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WSU Audit Update

Pay Attention to What You Care About; Care About What You Pay Attention To

Dec. 16, 2020
By Chris Cavanaugh | chris.cavanaugh@wichita.edu

A theme that struck a chord this year was Rob Walker's "The Art of Noticing." Exploring this theme more closely, Walker asks if you're noticing what you want to notice? Are you noticing the things you care about?

Noticing = Attention = Caring

I highlighted Walker's work in our discussion about preventive and detective controls. It's easy to view internal controls principally as a means of avoiding bad outcomes, e.g., going over budget, overstepping your authority, or incurring a compliance violation.

More importantly, controls help keep us on track to meet university, division, college, or departmental goals and objectives. 

But do your goals and objectives capture most of your attention? Are they what you care about most?

Consider Walker's headline to his TAoN newsletter, No. 55:

Pay attention to what you care about; care about what you pay attention to.

Rob Walker, columnist, journalist, and author

More from Walker:

"When the (Art of Noticing) book came out, this "care for something" idea - the connection between noticing and attention and caring - came up a lot. 

"This thing I am paying attention to, do I actually care about it? This other thing I really do care about - am I giving it the attention I should? Am I noticing what I want to notice?"

Exercise Your Attention

Try this exercise that was partly inspired by the Art of Noticing. Identify the three goals or objectives for your department that you most care about. Answer the following for each one:

  1. What is the principal strategy for achievement?
  2. What are the likely obstacles?
  3. What is the response if those obstacles arise?
  4. How do you monitor, or give attention to, progress toward achievement? 

Hear More from Walker

Rob Walker on "The Art of Noticing" / School of Visual Arts, New York City / April 19, 2019

"Notice what you notice." - Allen Ginsberg

"Pay attention to what you pay attention to." - Amy Krouse Rosenthal

"Our life experience will equal what we have paid attention to, whether by choice or default." - William James

"Looking for an answer instead of the answer can shift and broaden your vision." - Rob Walker

"Paying attention, making a habit of noticing, helps cultivate an original perspective, a distinct point of view. But paying attention isn't easy." - Rob Walker

Walker's Art of Noticing webpage: Rob Walker » The Art of Noticing

Subscribe to his biweekly newsletter: The Art of Noticing (substack.com)

A recurring feature of Walker's newsletter is "." Some he made up, others he experienced or found elsewhere, and readers submitted many.

Here's an example icebreaker from Walker's list:

Without using the title of your job, tell me what you do.

Would you like to introduce yourself to other WSU Audit Update readers by participating in this icebreaker? Kindly drop me a line with your reply. I'll share them in a post once I have ten or more. 

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