- What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you?
Empathy has helped me build stronger relationships with the important people in my life. By seeing life through the perspective of a loved one, I’ve found that I’m more appreciative of their sacrifices and the things they’ve done for me. Empathy also helps me resolve conflict with loved ones much faster. If I’m ever in a disagreement or argument with someone, I try to view my words or actions from their perspective. Often this reveals errors on my part that I can then apologize for or work to rectify. Often the other person extends the same courtesy. It’s a mutual process for resolving conflict. Empathy also results in better outcomes for any interaction, even brief encounters with the grocery store clerk or the tech support rep on the phone. In my experience, empathy does not go unnoticed, and the people you empathize with tend to reciprocate.
- How does empathy help you build better software?
This is something I'd never really considered before Turing. Software should be designed in a way that makes it inclusive and applicable to ALL users. We need to view our software through the lens of different people to make sure we understand exactly what their needs are. Maybe those needs are different from what we assumed? But its not enough to just utlitize these different perspectives when building software. We need to appreciate those perspectives as well, and that's where empathy comes in. Empathy allows us to build software that helps and works for a much broader range of people. It allows our software to have a larger and more positive impact on the world.
- Why is empathy important for working on a team?
Teams are comprised of people with different personalities and different backgrounds. Empathy helps ensure that everyone feels like a part of the team and is comfortable with expressing themselves. It also allows the team to be more efficient and adaptable. If a teammate is struggling through some personal issues, an empathetic team is happy to alleviate that person's workload and is more understanding if the teammate drops the ball on something. Empathy fosters an environment where everyone feels understood and valued, and it has more pragmatic benefits to the functionality of the team.
- Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful.
When I was a journalist working the weekend shift, I was always assigned to work with a photographer who was always surly and unpleasant. We didnt' get along too well at first, but then I found out that he had recently had some serious health issues and was uninsured at the time, so he was burdened with a huge amount of debt. I felt really sorry for him. If I had been in his shoes, I would have been surly and grumpy too. Ultimately, the two of us cultivated a very friendly and productive working relationship and I think empathy played an important role.
- 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 find it difficult to be empathetic towards people who I perceive to have a poor work ethic compared to the majority of people on the team. Those are the kinds of situations where I need to ask questions, find out if they're going through something or struggling with the work. Find out if there's anything I can do to help them, rather than just being dismissive of them.