任何事物都有其美感。或者更准确地说，只要我们有善于发现美的眼睛，任何事物都会散发出熠熠光辉。我们总是习惯于在美丽的画作、悠扬的旋律、动人的角色中去欣赏美、感受美。可是我们却不太习惯于从工厂里流畅运作的装配线或者需求得到满足的客户那里发现美。其实，美也同样蕴含于规律性、功用性的活动中，只要你能驻足观察便能发现美之所在。
如何着装、如何写备忘录、如何举办晚会、如何设计或宣传产品—我们在生活中的方方面面展示着美。这些日常生活中对美的体验与我们在工作中所展示的技能、我们所做的幻灯片演示以及我们所撰写的简历一样体现着我们的性格特征。在表现个人本质上，事物艺术的一面所传达的信息比事实的一面要丰富得多。
所谓美感，指的是消费者从一件物品上所体验到的风格、结构与节奏。拉夫·劳伦（Ralph Lauren）与Gap这些服饰零售商们谨慎地构建着旗下品牌的美感—它们各自向中产阶级消费者传递那些衣食无忧的富人们与年轻一代的审美情趣。西南航空（Southwest Airlines）、瑞安航空（Ryanair）与捷蓝航空（JetBlue）则兼具一种既经济又艺术的美—机票虽然便宜，乐趣却是无穷。IBM的美感在于它提供给客户的尊贵体验—与世界一流的卖家合作，这个卖家不但声名赫赫，而且常常走在科技的前沿。
不论是在艺术界还是在商界，给人以美感都意味着要寻找创新的方式来满足受众的主观需求，在此过程中还要向竞争对手学习。
商业中的艺术流程是由三个环节所构成的，分别为：创造、展示以及交流。在创造环节，你要驾驭好灵感；在展示环节，你要勤于练习，这样才能够让外界看到你最优秀的一面；在交流环节，你要与受众有情感上的交流。这三个阶段作为一个整体与其说是商业管理的另一种方式，倒不如说是帮助你发现工作中真正重要的东西的另一条途径。如果管理中艺术流程与经济流程能够同步进行，那么从输入到产出的工作就会更简单,更有趣,更高效。
驾驭灵感 提升创造能力
创造力是指发挥想象力，创造出独特、新颖的点子或事物的能力。也许你会认为整个创造过程是无法驾驭的，然而事实并非如此。实际上，创造的过程也要经历一系列可预测的阶段，其流程类似于经济流程，因此也是理性的、可预测的。
有效地驾驭灵感可以提高人们的创造能力以及企业的生产能力。下面仔细探讨一下在创造过程中需要你注意的几个环节。
1、产生直觉。我们对很多事物都会产生直觉，或者说本能的感觉。直觉可能是在你的脑海里隐约闪烁的某样东西，它令你观察到了事物的不寻常之处，使你对环境有了全新的认识。
在一次欧洲之旅中，舒尔茨（Howard Schultz）注意到欧洲的咖啡馆星罗棋布。与美国的咖啡馆不同，欧洲的咖啡馆提供的咖啡种类远不止普通咖啡和脱咖啡因咖啡两种。他们还提供舒适的环境，客人爱坐多久就坐多久。有许多客人甚至愿意支付一点额外的费用来获得这种体验。舒尔茨回到西雅图后把这种直觉的认识变成了星巴克（Starbucks）。
2、沉浸其中。对于画家来说，沉浸意味着在准备一件作品前，他必须了解调色板上的各种色彩，了解需要使用的材料，了解将它们揉合在一起会产生什么样的效果。对于作曲家来说，沉浸意味着学习所有乐器的发音及其缺陷。对于雄心勃勃的经理人来说，沉浸意味着要去了解企业的核心能力。对经理人而言，在主要业务部门轮流锻炼一番可能比直接垂直升迁要花费更长的时间，但经历这一过程可能让你变得更加优秀。在家族企业中，年轻一辈往往从物流部门开始事业的第一步，然后再从事销售、生产、财务工作。了解一件事情的最佳途径就是亲身学习如何去做这件事。
3、酝酿想法。在有了亲身实践之后、尚未恍然大悟之前的这段时间是你筛选、融会、整理，并质疑为什么发现真理需要耗时如此之久的阶段。不论是因为一个句子反复修改了5遍，还是调色一再失败，或是因为犹豫而无法做出决定，或是再次召开会议讨论行动方案，你总会觉得自己在耽搁时间。其实这是创造过程中必不可少的一个阶段，就像酒要越陈才越香，用于做家具的木材要风干。艺术家们要调弦试音，技工们要修修补补，经理人也有很多事情需要掂量平衡。各行各业都要经历这一阶段，所谓机遇青睐有备者也。
拿做菜打个比方，厨师在考虑了所有可能使用的烹饪配料后，对自己想做的菜式有了一个初步的构想，然后他要开始费时筛选、煨炖、混合，并且尝试配料产生的不同味道。如果一切顺利，试味那一刻他会大叫：“就是这个味道！”这正是创造流程中谈得最多却被人了解得最少的阶段。就脑力而言，这是整个流程中最具艺术性却最不经济性的一个环节，也是持续时间最短的环节。
当你深深沉浸于工作之中、全神酝酿之际，灵光会突然闪现。有时你可以预感到它们即将出现，但大多数情况下它们却是在最出乎意料的时候偷偷潜入你的脑海。
提供豪华轿车服务的Boston Coach之所以得以创建，是因为富达投资公司（Fidelity Investments）当时的CEO约翰逊（Ned Johnson）注意到他下面的经理人出行需要频繁用车。为什么不在这一领域开拓商机呢？富达比其竞争对手更懂得如何利用信息技术来提高资本的利用效率，而且公司自身已经产生了足够的需求来启动这门生意。
最频繁出现的灵光是对于已经做过的事情突然醒悟。你既高兴又尴尬，因为在灵光出现的刹那自己竟毫无察觉，等注意到的时候，灵光已经一闪而过了。
4、验证想法。从想法到完成的过程并不是一条简单的直线，除非你是舒伯特（Franz Schubert）这样从不修改任何音符的天才。成功的创意是在反复试验、不断摸索中实现的。爱迪生就很熟悉这个过程，不论是在创意形成阶段还是实施阶段。有一次，有人请他解释刚刚失败的一次试验，他说他并没有失败，只不过是了解到又一种不能奏效的方法。把创意付诸实施既可以证明它是可行的，也可以证明它是不可行的，很矛盾，不是吗？
