長期以來,，科技界都受到“奇葩面試題”的誤導(dǎo)。如今,，始作俑者谷歌都轉(zhuǎn)變思路,，利用全新理念及工具來判斷應(yīng)聘者素質(zhì)。

“一輛校車可以裝多少個高爾夫球,？”

曾幾何時,，谷歌和其他大型科技公司都以這種奇葩面試題而聞名于世。背后的原因似乎不難理解：這些古怪問題可以判斷出一位潛在員工的思維獨創(chuàng)性和分析能力,，從而幫助公司招聘到具備創(chuàng)造力的優(yōu)秀人才,。

問題在于，谷歌發(fā)現(xiàn),，這種策略實際上并不能預(yù)測人們的工作能力,。相反，該公司意識到，最好向潛在員工提出一些與他們未來實際工作相關(guān)的問題,。這一轉(zhuǎn)變是人力資源學(xué)者們多年來潛心研究的結(jié)果,。

吸取這種教訓(xùn)后，谷歌現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為“循證管理”的擁護(hù)者,，致力于充分利用其人力分析部門的內(nèi)部數(shù)據(jù),，同時與學(xué)術(shù)界密切合作。

谷歌還推出了一個名為re:Work的新網(wǎng)站,，希望借助這一令人印象深刻的舉措,，將這種全新的管理理念傳播出去，為其他公司提供幫助,。這家網(wǎng)站試圖通過分享最佳管理實踐,，“將工作變得更好”。

這家網(wǎng)站被描述為谷歌的經(jīng)驗庫,，收集了谷歌和其他公司的大量案例研究,。目前，re:Work尚處在起步階段,。不過,，已有的大量信息主要圍繞四個關(guān)鍵領(lǐng)域——招聘、管理,、多元化和分析,。

此外，網(wǎng)站上分享的信息,，也為我們提供了寶貴的機會,，深入了解谷歌如何讓員工保持高水平的創(chuàng)造力和創(chuàng)新力。

以下是re:Work網(wǎng)站上總結(jié)的谷歌促進(jìn)創(chuàng)新的最佳實踐,。

預(yù)測績效

實際上,，通過奇葩難題來判斷員工創(chuàng)造力的公司，遠(yuǎn)不只谷歌一家,，但谷歌卻是第一家公開承認(rèn)這種做法無效的公司,。

一家公司往往很難準(zhǔn)確識別和管理創(chuàng)造型人才，問題的根源在于對創(chuàng)造力本身存在誤解,。許多人認(rèn)為,，創(chuàng)造力是一種神奇的事物，是靈光乍現(xiàn),，沒有辦法培養(yǎng)或管理,。但多年的創(chuàng)造力研究卻顯示，事實并非如此,。

我們不僅可以發(fā)現(xiàn)哪些人在工作中會有創(chuàng)造性的表現(xiàn),，還可以通過培訓(xùn)提高創(chuàng)造力，管理創(chuàng)造性績效。

相比其他不太復(fù)雜的績效形式,，這種做法可能難度更大,，但有研究顯示，有許多方法可以發(fā)現(xiàn)創(chuàng)造性人才,，在招聘時可根據(jù)一系列清晰的特征對求職者進(jìn)行評估,，例如知識、技能,、能力,，以及諸如個性等其他特征。

培養(yǎng)管理者

說起管理者,，谷歌分享了它犯過的另一個錯誤——這家公司曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為管理者并不重要,，甚至可能會扼殺創(chuàng)造力。后來谷歌發(fā)現(xiàn),，如果沒有管理者,，員工會因為各種令人分心的任務(wù)而不堪重負(fù)，最終將傷害創(chuàng)造力,。

這種觀點得到了研究的支持,。事實上，管理（以及它的近親——領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力）對培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)造力至關(guān)重要,。

借助于人力分析工具,，谷歌發(fā)現(xiàn)了8 種有助于提高管理者效率的特征。事實證明,，其中有幾種特征能夠?qū)T工創(chuàng)造力產(chǎn)生積極影響,。

這些特征包括放權(quán)，不進(jìn)行微觀管理,，關(guān)心員工的成功和個人福利，為團(tuán)隊確立共同的愿景和策略,，具備一些能夠讓管理者為團(tuán)隊提供建議和評估創(chuàng)造性想法的技術(shù)專長,。

管理多元化

許多人相信，多元化肯定能夠提高創(chuàng)新力,。你或許認(rèn)為,，將一群不同背景的人放在一起，能夠自動帶來創(chuàng)造性想法,。雖然有證據(jù)證明,，多元視角確實有助于培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)造力，但也可能因為誤解而導(dǎo)致更多沖突,。

這個問題的關(guān)鍵在于偏見對人們相互交流方式的影響,。偏見會影響個人和團(tuán)隊的合作能力，可能導(dǎo)致團(tuán)隊成員和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者因為提出想法的人而反對這種想法，而不管想法本身的好壞——最終將阻礙公司創(chuàng)新,。

為了幫助員工了解和管理無意識的偏見,，谷歌推出了一系列旨在“排除偏見”的活動，甚至提供工具幫助其他公司組織自己的“排除偏見”討論會,。研究顯示,，排除偏見討論會中經(jīng)常討論的一種技巧——更換視角——可以用來利用多元視角的好處，進(jìn)而促進(jìn)團(tuán)隊的創(chuàng)造力,。

