Google's Innovation Secret Revealed in 15 Minutes | Frederik G. Pferdt

The idea for your future already mine really started when I observed many many people in this world to not being able to deal with that uncertainty that the future actually holds, right? And that created a lot of anxiety for people around the future. One of the experiences I had a couple of years ago really helped me to understand that we have more control of our future that we actually think was when the wildfires happened in California. They came as close as one mile to our house. So what we noticed is that police came and gave us an evacuation order, right? So we had to pack our things in less than 10 minutes and evacuate our house, our family or five. What I told my kids and what I told myself is that we cannot control the fires. So our house might be gone or it might be still there when we return. But what we can control is how we respond to that situation. Do we respond with optimism? Do we respond with openness? With curiosity?

关于你的未来已经成为我的想法，实际上起源于我观察到很多人面对未来的不确定性感到无所适从，对未来充满焦虑。几年前我的一段经历帮助我明白，我们对未来的掌控力超出我们想象。那次加州发生的野火距离我们家只有一英里。警察到来并下达了疏散令，我们必须在不到10分钟内收拾好东西，全家五口撤离。在这种情况下，我对孩子们和自己说，我们无法控制火势，回来的时候房子可能已经不在了，也可能还完好无损。但我们能控制的是如何应对这个情况——我们是否以乐观、开放和好奇的态度来应对？

All of that really helped us to then start living a life that was very different before the wildfires. A life that is more aligned with nature, where we grow our own food, where we respect nature even more. We were quite optimistic when we left our house and after 14 days we were able to return back and luckily the house was still there and our optimism about how to live with the future was also actually increased. So what I wanted to give people is three things. First one is a framework that they can use to really build the future that they want to see happening. The second thing is I wanted to give them stories from individuals that build remarkable futures for themselves and the third thing is really practices that everybody can use in their own lives to create the dream future they want to see happening.

所有这些经历真的帮助我们开始过上与大火之前截然不同的生活。这是一种更加贴近自然的生活，我们自己种植食物，对自然更加尊重。 当我们离开家时，我们非常乐观，14天后我们能够返回，幸运的是房子还在那里，我们对如何与未来相处的乐观态度也有所增强。 所以我想为大家提供三样东西。首先是一个框架，帮助他们真正构建自己想要看到的未来。第二，我希望能分享一些个人故事，这些人自己创造了非凡的未来。第三，就是大家都可以在生活中实践的方法，以创造自己梦想的未来。

Hello my name is Fredag Tert and I am the first and former chief innovation evangelist at Google. I'm also the author of a book What's Next Is Now, How to Live Future Ready? Everybody is interested in their future. What we mostly see is that people think about the future as something abstract, right? But I believe that predictions don't really help when we think about the future. So I want to help people to have a clearer picture about the future by actually imagining it and not just imagining the future but imagining their future because the future is not something that just happens to you.

你好，我的名字是Fredag Tert，我是谷歌的首任创新布道者。同时，我也是《未来即现在：如何为未来做好准备？》一书的作者。每个人都对自己的未来感兴趣。我们大多数人认为未来是很抽象的，对吧？但我认为，当我们思考未来时，预测并没有真正的帮助。因此，我希望通过让大家去想象未来，而不仅仅是想象未来这个概念，而是想象自己的未来，帮助人们更清晰地看待未来，因为未来不是某种突然降临在你身上的东西。

It's something that you make happen and for most people it's really coming down to that question how can I create a better future for myself? And I want to give people the mindset to really shape the future they want to see happening. I've been the chief innovation evangelist at Google for about 12 and a half years. My role I was really responsible on shaping the culture of creativity and innovation at Google. Really trying to train people in things like curiosity and empathy and experimentation. Giving them the right methods and tools and also mind state to really invent a better future.

这是一个你可以实现的事情，对大多数人来说，最终都归结为一个问题：我怎样才能为自己创造一个更好的未来？我希望能为人们提供一种心态，真正塑造他们想看到的未来。我在谷歌担任首席创新布道者大约12年半。我的职责是塑造谷歌的创造力和创新文化，努力训练人们培养好奇心、同理心和实验精神。为他们提供正确的方法、工具和心态，以真正发明一个更好的未来。

And secondly, shaping the culture. Trying to create initiatives in the culture that really brings the values to life that Google stands for. Values around creativity, having an ambition around the future, but also trying to think 10x and trying to think really bold and big about the future. That was really part of the work. And when you want to create a culture, right? What I really see is that most cultures in organizations have specific values. Values like creativity or productivity or community. What I try to do is activate those values through rituals.