勤于练习 展示优秀一面
优秀的领导者就像优秀的舞者一样，一举一动都充满感染力。只要他们一走进房间，所有的注意力都会转向他们。他们有一种王者风范，这种光环令人觉得不论他们说什么都必须认真聆听，无论他们做什么都相当重要。他们的“表演”、他们与其他人的交流甚至在他们开口说话之前就已经开始了。
把这种能力称为天赋是不对的。其实，这种气势来自于坚持不懈的练习，只为展现你最优秀的一面的那一刻。卓越的表现源自平时的勤奋练习，以及随之而培养出来的气势。
在商界中，勤于练习者屈指可数。的确，我们会接受不少的培训，比如上大学或商学院或偶尔参加培训课程。但是，人们要隔多久才会练习一次诸如演讲、写作、谈判、销售或指导等基本的技能呢？这个间隔通常是非常久的。在这个讲究“及时”（just-in-time）与“边做边学”（learning-by-doing）的世界，专门拨出时间定期磨练基本技能的人凤毛麟角。
有的时候，你可以看到人们在为某些事情做准备，但准备不同于练习。在拜访一个重要客户之前，人们通常会先准备好提案，准备好如何应对可能碰到的反对意见。在进行一次重要的讲演之前，经理人会按照顺序排列好所有的幻灯片，核对所有数据，然后以一种单调、空洞的语调敷衍了事地排练一遍。在排练中，他们只注意纠错或者调整话筒的高低，却忽略了演讲的语调、效果、措辞以及整体质量。他们所做的是计划而不是练习，是经济的而不是艺术的流程。
成功艺术家与失败艺术家之间的区别不仅仅在于天赋，还在于他们年幼时与成年后花在练习上的时间。年轻的芭蕾舞演员每天要花三到四个小时上舞蹈课，他们要一遍又一遍拉伸身体，做把杆训练，反复练习基本动作。只有这样，他们才能够在表演的时候保证动作准确、优美，因为每一个动作已经是习惯成自然了，即所谓的“肌肉记忆”。有研究证明真正的记忆不仅仅存在于大脑里，也确确实实存在于肌肉中—舞蹈家的腿中、音乐家的手指中。
对白领们来说，“肌肉记忆”是一种象征的说法，但作用也不可小觑。例如，刚毕业的MBA在加入麦肯锡咨询公司（McKinsey & Company）开始顾问生涯时，都必须接受一系列关于如何撰写解决方案推介稿的培训。培训的前提是他们已经懂得如何使用幻灯片，所以培训的目的是训练他们以严谨的结构来组织自己的推介稿，使它的逻辑更严密。为了实现流畅的陈述，每个幻灯片都需要有一个完整的叙事结构，包括背景描述、事件的发展以及事件的影响。每个幻灯片都必须有一个言之有物的标题，例如“最佳增长方式：收购”，而非“增长的三条途径”。由于公司里每个人在顾问生涯的早期就已经得到如此多的培训和练习，快速撰写优质的推介稿对他们来说就容易多了。
练习还意味着在公开表演前先要反复操练指定曲目。交响乐团在准备表演前，即便是对每个成员早已熟记于心的老曲老调，也必定要排练。问问音乐演奏家们为什么列文（James Levine）能成为如此伟大的指挥家，大部分人会告诉你，那是因为他极其重视乐团排练，并在上面花费了大量时间。这正是大都会歌剧院管弦乐团（Metropolitan Opera Orchestra）享誉美国的一个主要原因。
与艺术家们一样，商界人士也非常地重视自己的表现，只不过他们的表现是通过完成核心任务的多少来进行衡量的。这里所使用的衡量标准通常是用数字来表达的，例如“第四季度的销售额上升了10%”。
不过，商界普遍低估了表现的另一个含义，至少与在艺术界相比是如此，那就是表现的过程。表现的过程就是一个让人觉得你所做的任何事情都十分有趣、有意义的过程。任何听完整场乏味演讲的人都知道，只要台上的人明白如何将戏剧的因素和个人魅力融入他们的演讲之中，那么演讲效果就会好得多。
在你以艺术的方式展示你的工作成果时，你不是简单地把它抛给市场，而是呈现给市场。你要专注于自己的表现，发挥你的个人魅力，令你的成果推介“活色生香”。
交流情感 与客户亲密合作
舞蹈家、演员、音乐家，或者被观众的热情所鼓舞，或者因为观众的冷漠而绝望。也就是说，观众可以把活力送返给舞台上的表演者，也可以拒绝送返。顾客对企业也可以施加同样的影响。不论是在艺术领域还是在商界，创造的流程不是单行道，而是情感的交互。
优秀的销售人员都有多种与客户沟通的技能。能够说服一个人买车的销售卖点—比如，强调汽车的马力和具有市场竞争力的规格—不一定能在另一个只看重使用便捷性的人身上奏效。适合冲动型购买者的销售技巧与针对价格敏感者的销售技巧也大相径庭。如果销售人员能够觉察到顾客对什么感兴趣，对什么又不感兴趣，并及时调整销售策略，他就有可能成功说服顾客。简单地说，你要聆听顾客的需求。
不管我们是与消费者、观众、狂热的追随者还是终端用户打交道，都可以凭借艺术的敏锐性直抵他们的心房。这种艺术的敏锐性会帮我们将活力从他们那里汲取回来。舞台上的奇迹是观众与舞者共同缔造的；而情感上的共鸣也是观众与艺术家们一起唤醒的。
旧金山芭蕾舞团（San Francisco Ballet）的一位首席舞蹈演员回忆起他的一个经历。在某个周二的晚上，他在表演中感觉到自己与观众之间流淌着一股激情澎湃的情感流，因此他的演出更加出色。在周三的晚上，他表演得更为生动，然而观众却没有回报以同样的热情，至少比头一天的少了三分之一。他感到自己在失去观众的心，不得不花更大的力气把观众拉回到表演中来。 周末的时候，这位演员说：“我仔细回想了整个过程，后来意识到周三是套票附加的最后一晚表演，这些人观看全季表演的时间只有两年。而周二晚上的观众观看芭蕾的时间更长，他们更愿意去领悟它，去感受它。而我在周三的观众身上察觉到的却是他们的些许犹豫，他们悠闲地坐着旁观整个表演，却没有以同样的激情投入进来。”