團(tuán)隊動力

谷歌在re:Work上發(fā)布了一項關(guān)于團(tuán)隊合作的最新研究成果,。這項研究顯示，重要的不是團(tuán)隊中有哪些人,，而是團(tuán)隊成員之間的互動方式,。

谷歌提出了預(yù)測成功團(tuán)隊的五個指標(biāo)：心理安全感，可依賴性,，結(jié)構(gòu)與透明,，工作的意義和工作的影響。谷歌注意到,，對團(tuán)隊成功影響最大的團(tuán)隊動力是心理安全感,，即在分享想法和彼此示弱的時候，團(tuán)隊成員的內(nèi)心究竟有多么舒適自在,。

事實證明,，心理安全感有助于知識分享，增強活力和促進(jìn)學(xué)習(xí),。有鑒于此,，它能成為團(tuán)隊和組織培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)造力的重要方式，一點也不令人意外,。

谷歌的新網(wǎng)站re:Work不僅提供促進(jìn)創(chuàng)新的有用信息和工具,，分享自己的最佳實踐，還建立一個“中心”收集“將工作做得更好”的方法,，這本身就是一次顯著的創(chuàng)新,。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

本文作者塔瑪拉?弗雷德里希現(xiàn)任沃里克大學(xué)創(chuàng)業(yè)與創(chuàng)新學(xué)副教授,。

譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

“How many golf balls could you fit in a school bus?”

This is the kind of question Google and its big tech brethren were once known for asking would-be employees. The reasoning behind the technique seemed intuitive. Ask people odd questions, see how original and well analyzed their thought process was, and you’ll end up hiring creative high-performers.

The trouble is, Google has discovered that the strategy doesn’t actually predict people’s ability to do the job. Instead, it found that it’s best to ask structured questions related to what prospective employees will actually be doing—something that had been studied for many years by HR scholars.

Having learned its lesson, Google has since become a champion of evidence-based management, utilizing internal data through its People Analytics department (its version of HR) and built close relationships with academics. In an impressive move, Google is now paying it forward and trying to help other organizations through its new sitere:Work, which aims to “make work better” by sharing management best practice.

The re:Work site, described as a repository of Google’s experience and case studies from other organizations, is still in its infancy. But there is already a wealth of information around four key areas—hiring, management, diversity, and analytics.

The information shared throughout the site also provides valuable insight into how Google maintains a high level of creativity and innovation in its workforce.

Below are some of Google’s best practices from re:Work that are known to foster innovation.

Predicting performance

Google is not the only organization that has used brainteasers to identify creative individuals, but it may be the first to publicly admit that they are ineffective.

The trouble with accurately identifying and managing creative talent often stems from misconceptions of what creativity is. Many believe that creativity is something magical—a burst of insight—that cannot be developed or managed. Many years of creativity research has shown this is not the case, however.

Not only can we identify individuals likely to perform creatively on the job, we can also train them to be more creative, as well as manage creative performance.

While it may be more difficult than less complex forms of performance, there is research that shows there are methods for identifying creative performers, and a clear pattern of characteristics that can be assessed when hiring, including knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics such as personality.

Developing managers

When it comes to managers, Google GOOG -0.02% shares another mistake it’s made—thinking that managers don’t matter, and may even kill creativity. Instead it found that, without managers, employees were left overwhelmed with distracting tasks which can actually hurt creativity.

The research supports this. Management (and its close cousin, leadership) are actually quite important to fostering creativity.

Using its people analytics tools, Google identifiedeight characteristics in particular that made its managers effective, and several of these have been shown to be positively related to employee creativity.

They include empowering your team and not micromanaging, being attentive to employees’ success and personal well-being, establishing a shared vision and strategy for the team, and having technical expertise that allow them to adequately advise the team and evaluate creative ideas.

Managing diversity

Many believe that diversity is a sure-fire way to increase innovation. You might expect that by assembling a diverse mix of people, you are automatically more likely to get creative ideas from their different perspectives. While there is some evidence to suggest that diverse perspectives do help foster creativity, it can also lead to increased conflict due to misunderstanding.

At the heart of this problem is the effect of bias on the way people interact with one another. Bias can hinder individuals’ and teams’ abilities to work together, and may also lead team members and leaders to dismiss ideas based on who they came from rather than their merit—ultimately hindering the organization’s innovation.

To help employees understand and manage their unconscious biases, Google has developed a set of “unbiasing” programs that help employees understand and manage their biases, and even provide tools for other organizations to facilitate their own unbiasing workshops. Research has shown that perspective-taking, a technique discussed in the unbiasing workshop, can be used to capitalize on the benefits of diverse perspectives and promote creativity in teams.

Team dynamics

A new post to Google’s re:Work blog reveals findings from a new internal study on teamwork. It revealed that it wasn’t who was on the team that mattered so much as how who was on the team interacted.

Google identified five key predictors of successful teams: psychological safety, dependability, structure and clarity, meaning of work, and impact of work. It noticed that the team dynamic found to have the most significant influence on team success was psychological safety, which is how comfortable team members are in sharing ideas and being vulnerable with one another.

Given that psychological safety has been shown to facilitate knowledge sharing, vitality, as well as learning, it is no surprise that it is consistently found to be one of the key ways in which teams as well as organizations can foster creativity.

Not only does Google’s new re:Work site provide useful information and tools for fostering innovation, its willingness to share its best practices and build a hub of ideas for ways to “make work better” is a remarkable innovation in and of itself.

Tamara Friedrich is an associate professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Warwick. This piece was originally published onThe Conversation.