Gear-Up Pre-Work

1. Empathy plays a huge role in my life. I come from a background in Theatre, and theatre is entirely about empathy. Most people don't realize that it is more than the actors and director who put themselves in other people's shoes; it's the technicians and designers, too. The designers have to put themselves in every character's shoes to try and understand what shoes (and everything else of course) they might wear, where they might live, where they have come from and what they have experienced in their lives that has led them to become who the audience sees at that point in time. A large number of actors have said that putting on their costume and getting into makeup helps them get even more into character because they are essentially one step closer to being in that character's skin. Similar things have been said about the set, light and sound designs for productions. It is one thing to rehearse in a room and imagine it looking like a run-down motel and parking lot, but another to walk onto the set and hear the highway, see the scattered trash and tumbleweeds and the half burnt-out neon sign. Suddenly the actor isn't having to imagine and create visuals in their mind to help them portray the story; they are fully immersed in that character's life, and have visual assistance in portraying the story/setting in its entirety.
   
   I have also frequently been told that I am an empath, and I take pride in that. I'm into astrology and am a cancer (birthday is July 19th, we're notorious for being the most emotional sign, with Pisces as a runner up), so I've always been more emotional, perceptive and receptive to other peoples emotions. My family and I are also extremely different, and having a good sense of empathy has been crucial to maintaining healthy relationships with family members. My sister and her family are extremely religious, and I have grown away from religion, my father's side of the family has never wanted to travel or live anywhere other than Nebraska, and I think that deprives them of the opportunities to experience different cultures and develop awareness of others, which in turn leads to empathy. Exposing yourself to people of all shapes/sizes and ways of living is crucial to understanding why society works the way it does, and why some people are less empathetic than others.
   
   

2. Without empathy, "successful" software development would plateau and never improve, and all other software would most likely be uneffective and inefficient; one-dimensional. There wouldn't be need for innovation or optimization because of lack of continued research into user profiles and stories. The key to building software and websites that people will use and enjoy/prefer over others is to understand their backgrounds, needs, and hypothetical situations. Making software for elderly people who have little to no experience with technology is tricky, and seldom done well due to empathic oversight. The elderly most likely don't recognize the "hamburger button" like the younger generations, and therefore would be clueless as to that leading to a hidden menu on their mobile device. On the other hand, one could assume that most elementary and middle school children at this point are familiar with icon buttons, and would be able to successfully navigate a page with mostly icon buttons. A more specific example would be to have a deep understanding of the industry/niche you are making programs/websites for. I knew a start-up for agricultural software that was run entirely by former lawyers with no experience in agriculture. The ex-lawyers did not show much interest in furthering their understanding of the needs of their target audience, and therefore kept building software that had major oversights, making the software only partially helpful/useable, and a major waste of money and resources.
   
   

3. Empathy is relatively crucial on teams due to the collaboration process and communication needs. To maximize a group/team, the group/team must understand each other's assets, and delegate tasks somewhat accordingly. If Jim is great at writing tests, Pam is great at CSS, why put Jim on CSS and Pam on testing? There will be more excitement and investment in the project by the employees if they are put into positions where they are likely to thrive. There is something to be said about growth and switching up roles/assigned aspects, which I also don't think should be discouraged by any means. That being said, some people might have more assets than others for a variety of hypothetical reasons, and should not be overloaded.
   
   

4. Empathy has come in handy a plethora of times while working in the Theatre industry. Stress and tensions are often high due to deadlines, miscommunication, and a lack of recognition and knowledge of what Costuming entails from upper management. Often there is no understanding of the scale of what is being asked of the costuming department because of a lack of experience or willingness to learn, and that causes a ripple effect of unfortunate problems. More generically in theatre; being able to connect to other employees to improve morale or recognize when perhaps an employee should be forced to take a break/have someone cover their track for them if one can is extremely helpful. Theatre generates workaholics that often sacrifice their personal well-being in order to accomplish things, which isn't great. Empathy also comes into handy as a wardrobe crew member; actors deal with a lot depending on the content of a show. Some actors have to sob onstage and need to channel very dark memories and events. You learn not to take things personally and to support whatver the actor might need in the moment. (Unless of course it turns disrespectful or violent in any way) The theatre industry has a dangerous imbalance of situational empathy in that the show and actors are more important than everything else. The levels of empathy should be consistent across the board in workspaces because ultimately everyone should have the same goal of accomplishing something and also maintaining their sanity and enjoy life. So many people operate like a horse with the 'blinders' on, and fail to take a step back and see things from other vantage points.
   
   

5. I find it most difficult to be empathic in business situations in which the empathy is not reciprocated. Ultimately, I think it depends on the length of time I am with a company. If I am brand new, I swallow my pride and deal with it for a reasonable amount of time. Once I am more comfortable in my job, I can start testing the boundaries and see what changes could possibly be made to help increase empathy amongst coworkers and managers. This is when I would try and influence others to work on improving their awareness in general, maybe talk to supervisors if one-on-one critiques aren't beneficial. If the problem persists and the company does not seem to care about empathy in the slightest, maybe it is simply best to move to another company that is more supportive/welcoming of empathy, and would ultimately have a better company culture and work flow.