另一样需要聆听的东西是“沉默”。当表演者知道他们与观众已经合二为一，随之而来的就是一种特殊的沉默，是那种你可以听到一根针掉到地上的声音的沉默，而不是观众神游他乡的沉默。著名演员克罗宁（Hume Cronyn）曾说：“剧院中最奇妙的时刻就是寂静无声的那一刻，那么安静，甚至连呼吸声也听不到。这就是说你已经完全抓住观众了！”
对商界人士来说，比聆听顾客更进一步的是与顾客建立伙伴关系。例如惠特曼（Meg Whitman）管理eBay的方式就是让用户社区决定自己的战略。当她的客户告诉她，eBay的支付系统不如贝宝（PayPal）的好时，她放弃了自己的支付系统，转而购买了这种更好的系统。
不论是在艺术界还是商界，成功的表演者都善于与客户合作，共同创造美好的体验，而失败的表演者就做不到这一点。如果合作成功，制造商与消费者会互相给予对方同等的热情，就像表演者与观众之间的互动一样。这种正确的方法可以将被动的接受者变为积极的参与者，创造双方之间的情感交流。
译文:
To Be Your Own Artist of Work
Everything has its own beauty,and to be more correctly,since we have the eyes of finding it,everything is sending out bright glory.We are always accustomed to appreciating and feeling the beauty of beautiful paintings,melodious melody or moving roles.However, we are not accustomed to doing the same thing from the smoothly-operated assembly line in the factory or from clients whose demands are satisfied.In fact,as long as you can observe carefully , beauty also contains to regular and functional activities.
How to ware clothes?How to write a memo?How to hold a party? How to design or publicise a product?We are showing the beauty in every aspect of our life.This experience of beauty shares the same way with showing our characteristics through skill demonstration at work,slide show we made or resume we composed.In the aspect of showing our essence,the artistic aspect of thing sends far more information than the fact.
The so-called sense of beauty means consumer's experience of style,structure and rhythm from a product .Those clothes retailors,such as Ralph Lauren and Gap,build the beauty of their brands carefully by respectively sending the taste of the rich and young who care little about money to middle-class consumers.And those airlines,such as Southwest Airlines,Ryanair and JetBlue, are of both ecnomic and artistic beauty -they are cheap, but they are also of infinite pleasure.And the beauty of IBM lies in the honored experience of clients -coorperating with a world-class seller who is not only of high reputation but also leading the science and technology.
No matter in the artist circle or business circle, sending beauty means satisfing the audience's subjective demand with creative way,in the process of which learning from competitors is needed.
