What’s one of the most useful tools to start noticing better?

'What specific tools would you recommend to start noticing?'

This was the first question that Max Bazerman, the first author of The Power of Noticing (2014) was asked at a talk he gave in London in 2015.

Bazerman mentioned meditation and reflection as good strategies.

Great suggestions. I meditate every morning and am trying to build a more reflective practice for my work.

But I interpreted the question more literally. ‘A great tool is a camera,’ would have been my instinctive response. And we all have one in our smart phone.

I suspect that anyone in Bazerman’s audience may have looked at their phone with new eyes if he’d suggested it as a ‘specific tool to start noticing’.

I think people are more likely to use a tool from their daily life to hone their noticing and observation skills, rather than take up meditation immediately. I don’t know about you but it has taken me a few years to develop a consistent meditation practice.

In a perfect world, we’d do both.

Bazerman, and before him, Warren Bennis, talk about noticing and observation as being a vital attribute for any leader.

I’d add that they’re vital for anyone who has to facilitate a conversation, a meeting or a workshop.

And street photography is the ideal mode to work towards what Saul Bellow called a ‘first class noticer’; to get better at reading a room and practice the subtle skills of facilitation.

That’s what we’ll be doing in a few weeks in Sydney at my new #Facilitography Walkshop (sold out!).

We’ll take our smart phones into the street, explore new ways of seeing beyond the obvious, capture the unexpected and practice the subtle skills of facilitation.

Our smart phones make us all photographers. Perhaps they can help make us all better facilitators.

If you’re keen to come to a #Facilitography Walkshop in 2020, say YES in the comments below.