放松成就杰作

    能够从容地权衡各种想法，而不屈从于即刻得到实用价值，这一点同样重要。克里斯将其称之为“开放模式”，在这种模式下人们没有完成任务的压力，可以做出多种尝试。如果生物学家亚历山大•弗莱明要赶进度，他就会对灭菌的培养皿视若无物（因为那不是他所要寻找的目标）。但在开放模式，这就导致了青霉素的发现。克里斯说，大导演希区柯克就会打断工作进程，和大家讲讲故事，而故事与手边的剧本毫无瓜葛，这样就把大家引入开放模式。“我们给自己的压力太大，我们太用功了，”希区柯克告诉他的同事。“放松点，灵感自然会出现。”

    这些事迹让我想到，出去抽根烟其实不仅仅是为了尼古丁，也能让你离开一会儿，独自思考5分钟。老妈会觉得你在“发呆”，而我不记得什么时候看到过有人在办公室发呆。

    就像克里斯看到的那样，“封闭模式”在工作中更为常见。他承认，那种有目的的、急切的甚至带点疯狂的办公室环境也有用处。理想的状况就是员工可以在两种模式间切换。开放或酝酿模式用来寻找答案，而封闭模式用来完成任务。

    酝酿模式也适用于更宏大的生活计划。丽莎•伯克维茨是商业培训师，也是“最佳位置计划”（Project Sweet Spot）的创始人。她声称，大多数进行二次创业的女士在离职期间都会有某个茅塞顿开的时刻。她们意识到，要想清楚了解自己想做什么，就得“完全脱离过去的工作”，得把积蓄用来给自己提供空闲时间，而不是首饰，也不是房子。

    对那些只想员工按部就班的老板们，克里斯有个建议：如果你正好碰到某人正在若有所思，不要一口咬定他就是在偷懒或是犹豫不决；记得培养一种危机随时会降临的气氛，因为一旦你给大家思考的时间，那就麻烦了，他们肯定会提出问题，想出新点子

    Also important was having the time to consider ideas not in terms of their immediate practical purpose but just…because. In this "open mode," as Cleese called it, a person was not under pressure to get a specific thing done, but could play. Had biologist Alexander Fleming been in a rush, he would have looked at the uncultured petri dish as an irrelevance (because it wasn't what he was looking for). Instead, in open mode, it was a clue that pointed to penicillin. Alfred Hitchcock, Cleese said, would force his colleagues into open mode by interrupting work sessions and veering off on storytelling tangents that had nothing to do with the script at hand. "We're pressing, we're pressing, we're working too hard," Hitchcock purportedly urged his collaborators. "Relax, and let it come."

    All of which makes me think the cigarette break was not just about nicotine but instead involved the baser desire to stand outside and be alone with your thoughts for five minutes. "Staring off into space" is what mothers typically call that behavior, and I can't recall the last time I saw anyone do it in the office.

    As Cleese saw it, "closed mode" was far more common at work. That purposeful, impatient, moderately manic office environment did have its uses, he allowed. Ideally, an employee would be able to switch between the two modes, however. Open -- or gestation -- mode to find the right solution. Closed mode to get it done.

    Gestation mode pertains to larger life projects as well. Lisa Berkovitz, business coach and founder of Project Sweet Spot, says most women who enjoy entrepreneurial second careers typically experienced "aha" moments during rest periods. They realized that thinking clearly about what they wanted to do required a "full un-plugging from what they used to be," and subsequently used savings not to invest in hardware or real estate but time.

    And as for those bosses who'd prefer to keep things unimaginative, Cleese offered the following advice: If you catch anyone pondering, accuse them of laziness or indecision. Establish a permanent atmosphere of looming crisis because once you give people time to think, the next thing you know, they'll be asking questions and coming up with new ideas.