The artistic flow in business circle are made of three processes:creation,verification and communication.In the process of creation, you should drive your inspiration properly.In the process of demonstration,you should practise diligently to let the outside know the best of you.In the process of communication,you should have the emotional exchange with your audience.These three stages,as a whole , are better to be treated as another way to find the real important thing at work than another managing style in business circle.If management is of both artistic flow and financial flow, the work from input to output would be simpler,more interesting and effective.
Driving your inspiration,improving your creativity.
Creativity is the ability to use one's imagination to create unique and novel ideas or things.Maybe you do think that the whole process of creation is hard to control, but that's not true.In fact, similar to fianancial flow,the process of creation also contains a series of predictable stages,therefore, it is also rational and predictable.
Driving inspiration effectively would improve people's creativity and enterprises' production.The following is the careful discussion of what should be noted in creation.
1.Having intuition.We may have the intuiton or instinct feeling on many things.Maybe intuition is something just indistinctly appeared in your mind ,but makes you observe the unusual point of a thing thus have a brand new idea of the environment.
In a journey,Howard Schultz noticed that coffee rooms spread all over the Europe.Unlike American ones,European coffee rooms provide far more than just ordinary coffee or non-caffeine
coffee-they also provide comfortable environment for customers to stay as they like.Many customers even pay a little extra fees to get this experience.When Schultz get back to Seattle,he put this intuition into Starbucks.
2.Being absorbed.As a painter, absorption means having a good command of all the colors on the palette,all the materials to use and the effect when they are put together.As a composer,absorption means learning the pronounciation and flaws of all musical instruments.As a ambitious manager,absorption means a good understanding of the core functions of an enterprise.It may take more time to practise in main departments in turns than been promoted directly,however,this process may make you more excellent.In family firms,young generation usually begins working in logistic department,and then to be engaged in sales, production and financial work.The best way to learn something is to do it by yourself.
