Fortune.com selects the most compelling short essays, anecdotes, and author interviews from "250 Words," a site developed by Simon & Schuster to explore the best new business books—wherever they may be published..

    财富网(Fortune.com)定期从网站“250字”(250 Words)挑选最引人入胜的短文、趣闻轶事和作者访谈。美国西蒙与舒斯国际出版公司(Simon & Schuster)开发了网站，旨在探讨世界各地最新出版的商业佳作。

    For this installment, 250 Words' Sam McNerney sits down with Adam Braun, the founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning nonprofit organization that has broken ground on more than 200 schools around the world. Braun is the author of the new book The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change, published this week by Scribner.

    本期，“250字”的山姆•麦克纳尼将与亚当•布劳恩促膝而谈。亚当•布劳恩是足迹遍及全球200多所学校的非盈利机构“希望的铅笔”（Pencils of Promise）创始人。布劳恩的新书《希望的铅笔：普通人带来非凡改变》（The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change）于本周由Scribner出版社出版。

    

    麦克纳尼：在《希望的铅笔》开头，你记录了自己早期环游世界的旅程。每到一个国家，你都会问当地的一个孩子：“如果你可以要世界上任何东西，你最想要什么？”请跟我们分享一下，什么样的答案让你决定创建“希望的铅笔”？

    布劳恩：最初决定环球旅行的时候，我希望把自己认为已知的所有东西抛在身后，敞开心胸去体验我所接触的不同文化。我在印度遇到一个乞讨的男孩，对于我的问题，他的回答非常简单但却出人意料——他的回答是“一支铅笔”。这个答案给我带来的震惊难以用言语解释。当时我便下定决心，给孩子提供接受教育的机会，比任何东西更能帮助他们挖掘自己的潜力。

    You took a job at Bain & Company after you graduated from college. Your time there contrasted with your life as an entrepreneur. What did you learn at Bain—in terms of skills and life lessons—that helped you develop PoP?

    My time at Bain & Company taught me how great companies operate and the value of culture. I honed my skills in those areas and applied them to building a successful company aimed at making a difference in the world.

    I enjoyed reading about one of PoP early contributors, Chelsea Canada. Could you tell the story about how you met her and how she embodied the growth PoP experienced early on?

    Chelsea Canada is the perfect example of how powerful of an impact one person can make. I met Chelsea at the first college speech I ever gave about PoP. Even though she was the only student to show up, her passion and interest in what PoP was doing started a ripple effect that made a profound long-term impact. It goes to show you just how much of a difference one person can make when they are invested in what they are doing.

    One of my favorite parts of the book documents a brief exchange you had with a businessman who referred to PoP as a "project." Tell us what you learned from that episode and why the label "nonprofit" is a misnomer.

    I learned the power of language to craft perceptions of the world around us. By labeling ourselves with a term like "nonprofit," we take the strength away from our work and instead focus on what we don't do rather than what we actually are doing. I decided to

    advocate for calling mission-driven organizations "for-purpose" regardless of tax status, and fortunately it's really caught on.

    Social media played an important role for PoP -- from the lucrative Chase Community Giving campaign to 17-year-old Kennedy Donnelly's bike trip across America to raise money for PoP. Looking back, how do you think social media helped PoP?

    One of the biggest challenges that you face when starting a new venture is gaining exposure. I knew that there was an astounding number of people across the globe that would want to be part of what PoP was doing, we just had to find them. Social media offers a quick way to reach a large amount of people. In short, social media has helped us spread the word about PoP, attracting passionate people with the power to spread our influence.

    I sense that music plays an important role in your business and personal life. You write about listening to the Rolling Stones and the Raconteurs in Southeast Asia, encouraging your employees to include their playlists in their email signatures. Near the end of the book, you recount a charming moment when you danced with kids in Ghana. What's the relationship between music, you, and PoP?

    Music is the universal language that we all speak and connect through, and it also has the ability to tap into an emotional center that words alone can rarely touch. I've been a big music fan my entire life, and it's helped catalyze and energize my days regardless of which country I'm in. I've always said that as long as I have a journal to write in and headphones in my ears, I'll be a happy man.

