Pick Up What Someone Is Putting Down Meaning

(idiomatic) To understand, pay attention to, or learn from what someone says or does.

Example: 2004 Nov. 2, Melanie McFarland, "TV anchors keep to their word," Seattle Post-Intelligencer (retrieved 24 May 2014):
  Moran, picking up what Jennings is putting down, agrees.
2008, Joseph C. Phillips, He Talk Like a White Boy, ISBN 0786744057, 9780786744053, p. 278 (Google preview):
  If we are serious about putting the party of Lincoln back on track, we had better begin to pick up what black folk are putting down.
2011 July 6, J. Maureen Henderson, "Lessons From The World's Best Coworker," Forbes (retrieved 24 May 2014):
  I will tell you about these things . . . because I like you and I think you’d be interested in picking up what I’m putting down.