3. Incubating ideas.The period after you start your work but before you finally see the light is the stage you screen, reorganize and sort out the ideas,and also the stage question why should you take such a long time to find out the truth.No matter you repeatedly revised a sentence for five times,or continuously failed to mix color, or being unable to make decisions for hesitation, or meeting again to discuss the plan of action,you wii always think that you are wasting time.In fact,like wine which is more fragrent by time, or timber should be airdried to make furniture,this is a necessary period in the process of creation. Artists have to chord line or test tone,machanics have to amend machines,and managers also have to ponder many things thorougly.The process of creation lies in every field,and this is also why oppertunity comes to those who prepared for it .
Take cooking for example,after taking all the would-be ingredients into consideration,the cooker would have a preliminary conceivability on what he wants to do. Then he begins to screen,stew and mix, and try the different flavor of ingredents.If everything is ok,at the moment he tastes,he would cry :"That's it !" In the whole process of creation, this is the stage been talked most but understood least,and as to the mind,this is the most artistic but least ecnomic stage,which also takes the least time.
When you are absorbed in work and concentrating on thinking,the inspiration comes suddenly.Sometimes you may predict it,but in most circumstances it just sneak into your mind unpredictably.
The reason for the establishment of Boston Coach, a provider of limousine service,is because Ned Johnson,CEO of Fidelity Investments,noticed that his fellow managers needed cars frequently.Fidelity Investments knows more about how to improve the usage of capital with information technology,and the company itself has enough demand to start car renting service,why shouldn't the company expand business in this field?
The most frequently appeared inspiration is the suddenly awakeness from what you have already done.You are happy and embarrassed,for you didn't realize it until you are awaken,and finally when you noticed ,the inspiration has gone.
4. Verifing ideas.Except you are Franz Schubert,the born genius never change any note,the process from idea to completion of it is not a simple line.A successful originality comes from repeated experiments and continuous exploration.Edison knew it clearly,no matter in the process of creation or implementation.One time,people asked him to talk about the last failed experiment,and he said he didn't fail but knew a new unuseful way. Implementing an idea can both prove its feasibility or unfeasibility ,that's contradictory ,right?
Practising diligently ang showing your talent.
Like excellet dancers, excellent leaders are very appeal in his every word and action.The moment they enter a house ,all attention would be paid to them.They are of king manner,and this glory makes people believe that their words should be listened and what they do must be very important.Before they say,their performance or communication with others begins.
It is not true to regard this ability as gift.In fact, this force,sreved only for the moment of showing the your best, comes from persistent practice.Excellent performance originated from diligent practice and the force cultivated by the practice.
Very few people practice deligently in business circle.Indeed, we have quite a lot of trainings ,such as going to university or business college or attending training courses.However,how long can we get a chance to practise those basic skills such as presentation,writing,negotiation,sales or instruction?This interval is usually very long.In such a world particularing about just-in-time and learning-by-doing,it is extremely rare for people to spend time practising basic skills regularly.
Sometimes you may see somebody preparing for something,but that is not a practice.Before visiting an important client,people would prepare a proposal and solutions of the counterview.Before making an important presentation, the manager would arrange the slides in sequence and check all the data,then rehearse it with monotonous and empety tone.In the dry run,they just pay attention to correct errors or adjust the height of microphone,but they neglect the tone,the impact,the choice of words and the whole quality of presentation.What they have done is making plan rather than practice ,which is a financial rather than artistic process.
The difference between successful and failed artist lies not only in talent but also in time spend on practice during their childhood and adulthood.Young ballet dancers have to spend three or four hours on dancing classes every day.They have to practise the basic movements repeatedly,such as strenching bodies and doing the pole training.Only by this, they can keep correct and elegant in the performance,for they have already been used to every movement,that is the so-called "muscle memory". Study proves that the real memory exists not only in mind,but also in muscle --in dancers' legs and musicians' fingers.
