“What you pay attention to expands.”
Michelle Kinder, Executive Director, Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers

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Here’s the thing.  You can’t pay attention to two things at once.

And, you can’t have two conversations at once.  Not really.

And, what you pay attention to is a very close relative to what you converse about.

And, every meeting is a conversation.  It is a conversation where something is talked about – and something else is not talked about.

Can you imagine the agenda wars in meetings in places like the White House?  What gets discussed determines what is acted on.  If it is never discussed, it is…  ignored.

So, this phrase from Michelle Kinder leapt into my notes when I heard her say it.  Let me repeat it:

“What you pay attention to expands.”

And you pay attention to the items that get discussed in your meetings.  And you pay little or no attention to issues or challenges or opportunities that never get discussed.  Let me remind you about a phrase I have blogged about often:

“You accomplish what you meet about.”

So, here are your questions:

What are you paying attention to?
and
What are you actually talking about/discussing in your meetings?

Because only what you pay attention to will expand.  And only what you talk about will be accomplished.