好的点子究竟是从哪里来的？

　　“idea”一词源自希腊语idein，意思是“看见”。这并非巧合。在《点子高手：如何找到最好的点子，并付诸实施》（The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen）一书中，作者安迪 博因顿与比尔 费舍尔（以及记者威廉姆 伯勒）认为，好的商业点子并不会像闪电一样，突然出现在天空中。

　　相反，它们通常都躺在某个不起眼的地方，等着有人来发现——比如，1905年，在美国棕榈海滩的一条赛车道上，亨利 福特捡到了一小块很轻的材料。那是一辆法国汽车残骸上的碎片。后来，福特回忆道：“它很轻，但非常结实。我到处打听它是用什么材料做成的，可是没人知道。”

　　原来，那一小块碎片是含钒的合金钢，当时美国还没有开始生产。为了研究这种材料，福特投入了最优秀的研发团队。三年之后，他的公司推出了一款更持久耐用、重量更轻的汽车，使福特公司（Ford）在竞争激烈、群雄逐鹿的汽车市场中，占据了决定性的优势。

　　《点子高手》一书中，还列举了许多具有标志性的美国企业的例子，比如迪士尼（Disney）、谷歌（Google）、沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）和美国运通（American Express）等，以证明一个观点，即“好奇心可以充分弥补才华的不足。”（正如阿尔伯特 爱因斯坦曾说：“我没有什么天分，我只是非常好奇。”）对于我们这些并不是天才的人来说，这种说法足以让我们振奋。

　　该书的作者认为，实际上，“（企业内）那些最聪明的人，往往会高估自己的智商”，而这会导致他们“只会坚持自己的成功法则，而不去寻找更好的点子。换句话说，他们就是提不起足够的兴趣。”

　　《点子高手》一书的大部分内容，介绍的都是如何利用按部就班的法则，将对大千世界的狂热兴趣，变成具有轰动效应的产品与服务。在《脑力操控：获得突破性点子的更好方法》（Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas）一书中，作者凯文 P 科因与肖恩 T 科恩从人脑如何工作的最新研究结果出发，阐述了同样的过程。

　　他们认为，大部分关于创新的传统观点都是错误的。世界上存在坏点子这种东西，把你想到的所有想法都列出来，并不能让你找到最好的，而且大部分头脑风暴会议并无实际作用。

　　你对此已经有所了解，对吗？这或许是从你以往的痛苦经历中得来的吧？那么，根据《脑力操控》一书，你已经可以进行下一步了：把问题问到点子上是门艺术，一旦你掌握了这门艺术，你获得好点子的机会将大得多。

　　当然，要掌握这个技巧需要耐心和毅力。因此，书中提供了一种练习，你现在就可以尝试一下：每当你遇到让自己惊叹的点子时——比如一款新产品或服务、一则能够打动人的广告、一条节省成本的妙招，记得问你自己：“有哪三个问题能让我想到那个点子？”

　　不要害怕往“大”处想。例如，不要问“我们如何能扩大销售，以实现今年销量增长5%的目标？”，换一种问法试试：“要把我们的产品推广到全世界每一位消费者的手边，我们需要怎么做？”

　　该书作者表示，这听起来不切实际。但是，可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola）在数十年前便确立了这个大胆的目标，并且顺利实现。

　　Where exactly do good ideas come from?

　　The word "idea" comes from the Greek idein, which means "to see." That's no coincidence. As co-authors Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer (with journalist William Bole) point out in their book, The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen, great business ideas don't occur as bolts out of the blue.

　　Instead, they're usually just lying around in plain sight somewhere, waiting for someone to notice them -- like, for instance, the little scrap of lightweight material Henry Ford picked up off the ground at a racetrack in Palm Beach in 1905. A bit of debris from the wreck of a French car, "it was very light and very strong. I asked what it was made of," Ford later recalled. "Nobody knew."

　　The stuff turned out to be a steel alloy containing vanadium, which was not manufactured in the U.S. at the time. Ford put his best R&D team on it and, three years later, his company rolled out a more durable, lightweight line of cars that gave Ford a decisive advantage in the crowded, chaotic auto market.

　　The Idea Hunter draws on dozens of other examples from iconic U.S. companies like Disney, Google, Wal-Mart, and American Express to make the point -- an encouraging one for those of us who are no geniuses -- that "curiosity…can more than make up for a lack of brilliance." (As Albert Einstein once said, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.")

　　In fact, the authors contend, "the cleverest people [in an organization] have a tendency to overestimate their brain power," which leads them to "stick to their success formula and…not go hunting for better ideas. In other words, they're just not interested enough."

　　Most of The Idea Hunter is a step-by-step prescription for turning avid interest in the world beyond one's cubicle into blockbuster products and services. In Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas, co-authors Kevin P. Coyne and Shawn T. Coyne tackle the same process from the perspective of new research on how the brain works.

　　By their lights, much of the conventional wisdom about innovation just isn't true. There is such a thing as bad ideas, making a list of every idea that comes into your head won't result in finding the best one, and most brainstorming sessions just don't work.

　　You knew that already, maybe from bitter experience? Then according to Brainsteering, you're ripe for the next step: Mastering the art of asking the right questions, which have a far better chance of yielding great answers than the questions you may be asking now.

　　Acknowledging that acquiring the knack takes patience and perseverance, the authors offer an exercise you can try right now: Every time you come across an idea you admire -- a new product or service, a persuasive ad, a clever cost-saving move -- ask yourself, "What are three possible questions that could have led me to come up with that idea?"

　　And don't be afraid to think big. Instead of asking, for example, "How can we expand distribution to meet our 5% sales volume growth target this year?," try asking: "What would it take to get our product within arm's reach of every consumer on the planet?"

　　Wild as it sounds, the authors note, that audacious goal -- set decades ago -- has worked out pretty well for Coca-Cola.