????親愛的安妮：你怎么看“正念”這種理念？我的團隊來了一位新上司，他總是提到這個詞，比如“讓我們以正念的方式思考這件事”或“我希望大家盡可能以正念的方式解決這件事?！蔽也⒉幌氤姓J我對他的理念一無所知，所以我在維基百科（Wikipedia）進行了一番搜索，很明顯，所謂正念是指專注于當下所發生的事情，它源自一種古老的佛教信徒禪修技巧。好吧，您能否解釋一下如何將這種理念應用于新金融工具的營銷（這正是我們的工作）？您和您的讀者是怎么看大這種理念的？它是否有些用處，或者僅僅是另一種只能流行一時的管理潮流？——S.B.

????親愛的S.B.：與許多職場趨勢一樣，這種理念在幾年前席卷硅谷，之后開始向東轉移。西海岸的思想者通過修習佛法尋求啟迪的做法并不新鮮——史蒂夫?喬布斯曾在印度跟隨上師修行很長時間，并由一位僧人主持婚禮。但不同的是，“正念”已經被許多大公司采用?！罢睢被诠糯鸾绦叛?，并以先進的神經科學為依據。

????比如：谷歌（Google）不僅在內部提供正念培訓，還在2012年創立了“尋找你內在的領導力學院”（Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute ），希望將這種技巧傳授給感興趣的人。蘋果（Apple）、麥肯錫（McKinsey）、寶潔（Procter & Gamble）、通用磨坊（General Mills）、福特（Ford）和基因泰克（Genentech）等公司雖然各有特點，但這些公司均開始為員工提供包括冥想在內的正念訓練?，F在，這種理念也流行到商學院。從本月開始，紐約大學（New York University）及該校斯特恩商學院（Stern School of Business）的本科商學專業學生與MBA申請者，也將學習正念課程。

????到底什么是正念？研究心理學家史蒂芬?麥肯齊曾寫過一本書，名為《職場正念：如何避免壓力，實現卓越，享受生活》（Mindfulness at Work: How to Avoid Stress, Achieve More, and Enjoy Life）。他將正念總結為“專注于事物本質，不受其他事物的干擾”。他提到大量最新的科學依據，證明冥想和與之相關的心理習慣，可以改變大腦應對壓力的方式，提高創造力，使人們做出更理性的決策。

????Dear Annie:What do you think about this idea called “mindfulness”? My team at work has a new boss who is always mentioning it, as in “Let’s try to be mindful about this” or “I want us to approach that as mindfully as we can.” Not wanting to admit I had no idea what he meant, I looked it up on Wikipedia and it’s evidently the practice of focusing on the present and comes from an ancient Buddhist meditation technique. Okay, but can you explain how it applies to, for example, marketing new financial instruments (which is what we do)? And do you and your readers think there is something to it, or is it just another management fad? — Skeptical Banker

????Dear S.B.:Like so many workplace trends, this one swept Silicon Valley a few years ago and has since drifted eastward. There’s nothing new about Left Coast thinkers seeking enlightenment through Buddhist practices—Steve Jobs spent a lot of time with gurus in India, and he was married by a Zen priest. What is different about this, though, is that “mindfulness,” which is based on ancient Buddhist beliefs and backed up by cutting-edge neuroscience, has been adopted by so many big organizations.

????Consider: Google not only offers mindfulness training in-house, but in 2012 it started a school called the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute to spread the technique to anyone who’s interested in it. Companies as different from each other as Apple, McKinsey, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Ford, and Genentech are also teaching mindfulness, including meditation, to employees. Now, the concept is spreading to the business schools. Starting this month, undergraduate business students and MBA candidates at New York University and its Stern School of Business will take mindfulness courses.

????So what is mindfulness, exactly? Stephen McKenzie, a research psychologist who wrote a book called Mindfulness at Work: How to Avoid Stress, Achieve More, and Enjoy Life, sums it up as “focusing our attention on what is, rather than being distracted by what isn’t.” He points to reams of recent scientific evidence that meditation, and mental habits related to it, can rewire how the brain responds to stress, boost people’s creativity, and lead to more rational decision-making.