Empathy is all about asking rather than assuming. Empathy is about evoking stories and digging deeper into why people feel the way that they feel. It’s about letting the conversation go where it needs to go and reading both body language and the conversation itself. It’s about getting people to tell you more.
The empathy map above is what I did before we chatted about this topic more in class. I know that Friedman wants us to use post-it notes, but sometimes I like things to look cleaner and typing them out is how I get to that point. I would never have learned all about Linda, the stranger at the computer next to me, had I not asked her and struck up a conversation. She was going through so much more than what I had assumed when she sat down and I am so glad that I decided to talk with her.
Empathy is what it takes to win the client challenge. We are no where near done yet. I am not including more of my empathy work in here because I am excited to showcase that in our client challenge process document. Anyways, from our empathetic interviews thus far, we have established a few insights. We’ve learned:
1. As an African student I want to not feel the pressure of representing my whole race because I’m the only one in the room who is African, but I can’t because this school is predominantly white.
2. As an African student I want to share my culture because its an important part of my identity, but I can’t because people have made fun of me for it.
3. As an African student I want to be taught by African professors because it’s important to learn about my heritage from the people who came before me, but I can’t because Miami only employs a few African professors.
There is no way that we would have learned any of these things without having real and vulnerable conversations with people one on one as well as with the help of some observations.
Empathy is something I’ve been trying to lean into. It is so easy for me to assume people feel certain ways. I’ve been really focusing on asking people how they feel lately and letting them speak without jumping right in. A big part of empathy for me lately has just been letting people completely finish their thoughts. I need to be patient and not rush anyone. I really understand the idea that you have to “choose to turn on your empathy” in our society. Empathy is without a doubt a work in progress, but if you can’t understand a person then there is no way you will ever be able to solve their problems or help them. There is more to come on this soon.
