p.1 Mindfulness... can be best understood as the process of drawing novel distinctions. It does not matter whether what is noticed is important or trivial, as long as it is new to the viewer.

p.2 The process of drawing novel distinctions can lead to a number of diverse consequences, including (1) a greater sensitivity to one's environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving. The subjective "feel" of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakefulness or being in the present.

p.2 Those in the business world have been eager to utilize techniques that increase mindfulness in workers and managers. Studies of mindfulness in a business context have shown that increases in mindfulness are associated with increased creativity and decreased burnout

p.4 it is precisely the sensitivity to the novel and, therefore, unexpected... that is one of the key components of mindfulness.

p.7 Sternberg concludes that mindfulness cannot be absorbed into any of the existing categories - such as cognitive style or capability - that have been traditionally operationalized in cognitive psychology. [JLJ - our environment contains clues to the necessary level of mindfulness, and we seem programmed to read and react to these clues.]

p.7 much of the research already conducted reveals the powerful effect of mindfulness manipulations on creativity, attention, and learning... mindfulness keeps us situated in the present... Steven Reiss... reinterprets the construct of mindfulness as a combination of high curiosity with a low need for order.