Wichita State University
Taking a break from our internal control series, I'm sharing excerpts from a recent edition of The Art of Noticing newsletter. I had an opportunity to share with Rob Walker how his "Art of Noticing" theme resonated with this group. Rob loved it and featured the WSU Audit Update Blog in his newsletter.
Affirmation Chickens
My first direct interaction with Rob Walker occurred when, in his newsletter, he asked for other newsletter recommendations. I referred him to one I like, Affirmation Chickens.
Then, a few weeks later, Affirmation Chickens posted an exercise I thought Rob would appreciate. I followed up to make sure he saw it and shared the blog posts he inspired.
The following excerpts (with Rob's permission) are from an edition for paid subscribers who receive bonus content. If you're interested in reading more from Rob, subscribe to the free newsletter that he sends every Monday.
Excerpting Rob Walker
A few weeks ago, reader -- and founding TAoN subscriber :) -- Chris Cavanaugh suggested I check out a newsletter called Affirmation Chickens. Obviously, the name alone was enough to make me sign up. I'm glad I did.
Written by journalist/farmer AC Shilton, Affirmation Chickens is a Friday dispatch from Good Spirits Farm, reporting a few basics about what’s going on there (Juliet the lamb has joined the herd; the turkeys are doing better than expected; egg sales are up; etc.), and including at least one extremely cute animal picture. Shilton closes each issue with a section called “Here’s What I Loved This Week.” It’s completely charming. I look forward to it every Friday.
More recently, Chris circled back to make sure I caught a particular Affirmation Chickens installment with a very TAoN closing passage.
Specifically, the “What I Loved This Week” section was devoted to Shilton’s embrace of fall. She writes:
“I’ve been finding myself employing a therapy technique to remind myself to take a breath and enjoy the weather. Yes, technically this exercise was developed to help with anxiety and staying grounded in overwhelming moments. But it also turns autumnal weather into a total sensory experience.”
Here’s the exercise. (And to be clear, I have altered the format a bit, but I am quoting directly from Affirmation Chickens):
Next time you’re outside, take a beat to run through this list:
- What are five things you can see?
- What are four things you can touch?
- What are three things you can hear?
- What are two things you can smell?
- What is one thing you can taste?
A great checklist! All I can say is: Do this all year ‘round.
Before I go, I want to give a shout out to Chris Cavanaugh for alerting me to Affirmative Chickens. And also for this:
Chris is at Wichita State University and writes the WSU Internal Audit Blog, where a little while back he made awesome use of the TAoN. First: Riffing off the “care about what you pay attention to/pay attention to what you care about” theme, he wrote:
“Identify the three goals or objectives for your department that you most care about,” offering a handful of specific questions to answer along the way. See here.
Second, in that same post, he referenced a question from the 
, “Without using the title of your job, tell me what you do.” Check out these excellent responses he got!
Reminder to all: I absolutely love hearing about uses of TAoN, and also love sharing them with readers. Send your examples! consumed@robwalker.net
Meanwhile: Thank you so much, Chris!
Rob Walker was a recent guest on The Virtual Campfire's Podcast. You can listen to the podcast here:
Fueling Creativity with Curiosity: Walking the Path of The Cultural Observer with Rob Walker
Podcast host Tony Martignetti enters into a discussion with writer and journalist Rob Walker about curiosity, creativity, and culture.