Attention
”If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product.”
”It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in our own behaviour and perception that is the product.”
- The Social Dilemma
“Pay attention. Be sober and alert. Our enemy prowls like a roaring lion waiting to devour.”
- 1 Peter (paraphrased)
It used to be that we just tracked sales.
(A measure that actual business has taken place.)
And then, we started to track clicks and time spent on pages.
(A measure of engagement that leads to transactions.)
Now they are tracking our attention and impressions, measured in nanoseconds.
(A measure of what might be unknowingly deposited in our subconscious.)
Conservative measures list the number of targeted items vying for our impressions at 5,000 a day. And money is being made on every one of those. If you want to understand that a little better or possibly become a bit terrified about it, check out the "Social Dilemma" documentary on Netflix. An incredibly well-done film about the age in which we live and the impact of technology on all of us.
The real issue is about what we are giving our attention to daily. If we have our nose in the various deliverables of technology and social media, we should not be surprised that this is happening. If you believe the information shared in "Social Dilemma," our beliefs and understanding are carefully manipulated through our impressions.
If we focus our time on relationships, the outdoors, and deep questions of humanity and faith, that is imminently less manipulatable or monetized. It produces something completely different.
One of my favorite quotes is from Elizabeth Browing:
“Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.”
In essence, the creation all around us is evocative of a Creator and that creator's glory. Us noticing it or not doesn't make it any less glorious, but the recognition of it can completely change our lives and perspectives.
Most of our coaching engagements require helping our clients acknowledge the progress and good that is going on all around them. Maybe it is all that manipulation through those 5,000 impressions, but it is nearly impossible for them to see and acknowledge the progress and glory unfolding all around them.
It requires intentionality. It requires removing distractions. It requires focusing on the right things and maybe having someone else in your life to help you with that focus.
Mary Oliver says those three simple things:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
She has now passed and did most of her writing in a different age, but what she is encouraging couldn't be any more relevant to our age. And what we are finding with our clients is that it is essential to their organizational survival.
If a leader isn't paying attention to the right things…
If they aren't astonished as a result of having the right focus…
If they aren't celebrating and telling their teams, clients, and most importantly, themselves about it…
Their ability to survive is in question.
The assault on our attention, our impressions, and the inglorious intentions of those working to harvest them will not leave us astonished, but deeply discouraged.
Consider
What are you giving attention to?
What is the result of all those areas of focus?
Are you feeling encouraged, able to acknowledge good, and the potential for good in your life and business?
What has to change to reclaim the focus of your attention?