“Be a first-class noticer.”
Warren Bennis
More important than the ability to see, hear, and observe is to notice. Noticing is the art of picking up on subtleties.
- Notice the trepidation in someone’s voice.
- Notice the computer screen that needs to be wiped.
- Notice when someone gives you a desultory nod or becomes bored listening to you.
- Notice when something is out of place, when the money tree is bent.
- Notice the repetitive xylophone pattern of telephone poles and let it ring in your ears
- Notice the present as infinitely more valuable than the future, given the unlikely arrival of what want to happen
Noticing is a prompt that creates emotion. It redirects a conversation into one that’s less transactional and more meaningful. It intends to show others what they miss, a nudge to the obvious and mundane.
Often unseen, often unheard: You can become a noticing machine.