Several years ago here at TED, Peter Skillman introduced a design challenge called the marshmallow challenge. And the idea's pretty simple: Teams of four have to build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow. The marshmallow has to be on top. And, though it seems really simple, it's actually pretty hard because it forces people to collaborate very quickly. And so, I thought this was an interesting idea, and I incorporated it into a design workshop. And it was a huge success. And since then, I've conducted about 70 design workshops across the world with students and designers and architects, even the CTOs of the Fortune 50, and there's something about this exercise that reveals very deep lessons about the nature of collaboration, and I'd like to share some of them with you.
Prije nekoliko godina, ovdje na TED-u, Peter Skillman je predstavio dizajnerski izazov zvan sljezov izazov. Ideja je prilično jednostavna. Timovi sačinjeni od četiri člana moraju sagraditi najvišu samostojeću strukturu koristeći 20 štapića špageta, traku dužine 90-ak cm, vrpcu dužine 90-ak cm i sljez. Sljez mora biti na vrhu. I, iako se čini dosta lagano, zapravo je prilično teško, jer prisiljava ljude da surađuju jako brzo. I tako sam ja pomislio kako je to zanimljiva ideja, koju sam ugradio u dizajnersku radionicu. I bila je jako uspješna. Od tada, izveo sam oko 70 dizajnerskih radionica po cijelom svijetu sa studentima i dizajnerima i arhitektima, čak i sa CTO-ima (direktor za tehnologije) unutar Fortune 50, i ima nešto u toj vježbi koja otkriva duboke lekcije o prirodi suradnje, a koje bih volio podijeliti sa vama.
So, normally, most people begin by orienting themselves to the task. They talk about it, they figure out what it's going to look like, they jockey for power. Then they spend some time planning, organizing, they sketch and they lay out spaghetti. They spend the majority of their time assembling the sticks into ever-growing structures. And then finally, just as they're running out of time, someone takes out the marshmallow, and then they gingerly put it on top, and then they stand back, and -- ta-da! -- they admire their work. But what really happens, most of the time, is that the "ta-da" turns into an "uh-oh," because the weight of the marshmallow causes the entire structure to buckle and to collapse.
Uobičajeno, većina se ljudi počinje orijentirati prema zadatku. Pričaju o tome, osmišljavaju kako će izgledati, nadmeću se za moć, zatim provedu neko vrijeme planirajući, organizirajući. Skiciraju i polože špagete. Većinu svog vremena provedu montirajući štapiće na stalno rastuće strukture i tada, konačno, kako se približavaju isteku vremena, netko uzme sljez i nježno ga stave na vrh, odmaknu se par koraka unatrag i Ta-da!, dive se svom radu. Ali ono što se zapravo događa, većinu vremena, jest da taj "ta-da" postaje "uh-oh," jer težina sljeza je uzrok što se cijela struktura savije i sruši.
So there are a number of people who have a lot more "uh-oh" moments than others, and among the worst are recent graduates of business school. (Laughter) They lie, they cheat, they get distracted and they produce really lame structures. And of course there are teams that have a lot more "ta-da" structures, and among the best are recent graduates of kindergarten. (Laughter) And it's pretty amazing. As Peter tells us, not only do they produce the tallest structures, but they're the most interesting structures of them all.
Postoji broj ljudi koji dožive više "uh-oh" trenutaka nego drugi, a među najgorima su nedavno diplomirani studenti poslovnih škola. (Smijeh) Lažu, varaju, daju se smesti, i grade doista jadne strukture. Naravno, postoje timovi koji imaju više "ta-da" struktura, a među najboljima su nedavno diplomirana djeca iz vrtića. (Smijeh) I prilično je nevjerojatno. Kao što nam Peter govori, ne samo da grade najviše strukture, već su to najzanimljivije strukture od svih.
