*Gear Up Answers:*

I don’t think it’s unusual that empathy is a daily player in my life. Feeling and receiving empathy is a way to connect and understand those we interact with. It helps me understand why a person may be behaving in a certain way. It helps me feel understood and connected when someone is caring for me.

Placing myself in the mind of the end-user seems vital to building software. Something that is technically elegant and efficient does not always translate to user-friendly. Placing myself in the role of the user would help me keep focused on the direction of the project. It would help me ask useful questions and make effective design choices.

Working on a team can be very frustrating, particularly if things aren’t going well and deadlines are looming. Stress can bring out the worst in us. When team members are consciously checking in on their own emotions and actively empathizing, work can progress in a clear environment. And when each member not only understands her own work but the needs of the others, that collaborative and synergistic energy can be an impressive creative force.

During a very busy night serving at a restaurant, a new server was “in the weeds” (overwhelmed) and close to tears. It was a good team of servers, so I yelled out our version of an s.o.s call, which basically swings the other servers in to help where they can. But the new server was so frazzled, he couldn’t iterate the things that had to be done and the others had to continue with their own very busy work. I remembered that feeling so clearly that, even though I had a busy section of my own to tend, I was compelled to stop and teach him exactly how I learned to handle that moment.

I get most challenged by people who seem to be inconsiderate of other people around them. I can work on keeping my irritation to myself. I can consider that I may be irritated by behavior that I don’t recognize in myself. And I can try to understand the point of view of the person who challenges me.