其次是塑造文化。我们努力在文化中创建一些倡议，真正将谷歌所代表的价值观变为现实。这些价值观包括创造力、对未来的抱负，以及敢于大胆思考未来的精神，这是工作的一个重要部分。当你想要创造一种文化时，我发现大多数组织的文化都有特定的价值观，比如创造力、生产力或社区意识。我所做的就是通过一些仪式来激活这些价值观。

One of the rituals that I included in our culture at Google was what I call the Penguin Award. Because the Penguin Award really rewarded people for taking risks. And when you take risks, you really try to try many things out, right? You were thinking not just bold, but you're acting bold as well. Encouraging risk taking through a ritual with the Penguin Award was something fascinating because for me, penguins really stand for taking risks. As you imagine, penguins on a nice shelf, many of them, right? A colony of penguins. There's always one penguin that's the courageous penguin that jumps first into the water. The rest of the colony stands back and really observes is that if that little penguin comes back up with food or became food, right?

在谷歌，我将“企鹅奖”作为我们文化中的一个仪式，这个奖项专门奖励那些敢于冒险的人。因为冒险就意味着要尝试很多新事物，对吧？不仅要敢于思考，更要勇于行动。用“企鹅奖”这一仪式来鼓励冒险精神，对我来说是非常有趣的，因为在我看来，企鹅象征着冒险。你可以想象有很多企鹅站在冰架上，一群企鹅中，总有那么一只勇敢的企鹅会第一个跳入水中。其他的企鹅则会在一旁观察，看那只小企鹅是带着食物回来了，还是自己成了食物。

There's a 50% chance. And so what I wanted to signal is that when people really jump into the cold water, meaning that they're trying something new, that they're experimenting, that they're taking a risk, that should be rewarded with the Penguin Award. Because we also know that when no one jumps from that ice shelf, no one takes a risk in an organization. Colony of penguins will disappear and so will the organization. So I think it's really important that we build cultures through rituals in every organization. I think everybody's able to do that.

有50%的可能性。因此，我想传达的是，当人们真正跳入冷水中，意味着他们在尝试新事物、进行试验、冒险时，这种行为应该得到“企鹅奖”的奖励。因为我们也知道，如果没有人从冰架上跳下，组织中就没有人愿意冒险。那么企鹅群体会消失，组织也会随之衰退。因此，我认为通过在每个组织中建立文化仪式是非常重要的。我相信每个人都能做到这一点。

Yes, I think everybody can be that courageous penguin, right? That jumps first into the water in that metaphor. Courage is something that we all have, right? But usually our mind doesn't like to take risks. I think what we can do is instead of waiting for the perfect moment or for perfection, just go for it. Just give it a try, right? And see what happens. And usually what we find is when you take that risk, when you're open to trying something new, you feel rewarded, right? That creates a very comfort in effect as well.

是的，我认为每个人都可以成为勇敢的企鹅，对吗？在这个比喻中，第一个跳入水中的就是这样的企鹅。勇气是我们每个人都有的东西，对吧？但通常我们的思维不喜欢冒险。我认为我们可以做的是，不要等待完美的时机或完美的状态，而是直接去尝试。就去试一试，对吗？看看会发生什么。通常当你冒险时，当你愿意尝试新事物时，你会感到有收获，对吗？这也能带来一种很大的安慰感。

So what I'm practicing myself is trying to not do things twice, right? Not to fall into that autopilot that our mind loves to go on to because that autopilot really creates or saves energy for our mind, right? And when as soon as we get off autopilot and we engage in something new, we take a risk or we try something new, it might be talking to a stranger or it might be trying out a new idea. Our minds need to be activated. That energy, I think, is great because then we see that we're getting off autopilot and we actually, we're trying something new and then that might lead to an innovation then as well.

