Our brains like to find patterns, and our attention scales up and down until it finds information that seems promising for patterns.
If there’s big stuff going on, our brains prioritize that kind of terrain for pattern-seeking, and our attention will scale up to meet it.
But if there’s nothing big going on, boredom kicks in, and our attention scales down and down until it finds interest in the tiniest movements.
Don’t believe me? Behold this compelling television clip about stationary.
In short, if there’s nothing bigger going on, then the small stuff will expand to fill the void.
Without something more compelling and important to focus on, a meaningful purpose in the work, we’ll promote the everyday happenings of co-existence into its own spectacular drama. (Yes, this ties into yesterday’s email about inter-team conflict.)
So I ask: Is the small stuff creating a drama more compelling than the purpose of your work?
Ben and David
StrategyTeaming.com