進步比之前5周的進步多得多，進步推動進步，現(xiàn)在這個欄目已經(jīng)很受歡迎了。

So there you have it: four easy ways?to up your innovation game. Most importantly, remember that innovation is a habit. The more you practice it, the easier this way of thinking, and being, becomes. Next time you encounter an innovation-crushing roadblock, allow yourself to feel the frustration — and even a sense of resignation. But then challenge yourself to overcome it and to actually embrace its limitation. A Beautiful Constraint may sound like an oxymoron, but therein lies its challenge and effectiveness.
所以就這樣：你有這4種方法來增加自己的創(chuàng)造力。最重要的是，記得創(chuàng)新是一個習慣。你越多加練習，創(chuàng)新的思維，創(chuàng)新的發(fā)現(xiàn)和創(chuàng)新的結果就會越來越容易出現(xiàn)。下次當你遇到一個創(chuàng)新障礙時，要讓自己去感受這種焦躁的情緒，即使是辭職的想法。然后挑戰(zhàn)自己的耐力去解決它，并接受它的局限性?！懊利惖南拗啤甭犉饋碛悬c像雙關語，但實際上它就隱含了挑戰(zhàn)與效果。