Creating a Healthy Digital Culture: How empathy can change our organizations

This is a talk for the triangle-shaped people, the very symbols of change; the change
Kevan Gilbert

We can imagine the future we’re heading for, we can see what stands in our way, and we
know how it makes us feel.

That savoury-looking finish line: the end of a project we’re imagining, a digital dream we’re
planning, a career we’ve picked out for ourselves.

We can easily see what’s blocking us: the people, the processes, the budget priorities, the
time.

And we know how it makes us feel. That sense of ambition, that general frustration, the sense
of anticipation at what the future could be like.

It’s all the classic elements of story. But one thing’s missing.
DesireConflictEmotion

We may not be the hero. We may have blind spots. We may be part of a larger picture, where
we are blocking other people’s paths, too. Everybody is trying to get somewhere. We might
be able to get to our futures quicker by just learning to ask some good questions.

The best way to move forward into the future we’re imagining could be be asking what other
people need first.
Accomplishing your
(digital) dreams
starts with
developing empathy.

There’s that word. Empathy.
Accomplishing your
(digital) dreams
starts with
developing empathy.

That ethereal, abstract, nebulous, wishy-washy, feel-good, hippie-flavoured word.

Empathy is not silliness or frivolity. It’s one of the most powerful secret weapons that could
change our organizations.

misunderstood. It’s not kindness, although kindness may matter. It’s not pity
mply insight into where somebody is coming from. It’s an understanding of
uation. It may have an emotional component, but all it is, is insight.
Empathy is insight.

And when we use it, it has incredible power. It can help organizations perform better.
1. Perform better
Empathy helps organizations:

I see it where I’m from, in Canada. One of our clients this year was an organization in charge
of making Canada more innovative, and it was our job to help them tell their story better. This
group has studied the link to figure out what it would take to stop Canada’s “brain drain” —
people leaving for higher salaries elsewhere.
The hand-drawn Canada map is from 123rf.com, image ID

To have a healthy economy, you need to invest in 21st century jobs in technology and
innovation. That means increasing the link between academic and industry: where people
study, and where people work. This means making sure you’ve got great managers who can
look after the talent you’ll be hiring. But to do that well, you’ll need great soft skills.
Economy
Technology/Innovation
Academia
Industry
Managers
Talent
Soft Skills

That’s the clearest I’ve ever seen the link between our economy and empathy
Economy
!
!
!
!
!
Soft Skills

To think that the GDP could be so closely linked to our EQ. The same is true for our
organizations. Our overall output increases when we find better ways to work together, and
draw out our best.
Economy
!
!
!
!
!
Soft Skills

1. Perform better
2. Find more diverse ideas

Alex Gilliam at the National Building Museum in Washington DC, found that “outlier
inspiration” caused innovative thinking to replicate. Our creativity is limited to our influences.
When our influences expand, so too does our creativity. The quality and scope of our creative
output expands when we involve more diverse perspectives. And if we’re in an organization
whose future depends on the quality of our ideas, involving more people will increase our
output.
The Lego photographs here are from Alex Gilliam, and the one of Alex is from FUEL Vancouver

1. Perform better
3. Create better workplaces

There is a huge deficit of listening on our organizations. Like my daughter: she doesn’t need
me to do what she says, but she needs to know that I heard her. The same with our teams:
the act of being heard can put so many people at ease. Like our designer, who was
advocating for responsive design ahead of its time. We eventually listened, and it propelled
our organization forward, but imagine if we had listened a year earlier?

Six Thinking Hats is a great tool for processing different types of personal thought and
interpersonal discussion. Pick the right hat to draw out the right contribution. Blue is cool/
calm/control, red=emotion, white=data, green=creativity, yellow=optimism, black=risks.
When we start using tools like this, we can create better places to work. That is going to
increase retention and engagement as we start acting on that insight.
The concept belongs to Edward DeBono, and these hat sketches are from

Using empathy well can also create happier customers. That’s something that the user
experience and content strategy community really gets: studying users, and making changes
accordingly.
1. Perform better
3. Create better workplaces
4. Create happier customers

For Imperial College London, one of the world’s top science schools, we saw this happen.
Tracey Falk of Domain7 took this photograph

Over a 2-year process of strategy, design, and QA—with a big focus on accessibility, in which
our team would listen to the website as it was coded—it was a Webby honoree, and shot up
250 points in the UK higher ed accessibility rankings.

