Perhaps more than any other category of professionals, creative types are expected to thrive in brainstorms¹. In the public's imagination, their offices are filled with fidget toys and Post-it notes in an array of colors, all meant to absorb some of the energy of a group of fast-thinking, well-dressed hipsters deep in ideation mode.

也许和其他职业相比，创造性工作更应该是头脑风暴的活跃之地。在公众的想象里，创意人员的办公室里放满了抗压玩具和五颜六色的便条，这些都是用于从思维敏捷、衣着光鲜的创意人才那里吸取构思的能量。

But a new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, in fact, a majority of these professionals—including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters—find that brainstorming² is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge.

然而，基于一项对197个国家2万名创意人才的新调查报告显示，事实上，大多数创意人才——包括作家、音乐家、摄影师和播客——发现头脑风暴对于解决创意难题基本没有帮助。

The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests³ to the perils⁴ of this form of groupthink. "In the creative world we hear an awful lot about collaboration⁵, but it seems that while working together is essential to bring an idea to life, it's not that good for shaping ideas in the first place," notes Rob Alderson, WeTransfer's recently departed editor in chief.

荷兰文件共享公司WeTransfer委托开展的这项调查证实了这种集体决策形式的风险。WeTransfer新近刚离职的主编罗伯·阿尔德森指出：“在创意世界里我们听到很多关于合作的言论，但是从调查结果来看，尽管群策群力对于创意的落实很关键，但似乎不是很有利于创意最初的形成。”

WeTransfer's annual survey of creatives echoes previous research about the need for individual preparation and introspection. "Send people off with the time and space to think properly and the quality of their ideas will probably improve," Alderson says.

WeTransfer对创意人才的年度调查与先前对于个人准备和反思需求的调查结果不谋而合。阿尔德森说：“让人们有时间和空间充分地思考，这样他们的创意质量才会提高。”

In the instinct to schedule meetings, it appears that we often neglect to give participants a chance to prepare and form their thoughts. It's a crucial step that was championed by Alex Osborn, the legendary⁶ advertising⁷ executive who popularized brainstorming. "Osborn repeatedly extolled⁸ the virtues⁹ of solitude¹⁰, of time spent far from the distractions¹¹ of others, as part of his own creative process," Lila MacLellan from Quartz¹² has noted¹³. "The man who gave us today's whiteboard-centric chaotic¹⁴ brainstorming ritual placed as much, if not more, faith in the individual imagination."

在安排会议时，我们似乎常常忽略了一点：给参会者准备和形成自己想法的机会。这是头脑风暴之父、传奇广告主管亚历克斯·奥斯本所推崇的关键一步。石英财经网的里拉·麦克莱伦指出：“奥斯本反复颂扬独处的益处，他表示远离他人干扰的独处时间是自己构思过程的一部分。这位创造了以白板为中心的闹哄哄的头脑风暴仪式的男性对个人想象也非常看重。”

WeTransfer's survey suggests that dutiful meetings are a primary creativity killer. More than 40% of respondents now consider "work"—including the administrative¹⁵ tasks required of employees in big corporations—as a barrier to good thinking. "That's a worrying number given almost 90% of our respondents work in creative fields which rise and fall on the power of good ideas," the report states. "It seems we need to rethink the way we work and play, particularly how we spend time in the office."

WeTransfer的调查表明，常规会议是创造力的一大杀手。超过40%的受访者现在认为“工作”——包括大公司员工的行政事务——阻碍了他们好好思考。报告写道：“考虑到近90%的受访者都在严重依赖好点子的创意领域工作，这个比例令人担忧。看起来我们需要重新思考自己的运作方式，尤其是在办公室里的时间规划。”

Independent thinking is also crucial when making decisions. Sure enough, nearly 80% of creative professionals in WeTransfer's poll say they trust their own instincts and research when evaluating an idea. Only 18% will run an idea past colleagues and friends.

独立思考在做决定时也十分关键。确实，WeTransfer调查的近80%的创意人士表示，在衡量一个创意时他们相信自己的直觉和调研。只有18%的人会让同事和朋友帮忙把关。

In polling creatives around the world, WeTransfer surfaced some fascinating geographic¹⁶ outliers. For instance, when it comes to the biggest distractions to thinking about ideas, the French are more likely to blame their social life than their jobs, their partners, or social media. The Chinese, meanwhile, are more prone¹⁷ to point the finger at their partners.

在调查世界各地的创意人才时，WeTransfer发现了一些有趣的地理异常值。例如，在被问及创意思考中最大的干扰时，法国人更可能将其归咎于自己的社交生活而不是自己的工作、配偶或社交媒体。与此同时，中国人更倾向于认为自己的配偶是最大的干扰源。

Though the growing body of evidence suggests brainstorming may not result in the best ideas, it isn't entirely¹⁸ useless. A Northern Illinois University study published in the Journal Communication Reports underscores its value as a team-building activity rather than a tactical meeting. If nothing else, practicing tacit rules of brainstorming—positivity, openness, building on other's ideas—promotes team cohesion¹⁹ and trust.

尽管越来越多的证据显示，头脑风暴可能无法产生最好的创意，但它也不是完全无用的。美国北伊利诺伊大学发表在《期刊通信报告》上的一项研究强调了头脑风暴作为团队建设活动而非战术讨论会的价值。不说别的，就说头脑风暴心照不宣的规则——积极、开放、建立在别人想法的基础之上——就能促进团队凝聚力和信任。