????今年2月，科技巨頭IBM公司發(fā)布了BlueMix云平臺(tái)，作為其征戰(zhàn)云計(jì)算領(lǐng)域的殺手锏。這一平臺(tái)向開發(fā)者提供了多種工具，為企業(yè)創(chuàng)建和運(yùn)行新的應(yīng)用。對(duì)于一個(gè)如此大型的項(xiàng)目來(lái)說(shuō)，其完成速度之快簡(jiǎn)直異乎尋常。從初步構(gòu)思、技術(shù)攻堅(jiān)和設(shè)計(jì)，再到測(cè)試和展開營(yíng)銷，這一系列流程IBM團(tuán)隊(duì)僅僅用了18個(gè)月就完成了。

????此次BlueMix項(xiàng)目的帶頭人、IBM設(shè)計(jì)部的總經(jīng)理菲爾?吉爾伯特認(rèn)為，這樣的高效率并非巧合。負(fù)責(zé)該項(xiàng)目的數(shù)十位工程師、開發(fā)人員和設(shè)計(jì)師分散在世界各地，他們甚至從來(lái)沒(méi)有在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中碰過(guò)面?！疤摂M團(tuán)隊(duì)帶來(lái)了思維的多樣性?！奔獱柌卣f(shuō)，“一個(gè)運(yùn)作良好的虛擬團(tuán)隊(duì)不僅可以獲得更多創(chuàng)意，而且他們的創(chuàng)意往往更加出色和高效?！?/p>

????BlueMix的成功似乎并非僥幸。亞當(dāng)?金格是倫敦商學(xué)院（London Business School）學(xué)習(xí)解決方案課程執(zhí)行主任，他對(duì)制藥、零售和銀行業(yè)等120多家企業(yè)的團(tuán)隊(duì)進(jìn)行過(guò)相關(guān)研究，還咨詢過(guò)他們的管理者?！霸趧?chuàng)新和解決復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題方面，虛擬團(tuán)隊(duì)的效果更好、速度更快?！彼榻B說(shuō)，“無(wú)論這些團(tuán)隊(duì)成員是來(lái)自公司的各海外辦事處，還是在家通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)遠(yuǎn)程辦公，他們都有著同樣出色的表現(xiàn)?！?/p>

????金格說(shuō)，關(guān)鍵在于要運(yùn)用BlueMix的方法進(jìn)行頭腦風(fēng)暴。有些企業(yè)也把BlueMix的這種方法稱為“創(chuàng)意腦力激蕩（idea jam）”。這種方法并沒(méi)有采用傳統(tǒng)方式，通過(guò)遠(yuǎn)程會(huì)議或電話會(huì)議把所有團(tuán)隊(duì)成員召集在一起（無(wú)論成員身在哪個(gè)時(shí)區(qū)），而是提出或者闡述一個(gè)問(wèn)題，讓成員在一定時(shí)間范圍內(nèi)思考并發(fā)言（一般是48小時(shí)），采用的形式是留言板或者聊天室。

????金格表示，讓人們按照自己的時(shí)間安排發(fā)表意見和評(píng)論，可以在很多方面產(chǎn)生“非凡的創(chuàng)意回響”。首先，這種情況下團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)更有活力。根據(jù)金格的觀察，無(wú)論是辦公室會(huì)議還是同時(shí)在線討論，團(tuán)隊(duì)成員們“往往會(huì)贊同某個(gè)主導(dǎo)者的意見來(lái)維持一團(tuán)和氣——這個(gè)人可能是最資深的，或者僅僅是嗓門最大的，又或者是發(fā)言最具說(shuō)服力的?！?/p>

????而開辟一個(gè)論壇讓人們逐個(gè)參與討論，“可以促使參與者根據(jù)各個(gè)創(chuàng)意的優(yōu)點(diǎn)進(jìn)行客觀評(píng)估，而不是盲目聽從某一位成員”。菲爾?吉爾伯特對(duì)此深表認(rèn)同。即便自己創(chuàng)意更好，有些人也不好意思直接反對(duì)某個(gè)同事，而在匿名創(chuàng)意腦力激蕩的環(huán)境下，這類人會(huì)變得更加勇于發(fā)表意見。金格認(rèn)為，“這并不是和別人對(duì)著干，而是貢獻(xiàn)不同的意見?！?/p>