So the question you want to ask is: How come? Why? What is it about them? And Peter likes to say that none of the kids spend any time trying to be CEO of Spaghetti, Inc. Right? They don't spend time jockeying for power. But there's another reason as well. And the reason is that business students are trained to find the single right plan, right? And then they execute on it. And then what happens is, when they put the marshmallow on the top, they run out of time and what happens? It's a crisis. Sound familiar? Right. What kindergarteners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow, and they build prototypes, successive prototypes, always keeping the marshmallow on top, so they have multiple times to fix when they build prototypes along the way. Designers recognize this type of collaboration as the essence of the iterative process. And with each version, kids get instant feedback about what works and what doesn't work.
Stoga pitanje koje želite postaviti glasi: Kako to? Zašto? Što to ima u njima? Peter voli reći kako "Nijedno dijete ne provodi vrijeme pokušavajući biti CEO Špageta Inc." Točno. Ne provode vrijeme nadmečući se za moć. Ali, isto tako postoji i drugi razlog. A razlog je taj što su studenti poslovne ekonomije istrenirani da pronađu jedan točan plan, točno. Onda ga oni izvršavaju. A što se onda dogodi jest, kada stave sljez na vrh, nemaju više vremena, i što se dogodi? Nastane kriza. Zvuči poznato? Točno. Ono što djeca iz dječjeg vrtića rade drugačije jest da oni počnu sa sljezom, i izrađuju prototipove, uspješne prototipove, uvijek zadržavajući sljez na vrhu, tako da mogu u više navrata popraviti loše prototipove uz put. Dizajneri su prepoznali takav tip suradnje kao srž iterativnog procesa. I sa svakom inačicom, djeca dobivaju trenutne povratne informacije o tome što prolazi, a što ne.
So the capacity to play in prototype is really essential, but let's look at how different teams perform. So the average for most people is around 20 inches; business schools students, about half of that; lawyers, a little better, but not much better than that, kindergarteners, better than most adults. Who does the very best? Architects and engineers, thankfully. (Laughter) Thirty-nine inches is the tallest structure I've seen. And why is it? Because they understand triangles and self-reinforcing geometrical patterns are the key to building stable structures. So CEOs, a little bit better than average, but here's where it gets interesting. If you put you put an executive admin. on the team, they get significantly better. (Laughter) It's incredible. You know, you look around, you go, "Oh, that team's going to win." You can just tell beforehand. And why is that? Because they have special skills of facilitation. They manage the process, they understand the process. And any team who manages and pays close attention to work will significantly improve the team's performance. Specialized skills and facilitation skills are the combination that leads to strong success. If you have 10 teams that typically perform, you'll get maybe six or so that have standing structures.
Dakle, mogućnost igranja s prototipovima je doista ključna, ali pogledajmo kako različiti timovi izvode zadatak. Za većinu ljudi prosjek je oko 50-ak cm, studenti poslovnih škola, oko polovice od toga, odvjetnici, malo bolje, ali ne puno bolje od toga, djeca iz vrtića, bolje nego većina odraslih. Tko je najbolji u tome? Arhitekti i inžinjeri, srećom. (Smijeh) 100-injak cm je bila visoka najviša struktura koju sam vidio. A zašto je to tako? Zato jer razumiju da su trokuti i samo-jačajući geometrijski uzorci ključni za izgradnju stabilnih struktura. Dakle, CEO-ovi, malo bolje od prosjeka. Ali ovdje tek postaje zanimljivo. Ako u tim stavite izvršnog administratora, dolazi do značajnog poboljšanja. (Smijeh) To je nevjerojatno. Znate, kada gledate okolo, i pomislite, "O, taj tim će pobijediti." Jednostavno to možete unaprijed reći. A zašto je tome tako? Zato jer imaju posebne vještine smanjivanja razine podražaja. Upravljaju procesom, razumiju proces. I svaki tim koji upravlja i poklanja veliku pažnju radu će značajno poboljšati izvedbu tima. Specijalizirane vještine i vještine smanjivanja razina podražaja su kombinacija koja vodi do snažnog uspjeha. Ukoliko imate 10 timova koji tipično sudjeluju, od toga ćete dobiti možda šest timova čije strukture stoje.
