After reading the articles above, create a gist on Github and reflect (4-6 sentences) on the following prompts.
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What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you?
I have always tried to be an empathetic person. Over the past few years I have realized how listening can help me become more empathetic. My New Year's resolution this year was to intentionally try radical listening. It is very difficult. -
How does empathy help you build better software?
Empathy helps designers see beyond preconceived notions to users' real problems. It opens the door to an opportunity to make a product much better – to really serve the people for whom it is made. When a designer puts themself in the shoes of the person they are helping and ask what the users need from the product, a more effective product is created. The users actually benefit from the product. It changes lives. I believe that is success in anyone's book. -
Why is empathy important for working on a team?
Working on a team is working with other people. When you work with other people, it is important to be compassionate and have the ability to see through other lenses. When you are able to see from another's point of view you understand strengths and weaknesses within the group. A team that is compassionate about weaknesses and appreciative of strengths in the group is a much more effective team than a group of individuals blinded by their own efforts. -
Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful.
I was a teacher and I consider my students part of my team. Once, I had a student who was experiencing angry outburst in class. When I found out that the child was in a home where it was suspected that the father was abusive to the mother and that the children witnessed this. (Appropriate reporting had been done on the situation). I was able to see what triggered him and help him work through some of it before it escalated to his boiling point. -
When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios?
I will admit that I find it very difficult to be empathetic when someone on a team lets the team down repeatedly. My soft spot hardens when I hear something that my brain categorizes as an excuse. Often times the team is not told the entire backstory and maybe are not tuned into the strengths of the individual. When we look for the strengths we can shift expectations toward that area and then the team member has an opportunity to become a contributing member of the team.