我在练习的一件事就是尽量不重复做同样的事情，对吧？避免陷入我们的思维所喜欢的自动驾驶模式，因为这种自动驾驶模式其实是在为我们的头脑节省能量。只要我们脱离自动驾驶状态，开始尝试新事物，比如和陌生人交谈或者尝试一个新想法，我们的大脑就需要被激活。我认为这种能量是很棒的，因为一旦我们摆脱了自动驾驶状态并尝试新事物时，这可能会导致新的创新出现。

Doing my time at Google Life, been able to work with tens of thousands of Google's and really trying to figure out how do people not just imagine a better future, how do they innovate, how do they use their creativity to really create something better. So my first couple of weeks I actually traveled to really many offices connected with many, many Googlers around the world to really trying to understand how do people innovate and what I found is that it's usually not a place that makes a difference. It's also not a specific framework and it's also not the resource they have access to.

在谷歌生命阶段工作的期间，我有机会与数万名谷歌员工合作，努力弄清楚人们如何不仅想象更好的未来，还能创新、运用他们的创造力去真正创造出更好的东西。在最初的几周里，我实际上去了很多办公室，与世界各地的许多谷歌员工进行了交流，真正想了解人们如何创新。我发现这通常不是一个特别的地点带来了不同，也不是某个特定的框架或他们可以获取的资源。

What I found is really in their mind state, what I call a future-ready mind state and that mind state for me has five dimensions. First, it's about radical optimism. Thinking not just that the glass is half four, but seeing the potential to fill the glass even further. It's about unreserved openness, being open to many ideas, being open to perspectives and also being open to change your own perspective as well is really critical because openness is really supercharger to your personal growth.

我发现其中真正重要的是他们的心理状态，我称之为"面向未来的心理状态"。这种心理状态对我来说有五个方面。首先，是彻底的乐观主义。不仅要认为杯子是半满的，更要看到将杯子装得更满的潜力。其次，是毫无保留的开放性。乐于接受各种观点、不同角度，愿意改变自己的观点也非常重要，因为开放性是个人成长的加速器。

The third one is about curiosity, compulsive curiosity, asking those big what if questions that allow you to really think big and then it's about experimentation, perpetual experimentation. These tiny quick experiments that allow you to really learning quickly, to really learn quickly as well because the path through the future is really paved with experiments and then it's about empathy. Not just empathy for other people but also empathy for your future self. Trying to understand your future needs is really critical. And then the last dimension is dimension X. It's your personal superpower that allows you to really use whatever your superpower is to create these incredible innovations to create something new and to tap into your creativity as well.

第三个方面是关于好奇心，一种不可抑制的好奇心。它促使你提出那些重要的假设性问题，让你可以开阔思维。接下来就是实验，持续不断的实验。通过这些小而快速的实验，你能够迅速地学习，因为通往未来的路径实际上是由实验铺就的。然后是同理心，不仅是对他人的同理心，还有对未来的自己的同理心。尝试理解你未来的需求至关重要。最后一个维度是“X维度”，这是你个人的超能力，它能帮助你创造出令人难以置信的创新，创造出新事物，并激发你的创造力。

So these six dimensions for me really define what I call a future-ready mind. And with a future-ready mind, you can really see more opportunities, you can take control of your future and you can shape the future that you want to see happening. I think it's the combination of those dimensions, it's not that radical optimism is more important that openness or empathy. I think they're all incredibly important. And the good news is that we all have a certain amount of those qualities of those dimensions in ourselves.

对于我来说，这六个维度确实定义了我所称的"未来就绪思维"。拥有这样一种思维，你可以看到更多的机会，掌控自己的未来，并塑造你希望看到的未来。我认为这些维度是一个整体，并不是说积极乐观比开放或共情更重要。我认为它们都非常重要。好消息是，我们每个人自身都具备这些维度中的某些特质。

We all, to a certain degree opened, we all, to a certain degree optimistic. We all like to experiment from time to time. But what I also see is that when we take for example curiosity, our curiosity when we grow up actually goes dormant. That's what studies actually show. So I want to bring those dimensions back into your life by actually trying to train yourself in curiosity, in openness, in experimentation and in optimism. And if you train yourself in these things, I guarantee you're going to see more opportunities for yourself and you're going to take control of the future that you want to actually see happening.

