Empathy is one of the most important abilities that we, as a species, have. It allows us to feel what others are experiencing and allows us to connect with the people around us. However, most people do not realize that empathy can revolutionize the design process. As a designer, empathy can be used to seek out the pain points of the company you are partnered with or the people that need a solution. These pain points can be used to determine what the end users actually need rather than what they think they need. Empathy also helps you make a connection with your clients. This bond allows for easy communication and increases the chance that your end users will share deeper feelings. Gathering these deeper feelings will improve your solution because they help you understand the problem better. Also, this also improves work ethic because you can feel what the end users are experiencing.
The organization that I am working with is the 55th Wing of the United States Air Force. We are partnered with Bockscar, the technology innovation part of the 55th Wing. We are working with their asset management system, or lack thereof. We can use empathy to determine why their system is not working or has minimal efficiency. By bringing out feelings, we can determine what the Bockscar employees think about their current system.
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Benjamin Zander’s Ted Talk, titled “The transformative power of classical music,” describes what it claims to describe. However, there are other, hidden details that surface once you truly start to dig into the meaning of this Ted Talk. Zander starts by describing the problems of classical music and his reasoning behind his idea that everyone can enjoy classical music. His passion for this genre of music is evident in everything he does. He then plays a section of a Chopin piece but purposefully plays it rigid. He moves on to describe the theory on the feeling of the song and then proceeds to play it beautifully and emotionally which can change someone’s mind about classical music. This, however, was not his main goal; let me tell you why.
Although Zander loves classical music, he did not perform to only spark our interest of classical music. He wanted to show us a greater theme: the power of empowerment. The audience started as normal listeners. As Zander presented, he talked about playing and made the audience anticipate his performance. He described the tools necessary to truly enjoy the music, and his passion shone through his words and actions. These acts slowly started to empower the audience, and, when he performed the Chopin excerpt again, the audience felt the meaning of that piece of music. Zander had accomplished his goal of teaching, empowering, and leading us in just 20 minutes. A quote that I gathered was “It's one of the characteristics of a leader: He not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he is leading to realize whatever he is dreaming.” Zander had a goal to empower his audience and, through his belief, accomplished his goal. Zander concluded his Ted Talk by describing his own definition of success. When he “sees eyes sparkling” in his orchestra, he knows he did his job of leading. The words “eyes sparkling” can mean a lot of different things. It could mean that a player as been inspired to work harder. It could also mean that a player has had a mood shift or change in heart about the music they were playing. It could even be as simple as someone looking a little happier. Whatever this change is, Zander lives for the opportunity to make it happen. He uses this metric to fuel his passion to lead and to see who is being positively affected by his teaching. If he does not see this, he asks himself, “Who am I being if my players' eyes are not shining.” He blames himself before blaming others which is a great quality to have in a leader. I believe that leadership is the positive manipulation of a person to better their skills and help them reach their potential which, in turn, benefits the entire group. Leadership is about unlocking the potential of everyone in the group which causes your own potential to be fully obtained. The people that someone is leading must be their focus. Benjamin Zander describes it as, “The conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful.” When Zander sees his players’ eyes sparkling, he knows he is one step closer to unlock one’s potential. He is solely fixated on improving the lives of other people. Benjamin Zander is an example of a responsible leader which is very different than just a leader. Responsible leaders have certain characteristics that enable them to be better leaders. The main characteristic of these exceptional leaders is that they care about the people they are leading. People who care will work better with their groupmates, forgive mistakes much easier, and try to help everyone. Another characteristic of responsible leaders is to always have a motive behind their actions. Zander did not describe the theory behind Chopin to show off his musical knowledge; he did this to allow the listeners to better enjoy the music. If you have a motive behind every action, you can better spend the time in a team setting and have an answer if someone asks the goal behind the current activity. A third characteristic is to rule with respect. To preface this, there are three main categories to put a leader into. Leaders either: lead by power, lead by experience/skill, or lead by respect. Leading by power is a blatantly bad strategy to lead people. The reason “you should do this because I’m the leader” is a weak argument and adds resentment between the leader and the members of a group. The second category, leading by experience/skill is a better method but still not the best way to lead. Leading by example is a great way to teach people but being the best does not make you the best leader. Leading with respect, the third and most efficient way, is the best way to lead. Respect going both ways is crucial for the group to succeed. The process to do this seems daunting but there are strategies to follow to best build respectful culture. One if the most successful ways to become a responsible leader is to follow the strategy: Build Relationships, Encourage Others, And Ask for More. The first step is to meet people and build a relationship. People need to know who you are in order to let you be their leader. The second step requires you to provide encouragement to your team members. Teammates must feel like you care about them and are on their side. Also, certain people need motivation to complete the certain set of goals set out for them. The third step, ask for more, is the step where you finally can ask to get someone to improve. Only after building a relationship and encouraging a teammate will someone be fully willing to learn how to become a great team member. This process does not stop here because a better relationship will make the current activity more impactful, and more encouragement will lead to better trust and work effort. |
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These blog posts contain reflections on leadership, design thinking, other applicable skills. |