And I tried something interesting. I thought, let's up the ante, once. So I offered a 10,000 dollar prize of software to the winning team. So what do you think happened to these design students? What was the result? Here's what happened: Not one team had a standing structure. If anyone had built, say, a one inch structure, they would have taken home the prize. So, isn't that interesting? That high stakes have a strong impact. We did the exercise again with the same students. What do you think happened then? So now they understand the value of prototyping. So the same team went from being the very worst to being among the very best. They produced the tallest structures in the least amount of time. So there's deep lessons for us about the nature of incentives and success.
I pokušao sam nešto zanimljivo. Pomislio sam da jednom podignemo uloge. Pa sam ponudio softver u vrijednosti od 10.000 dolara kao nagradu pobjedničkom timu. Što mislite što se dogodilo s ovim studentima dizajna? Koji je bio rezultat toga? Ovo je što se dogodilo. Nijedan tim nije imao samostojeću strukturu. Kada bi netko sagradio, recimo, strukturu visoku 2,5 cm, mogao bi doma odnijeti nagradu. Dakle, nije li zanimljivo kako visoki ulozi imaju snažan utjecaj. Ponovili smo vježbu s istim studentima. Što mislite što se tada dogodilo? Sada razumiju vrijednost izrade prototipova. Tako je jedan tim koji je bio najgori postao jedan od najboljih. Izgradili su najveće strukture u najkraćem mogućem vremenu. To je, dakle, duboka lekcija za nas o prirodi poticaja i uspjeha.
So, you might ask: Why would anyone actually spend time writing a marshmallow challenge? And the reason is, I help create digital tools and processes to help teams build cars and video games and visual effects. And what the marshmallow challenge does is it helps them identify the hidden assumptions. Because, frankly, every project has its own marshmallow, doesn't it? The challenge provides a shared experience, a common language, a common stance to build the right prototype. And so, this is the value of the experience, of this so simple exercise.
Dakle, mogli biste pitati: Zašto bi itko posvetio svoje vrijeme pisanju "sljezovog izazova"? Razlog je taj da pomažem razviti digitalne alate i procese koji pomažu timovima izrađivati automobile i video igre i vizualne učinke. A ono što sljezov izazov radi jest da im pomaže identificirati skrivene pretpostavke. Jer, iskreno, svaki projekt ima svoj sljez, zar ne. Izazov pruža zajedničko iskustvo, zajednički jezik, zajednički stav da se izgradi pravi prototip. I dakle, to je vrijednost tog iskustva, te jednostavne vježbe.
And those of you who are interested may want to go to MarshmallowChallenge.com. It's a blog that you can look at how to build the marshmallows. There's step-by-step instructions on this. There are crazy examples from around the world of how people tweak and adjust the system. There's world records that are on this as well.
Za one koji su zainteresirani, mogu to pogledati na marshmallowchallenge.com. To je blog na kojem možete gledati kako izgraditi sljez. Postoje korak-po-korak upute o tome. Postoje ludi primjeri iz cijelog svijeta kako ljudi uštimavaju i prilagođavaju sustav. Postoje i svjetski rekordi u tome.
And the fundamental lesson, I believe, is that design truly is a contact sport. It demands that we bring all of our senses to the task, and that we apply the very best of our thinking, our feeling and our doing to the challenge that we have at hand. And sometimes, a little prototype of this experience is all that it takes to turn us from an "uh-oh" moment to a "ta-da" moment. And that can make a big difference.
Ključna lekcija je, vjerujem, kako je dizajn istinski kontaktni sport. Zahtjeva od nas da uključimo sva osjetila kod rješavanja zadatka, i primjenu naših najboljih razmišljanja, naše osjećaje i naša djela u rješavanju izazova koji nam je pri ruci. I, ponekad, malen prototip ovog iskustva jest sve što nam treba da prijeđemo od "uh-oh" trenutka do "ta-da" trenutka. A to može napraviti razliku.
Thank you very much.
Puno vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)