我们每个人在某种程度上都是开放的，也在某种程度上是乐观的。我们都喜欢时不时尝试新事物。但我也注意到，例如，我们的好奇心随着成长会逐渐变得沉寂。研究表明确实如此。所以我希望通过训练自己的好奇心、开放性、实验精神和乐观态度，让这些特质重新回到你的生活中。如果你能在这些方面加以训练，我保证你会发现更多机遇，并掌控你希望看到的未来。

So I've been able to work with many organizations rain from the UN to NASA to the NBA to the German Soccer Association and many many more, including startups. And what I've seen is that let's take curiosity. Startups really use their curiosity to explore something new. They're the best in asking good questions and trying to really reimagine what is possible. When organizations grow older, right? What we see is that curiosity is usually replaced with scaling or other things that they want to focus on.

我曾有机会与许多组织合作，包括联合国、NASA、NBA、德国足球协会以及许多其他组织，还有一些初创公司。我注意到的是，比如说好奇心，初创公司非常善于利用自己的好奇心去探索新事物。他们在提出好问题和重新想象可能性方面表现得最好。而当组织逐渐发展壮大时，我们常常看到，好奇心通常被取代为关注扩张或其他目标。

So two things I've tried when it comes to training people innovation and creativity was first to help them to train specific things like empathy, expansive thinking or experimentation. And the second thing is what we tried is we built environments where people really could reduce that friction from having an idea to building your first prototype.

在培训人们创新和创造力方面，我尝试过两种方法。首先，我帮他们训练一些特定的技能，比如同理心、发散性思维和实验能力。第二，我尝试创造一个环境，让人们可以尽量减少从产生想法到制作出第一个原型之间的阻碍。

And the garage that I found it was one of those places where a lot of Googlers came together to try out some ideas, right? To really start to push the boundaries on some of those ideas and really start to learn quickly how things work and what works and what doesn't work. So it's really a space around experimentation.

我找到的那个车库是谷歌员工们经常聚集在一起尝试想法的地方之一，对吧？他们在那里真正开始挑战这些想法的极限，并迅速学习事物的运作方式、什么有效、什么无效。所以，这实际上是一个以实验为中心的地方。

We had projects like Project Lune was created, those stratospheric balloons to really provide internet around the world and tennis and some of the balloon parts were actually prototyped in the garage and experimented with. What I found is that also Google Glass, for example, was launched out of the garage, a project where we invited people to test out this service a couple of years ago and prototype it and experiment with it, right?

我们曾经有一些项目，比如“月球计划”，这是为了在全球提供互联网服务而制造的平流层气球。实际上，有些气球的部件是在车库里制作和实验的。我还发现，例如，谷歌眼镜也是从车库里启动的项目。几年前，我们邀请了一些人来测试、原型制作和实验这个服务，对吧？

So I think for me was really critical that we take an approach to innovation that is based on experimentation and empathy and expansive thinking. Those three elements that really allow you to not just imagine ideas but really build ideas that are meaningful to people that are based on radical new ideas but also that are tried out so that we can start learning what works and what doesn't work.

所以对我来说，采用一种以实验、同理心和开阔思维为基础的创新方法是非常重要的。这三个元素不仅能帮助你想象出新的点子，还能让你构建出对人们有意义的想法。这些想法不仅基于突破性的创意，而且经过尝试，让我们能够开始了解什么是有效的，什么是无效的。

Innovation doesn't happen by itself, right? It's something where you have to train people in but also you have to create a culture and an environment where innovation can actually happen. Those two elements are very critical, right? Trying to provide the right training for people so that they can literally train their mind on how to innovate around how to imagine and how to think expansively and so forth.

创新不会自然而然地发生，对吗？它需要对人进行培训，同时还需要营造一个能够真正实现创新的文化和环境。以上这两个元素非常重要。为人们提供合适的培训，以训练他们的思维方式，使他们能够在想象和扩展思维方面进行创新，这一点非常关键。

And at the same time finding a culture where this is actually possible with initiatives like the Penguin Award that I just shared as well that allows people to take more risks. So combining those two things where you train people into innovation and you build a culture around innovation is really critical and that was the main focus of my work.

