Like many workers, Ivelisse Rivera, a physician at Community Health Center, Middletown, Conn., feels stressed-out by mounting workloads. And she didn't expect to get much help during her employer's annual staff meeting last November -- just the usual speeches on medical issues.

像很多上班族一樣，康涅狄格州Middletown市社區(qū)衛(wèi)生中心的醫(yī)生里韋拉被越來越多的工作壓得喘不過氣來。在去年11月單位召開的年度員工大會上，她也沒有指望能得到多大的幫助，以為這次會議就是些關(guān)于醫(yī)療問題的老生常談。

　　
Instead, she got a big dose of something new: Happiness coaching. Keynote speaker Shawn Achor -- a former Harvard University researcher and former co-teacher of one of the university's most popular courses, Positive Psychology -- extolled 90 listening employees to shake off dark moods at work by practicing such happiness-inducing techniques as meditation or expressing gratitude.

但她獲得了某種新潁的“藥劑”：快樂指導(dǎo)。主旨發(fā)言人是曾在哈佛大學(xué)做過研究員、并與人一起講授該校熱門課程“積極心理學(xué)”的阿克爾。他實施了冥想和表達感謝等快樂引導(dǎo)術(shù)，來激勵90位聽課的員工擺脫工作中的灰暗情緒。

　　
To her surprise, Dr. Rivera says, she drove home filled with thoughts about cheering up; 'if I assume a negative attitude and complain all the time, whoever is working with me is going to feel the same way.'

里韋拉說，開車回家的路上，她滿腦子都是怎樣振作起來的想法，這讓她很意外。她說，如果我心態(tài)消極，一直不停地抱怨，誰與我一起工作都會有同樣的感覺。

　　
Happiness coaching is seeping into the workplace. A growing number of employers, including UBS, American Express, KPMG and the law firm Goodwin Procter, have hired trainers who draw on psychological research, ancient religious traditions or both to inspire workers to take a more positive attitude -- or at least a neutral one. Happiness-at-work coaching is the theme of a crop of new business books and a growing number of MBA-school courses.

快樂指導(dǎo)課程正在進入各種工作環(huán)境。越來越多的雇主都聘請了培訓(xùn)師，利用心理學(xué)研究成果、古代宗教傳統(tǒng)或兩者的融合，激勵員工擁有一種更加積極的心態(tài)，或至少是一種不消極的心態(tài)。這些雇主包括瑞銀，美國運通，畢馬威，以及律師事務(wù)所Goodwin Procter。針對上班族的快樂指導(dǎo)是一大批商業(yè)類新書的主題，也是越來越多MBA課程的主題。

　　
Critics say that pushing positive thinking is just a way for companies to improve morale while they continue to burden employees with the threat of layoffs and an ever-increasing workload. Barbara Ehrenreich's recent book, 'Bright-sided,' blames 'positive thinking' for enabling people to avoid confronting a wide range of serious problems in the economy and workplace.

批評者說，公司推行積極思維，不過是為了讓員工在繼續(xù)承擔失業(yè)威脅和不斷加大的工作量之際，還能有更高的士氣。埃倫瑞奇的新書《面向光明》指責說，“積極思維”讓人們得以逃避面對經(jīng)濟和工作中的一系列重大問題。