????金格指出，這一點(diǎn)在那些性格內(nèi)向的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員身上表現(xiàn)得更加明顯。“性格內(nèi)向的人通常會(huì)有一些高見，但是他們需要比較多的時(shí)間來(lái)整理思路。”他說(shuō)，“在傳統(tǒng)的會(huì)議中，他們可能無(wú)法獲得充分的時(shí)間來(lái)思考?！比绻o他們幾天時(shí)間而不僅僅是幾個(gè)小時(shí)來(lái)組織發(fā)言，那么性格內(nèi)向者的發(fā)言就會(huì)更顯分量，容易引起大家的注意。

????吉爾伯特補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，當(dāng)所有的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員全部集中在某個(gè)地方或者同時(shí)集中討論，有時(shí)候“會(huì)出現(xiàn)集體趨同思考的傾向”。他說(shuō)，因?yàn)锽lueMix是一個(gè)全球性的平臺(tái)，“我們故意讓團(tuán)隊(duì)成員來(lái)自不同的洲，比如加拿大、印度、巴西和英格蘭等等。所以，即便整個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)同時(shí)上線，他們的不同地理位置和文化背景也會(huì)帶來(lái)很多不一樣的想法?！彼硎?，這種方法有助于孕育創(chuàng)新，“不僅僅是激發(fā)多樣化的創(chuàng)意，而且可以讓這些創(chuàng)意獨(dú)立形成，”吉爾伯特說(shuō)，“最后往往會(huì)產(chǎn)生令人驚艷的結(jié)果。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????An essential part of IBM’s IBM -0.09% campaign to conquer cloud computing is a new product called BlueMix. Launched in February of this year, the platform offers developers tools to create and run new apps for business. Unusually for a project of its size, it came together fast. A team of IBMers took only about 18 months to build BlueMix from initial concept, through technical underpinnings and design, to beta testing and marketing.

????Phil Gilbert, Big Blue’s general manager of design, who led the BlueMix project, thinks it’s no coincidence that the dozens of engineers, developers, and designers who worked on it are scattered all over the world and have rarely, if ever, sat down with each other at the same time and place. “You get much more diversity of thought with virtual teams,” Gilbert says. “A well-run virtual team comes up with, not just more ideas, but better ones, and faster.”

????It seems BlueMix was no fluke. Adam Kingl, executive director of learning solutions at London Business School, has studied teams and consulted with managers at more than 120 companies, across a range of industries, from pharmaceuticals to retailing to banking. “When it comes to innovation or solving complex problems, virtual teams often get better and faster results,” he says. “And that is true whether you’re looking at teams in different office locations around the world, or teams that simply have some members telecommuting from home.”

????The key, Kingl says, is to brainstorm using the BlueMix approach, a technique some companies call an “idea jam.” Instead of a teleconference or conference call that brings everyone together (no matter what time zone they may be in), an idea jam poses a question or describes a problem and then gives the whole team a chance to weigh in online, typically over a 48-hour period, via a message board or chat room.

????Letting people make comments and suggestions on their own schedule contributes to “a meritocracy of ideas” in a couple of ways, says Kingl. First, the group dynamics are different. Whether in person or online all at the same time, team members “often agree with a dominant person—either the most senior, or simply the loudest or most persuasive—to keep the peace,” Kingl observes.

????By contrast, opening up a forum for discussion where people weigh in one by one “prompts the participants to evaluate ideas based on their merit, rather than deferring to one team member,” he says. Phil Gilbert agrees. People who might otherwise hesitate to disagree with a colleague directly—even if they have a better idea—are bolder in an asynchronous, idea-jam-type setting. “It’s not confrontational, more just contributing a different opinion,” he says.

????That’s especially true for teams with members who are introverts, notes Kingl. “Introverted people often have valuable insights to contribute, but they often take time to formulate their thoughts,” he says. “In traditional meetings, they may not get that.” With a couple of days to speak up, instead of a couple of hours, introverts are more likely to be heard.

????When team members are all together in one place or at one time, the result is sometimes “a tendency toward groupthink,” Gilbert adds. Since BlueMix is a global platform, he says, “we very deliberately put the team on every continent, in Canada, India, Brazil, England, and so on. So even when the whole group came together online, what had happened in between was very different because the locations and cultures were so different.” That approach breeds innovation, he says, by eliciting “not just diverse ideas, but independently developed ideas,” he says. “It can lead to great outcomes.”