同时，我们也在寻找一种能够实现这种目标的文化，比如我刚刚提到的企鹅奖，这样的举措可以鼓励大家更多尝试和冒险。因此，将培训人们进行创新与打造创新文化这两方面结合起来是非常重要的，这也是我工作的主要重点。

What I felt is that when it comes to the future for example and innovation sometimes see that our mind creates four strategies that really is not really helpful but it's just a natural very human thing that evolves when we think about the future. The first thing is that we have anxiety about the future, right? Sometimes we think about the future as not desirable as something that just happens to us, right?

当谈到未来和创新时，我感觉我们的思维有时会自然地形成四种策略，但这些策略并不真的有用。这是我们思考未来时一种非常自然且人类普遍的心理现象。首先，我们会对未来感到焦虑，对吧？有时我们认为未来是不理想的，是一些不可控地发生在我们身上的事情，对吧？

That is not in our control that and that creates anxiety, right? The second thing is that sometimes we think we can just wait until the future happens, right? So we wait until something in our lives happens and then we start to act. The third thing is that sometimes we think the future is owned by others, right? So we think that our partners, our managers or our leaders or the government or politicians or whatever it is are owning the future and creating the future and I think that's not true.

这不在我们的掌控之中，这会带来焦虑，对吧？第二个问题是，有时候我们以为只需要等未来发生就好。我们等着生活中某件事发生，然后才开始行动。第三个问题是，我们有时认为未来是属于别人的，对吧？我们认为我们的伴侣、经理、领导、政府或政客等等在掌握和创造未来，但我觉得这不是真的。

And the fourth one is that sometimes we just want to deny the future, right? We want to bring back the past. We want to say like, oh, you know, past times have been better and all of those arguments. So having that anxiety, waiting for the future, thinking that others own the future and denying the future are four things that really are not helpful, right?

第四点是，有时候我们只是想否认未来，对吧？我们想回到过去，我们会说，哦，你知道，过去的日子更好，以及类似的论调。所以，感到焦虑、等待未来、认为别人拥有未来、否认未来，这四种心态其实都没有帮助，对吗？

Because I think everybody has the opportunity to shape their own future and have control over their own future. I think there's three things that I want to share. First one is trying to really imagine your future. And make that a practice every day. Maybe the first 60 seconds in the morning or the first three minutes in the morning, trying to really just close your eyes for a moment and trying to imagine your future self, trying to see a clearer picture of where you're going to be in the future, a year from now, for example, who you're going to be surrounded by and what are you doing?

因为我认为每个人都有机会塑造自己的未来，并掌控自己的未来。我想分享三点。第一点是努力真正地想象你的未来。每天都要进行这样的练习。也许在早上的前60秒或者前三分钟，尝试闭上眼睛，真正地去想象你的未来自己。努力看清楚一年后的你会在哪里、会和谁在一起、在做些什么。

And then the fourth critical element is how do you feel in that future and what do you want to feel in this future as well? Very important practice that everybody can do every morning or throughout the day to really build that muscle of imagination your future self. The second thing I recommend doing is if you want to turn into a more optimistic person, there are some interesting studies that show that if you write down three things in the evening and that can be on your phone or it can be on a piece of paper that really brings up the three things that you're grateful for throughout the day, that you think that went well, that are the positives in your day, right?

然后，第四个关键要素是，想象你在那个未来中的感觉，以及你希望在这个未来中感受到什么。这是一个非常重要的练习，每个人都可以每天早上或在一天中随时进行，以真正培养关于未来自我的想象力。其次，我建议你如果想成为一个更乐观的人，可以尝试一些有趣的研究表明的方法：每天晚上写下三件你感到感激的事情，可以是手机上或纸上。这些事情是一天中让你觉得顺利、积极的事。

And that could be small things. Note down three things every day.

这可以是很小的事情。每天记下三件事。

After 21 days, your mind actually changes and looks for the more positive things in your life as well.

经过21天后，你的大脑实际上会发生变化，开始关注生活中更多积极的事情。

And I think that's a very easy practice that everybody can do.

我认为那是每个人都可以做到的一个非常简单的练习。