As to white-collar,"muscle memory" is only a symbolic saying,but its functions shouldn't be neglected.For example,when the just gratuated MBAs enter McKinsey & Company beginning their consultant careers, they have to receive a serise of training on how to compose introduction plans for solutions.The precondition of the training is that they've already known how to use slides,therefore,the aim of the training is to teach them on how to organize a introduction plan with strict structure,so that to make the plan more logical.To make the presentation smoother, every slide should have a complete narrative structure,including background description,event development and impact followed.Every slide should have a concrete title,for example, the title could be "Purchase--The Best Way to Increase" rather than "Three Ways to Increase".Because every consultant has received so much training and practice in the early stage of their consultant career,it is easier for them to rapidly write high quality introduction plans.
Pratice also means rehearsing the appointed repertoire repeatedly before the public performance.Even if the old tune,which is word-perfect in every member of the symphony orchestra,it should be rehearsed before the performance.Asking those concert performers why James Levine became such an great conductor,most of them would tell you that he paid great attention to the dry run,and spent a lot of time on it.This is also the main reason why Metropolitan Opera Orchestra owns a worldwide reputation.
Like artists,business people also attach importance to their performance. The only difference is that their performance is weighed by the accomplishment of main tasks.And the yardstick here is expressed by statistics,for example "The sales of the fourth season increased by 10%".
However,at least compared with artist circle ,business circle generally undervalues the other significance of performance--the process of performance.The process of performance is what makes people think that everything you do is very interesting and significant.People who finished listening a boring presentation all know that if the speaker knows how to mix the dramatic factors and personal appeal into presentation the effect will be far more better.
When you are showing the result of your work in a artistic way,you are presenting rather than throwing it it to the market .You should concentrate on your performance and use your personal appeal to turn your introduction plan into remarkable one .
Emotional communication and closely cooperation with clients.
As dancers,actors or musicians,they are either been encouraged by audience's enthusiasm, or feel desperate by audience's apathy.Namely,the audience can send back vigor to performers,nor don't they.So do customers.No matter in the artist circle or in the business circle,the process of creation is not a one-way street but the exchange of emotion .
Excellent salesmen always have many skills on communicating with clients.A sale point,such as excellent horsepower or competitive specification,which can persurade one person to buy a car,may not useful to those who like user-friendly car.And the sales techniques between impulsive buyers and price-sensitive buyers are also extremely different.If salesman knows what customer like or dislike,and adjust sales strategy timely,he may persuade customer to buy.Simply speaking,you should know customer's demand through listening.
No matter we are dealing with consumers,audience,crazy pursuers or end users,we could touch their hearts by our artistic acuity, which could help us to draw back the vigor from them.The miracle on the stage is created by both dancers and audience,and the emotional sympathetic response is also awaken
by both of them.
The chief actor of San Francisco Ballet once memoried one of his experiences.At a Tuesday night,he sensed an pasionate emotional flow between the audience and him,therefore,he performed more excellent.The next night,he performed even more vividly but got less enthusiasm,at least one third off,he thought that the audience had lost interest to him,and in order to pull them back he had to work harder.At weekend,he said:"I pondered over the whole process,and then realized that Wednesday night is the last additional performance of that set of tickets,and they only have two years to watch all seasons' performance.Therefore, audience in Tuesday night had longer time to watch performance,and they are more willing to comprehensive and feel.But what I sensed from the audience on Wednesday was a little hesitation,they didn't plough into the performance as me,but leisurely sit there as onlookers."
Another thing need to be listened is "silence".When the performer knows that he has become one with the audience,the following is a special silence,in which,without fugue state, you can even hear a needle dropping on the floor.A famous actor,Hume Cronyn,once said:" The most wonderful moment in the theater is when it becomes very silent.It is so silent that you can not even hear your breathe.This silence proves that you have seized the heart of your audience."
As to businessmen,the next step to listening is establishing a partnership.For example,the way for Meg Whitman to manage eBay is to let user communities decide their own strateges.When her clients told her that the payment system of eBay is worse than that of PayPal,she gave up her own system and bought this better one.
No matter in artist circle or business circle,the successful performers are all good at cooperating with clients to create nice experience with mutual effort.But the failure are not able to do that.Like the exchange between dancers and audience,if the cooperation is a success,equal ethusiasm would be given to each other between manufacturers and consumers.This right way could creat emotional exchange for both parties by turning the passive receivers into active participants.