This was a card-sorting exercise we ran, and this is Angus in the vest, who runs the library.
Angus at one point is going to de-prioritize the library, understanding that it is valuable to
him but not to the majority of users. This self-selection is brave, and could only happen in a
context like this.
Tracey Falk of Domain7 took this photograph also

This is one of the best ways to help people change their minds.
Workshops create
involvement.
!
Involvement
creates change.

I didn’t always appreciate the value of workshops; it wasn’t until the THNK School of Creative
Leadership brought me through a session. I was frustrated about being thrown together with
new people, and didn’t agree with the process. I was told, “you might need to work on your
explorative mindset,” and I realize the facilitator was right. I had viewed me self and my
process as the sole source of creative ideas, and was blocked to the views of others.
This photograph is from THNK FUEL Vancouver

“Tell me and I’ll forget.
Teach me and I’ll remember.
Involve me and I’ll understand.”
!
- Benjamin Franklin

Moving out of the traditional Mad Men style, into an approach that invites involvement.
“Pitch me and I’ll fight you.
Persuade me and I’ll
begrudgingly believe.
Involve me and I’ll
champion the idea
like it was my own.”

If you want to get the best ideas, and shepherd them through to reality, and you don’t know
how that happens…it happens like babies happen.
It starts with consent.
It needs more than one person.
There’s a long gestation period.
A painful delivery.
And a lifetime of love and care.
And if you ask a romantic coach or an ideas coach on how to make either happen, I hope the
answer would be, start by being a good listener.
Ideas happen
like
babies happen.

There are a few different types of listening you can develop.
Self-awareness, one-to-one listening, and group listening (workshops and facilitation).
Self 1-1 Group

We’ve put together some resources for you that are our favourites for these activities, to help
you learn our favourite workshops. Adaptive Path’s Experience Mapping, IDEO’s Human-
Centered Design, Google Ventures Design Sprints, Hyper Island’s Toolbox, Six Thinking Hats,
the Birkman, and more.

But maybe you don’t want to learn that. Maybe you just want to do your job.
Empathy
is not
my job.

Where does organization culture sit in an org chart?

Set by the CEO? By the director of HR?
(triangle/square fight)
Culture?

Culture is the network behind the scenes. It’s the lines that connect us. Your influence shapes
the culture. Every email you send, every interaction you have, that’s shaping the culture. You
have as much influence over the culture as anybody else.

There are two paths you can take to making your ideas a reality.
Two roads:

The route of persuasion, which we’re all set up to do in our organizations:
- Start your “your idea first”
- Experience frustration, people saying no, with only the possibility of success
- Arrive at a sense of personal triumph
- And possibly some burned bridges
Two roads:
Persuasion

Or, start by valuing the connections first. Prize the idea, yes, but the collective vision, and
pursue that together.
It will still be frustrating, people will say no, and there is still only the possibility of success.
But when you triumph, it’s collective triumph. Everybody wins.
And the roads you build are permanent. You can travel them again, for the next project.
Two roads:
Empathy Persuasion

But empathy is not magic. When you commit to using the empathy route, the culture does
not magically change.

The future is too good for us to hold on to our egos.
!
It will be awkward at first. Like that tentative first clap in a quiet auditorium, when you’re
thinking you might be the only one making noise. It’s a vulnerable first step, to step aside
from your vision, and start being a listener. But like Brene Brown says, vulnerability is courage.
And courage is contagious.

And after that first clap, the entire room joins in, until the atmosphere is unrecognizable. It
changes around you.
!

Creating a Healthy Digital Culture: How empathy can change our organizations

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