Stop Talking About Empathy, and Start Acting On It.

I didn’t know this: The word empathy didn’t exist in the English language until the 20th century!

I only found out after reading this excellent article by Eric Solomon, Ph.D. Stop Talking About Empathy, and Start Acting On It.

I think we’re seeing a lot of companies sprout about being more empathetic and standing with their employees; yet the practices in reality are far, far different.

In this article, he also shares another word I resonate with: Kindwashing: When an organization spends more time and money on marketing itself as empathetic than it does on minimizing practices that alienate or take advantage of employees and consumers.

So, what can companies do differently?

Eric suggests that organizations need to build and install a human operating system. In technology, an operating system (OS) supports basic functions that enable more complex tasks to happen.

A human OS serves as the structural glue that encodes how values like empathy propagate through all organizational operations, from internal behaviors, processes, and communication to external messages and actions.

It’s well worth the 15min read. Check out the full article over at: https://lnkd.in/gggj5Pz

Leanne HughesComment