    Let's say I'm in an office right now. I'm terribly bored and unsatisfied with my work. I make a good salary and I'm a hard-working employee, but something is missing. Do you have any advice for me?

    Find that which speaks to you. Ask yourself "what makes me feel an undeniable, burning desire?" Discovering the answer to this question empowers you then to ask yourself the next question of "how can I use this passion to make a difference?" Then follow the 30 guiding steps that title each chapter of The Promise of a Pencil, and you'll live your way into the story you want your life to tell.

    你大学毕业后曾在贝恩公司（Bain & Company）工作。那段时间的经历与你作为创业者的生活格格不入。你从贝恩学到了哪些技能或者人生经验，帮你发展“希望的铅笔？”

    在贝恩公司的经历让我知道了一家公司的经营之道以及文化的价值。我不断磨练自己在这些领域的技能，利用它们去建立一家致力于影响世界的成功公司。

    我对涉及“希望的铅笔”初期参与者切尔西•卡纳达有关的部分非常感兴趣。能跟我们讲讲你与她结识的经历，以及她在“希望的铅笔”早期发展中的表现吗？

    切尔西•卡纳达有力地证明了一个人所能产生的影响。我在大学发表有关“希望的铅笔”的演讲时见到了切尔西。虽然她是唯一一个来听我演讲的学生，但她对“希望的铅笔”的热情和兴趣开始产生连锁反应，最终带来了深远的长期影响。她向我们证明，如果一个人全身心投入到自己的事业当中，能够带来多大的影响。

    书中记录了你和一位商人简短的交流，他把“希望的铅笔”称作“项目”。这一段是我最喜欢的部分之一。请谈谈这段插曲让你学到了什么？为什么说“非盈利”这个标签是用词不当？

    我懂得了语言的力量，它可以用来精心描述我们对周围世界的认识。我们给自己打上“非盈利”组织的标签，结果，我们没有把精力放在工作上，我们更关注我们没有做的事情，而不是我们正在做的事情。我倡导把任务驱动型组织称作“目的型”组织，而不是看它是否交税。幸运的是，这种叫法真的传开了。

    在“希望的铅笔”发展过程中，社交媒体发挥了重要作用——从有利可图的“社区慈善大赛”活动，到17岁少年肯尼迪•唐纳利骑行穿越美国为“希望的铅笔”募捐。回顾过去，你认为社交媒体给“希望的铅笔”带来了哪些帮助？

    创建一家新公司的时候面临的最大的挑战之一是获得足够的曝光率。我知道，世界上有无数人希望参与到我们的事业当中，我们要做的就是找到他们。而社交媒体则让我们可以迅速接触到更多人。简而言之，社交媒体帮助我们扩大了“希望的铅笔”的知名度，吸引了有激情的人们，利用他们的能力来扩大我们的影响力。

    我感觉在你的商业和个人生活中，音乐都有重要的地位。你写到在东南亚听滚石乐队（Rolling Stones）和The Raconteurs乐队的音乐，还鼓励员工在电子邮件签名中添加他们的音乐。在书的结尾部分，你回忆了在加纳和孩子们一起跳舞的有趣场景。音乐与你和“希望的铅笔”之间到底是一种什么关系？

    音乐是一种通用语言，人人都能说，可以通过音乐进行沟通，音乐也可以触碰光靠文字难以触动的情感中心。我是狂热的音乐爱好者，不论身在哪个国家，音乐就像催化剂，让我每天都精力充沛。我总说只要手里有一本笔记本，耳朵上戴上耳机，我就是一个快乐的人。

    比如，我现在做的是办公室里的工作。我的工作让我感到厌烦和不满。虽然我有不错的薪水，工作也很努力，但总觉得缺少了什么。你有什么建议吗？

    寻找内心的声音。问自己“是什么让我感受到无法拒绝的、燃烧的渴望？”找出这个问题的答案后，你便可以问下一个问题：“我如何利用这种激情产生影响。”然后按照《希望的铅笔》中的30个指导步骤（也就是每一章的名称），你肯定能按照想要的方式去书写自己的人生故事。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