Imagine you are the V.P. of small-mid-size trucks and SUV division for a U.S. automaker. While visiting a dealership you see a woman get into her new truck which has just undergone a routine 5000 mile maintenance check. She carries a laptop and purse on one arm and her one year old child in the other. She reaches awkwardly across her body to retrieve keys from her purse all the while struggling to maintain her balance and hold her baby boy. She holds the keys in her mouth in order to transfer them to her right hand without dropping him. She opens the rear passenger door and clumsily flings her purse and laptop across the baby’s carrier careful not to swipe him as she does so. She struggles in her fitted skirt as she maneuvers the baby into his car seat which she can barely reach given her 5’4″ height. Your own body is twisting like a pretzel as you involuntarily mirror her movements. Once the child is securely fastened she closes the rear door and lifts the heavy front door handle. She mutters to herself and anyone within ear shot as she examines a newly manicured and now broken nail. Next she climbs awkwardly into the driver’s seat which requires her to take a step larger than her fitted skirt allows. Once seated she reaches diagonally across and behind the front seat, to retrieve a cell phone from her purse. With this full length stretch she is practically lying across the passenger seat and has disappeared from your view. You sweat just watching her.
Your natural empathic response to this woman becomes a catalyst for change in the way you think about your customers and you would like others in your division to achieve the same level of understanding. The next day you return to your office with a plan. You will take your top 50 design engineering and marketing managers on a field trip where you will have several trucks of the same model you saw at the dealership. Each manager will don a size appropriate fitted skirt, high heels, carry a doll in one arm, a purse laptop on the other and get into the truck. Why? Because women are a significant growth sector in your division. They make or influence an increasing percentage of all truck and SUV purchases. You believe that ergonomic re-design of key features will help capture a greater share of this growing market.
A year later dealers’ initial reports on the re-engineered models indicate that women are showing greater interest. Women account for a 2% increase in overall sales of trucks and SUVs.
You can increase your capacity for empathy and use it to make more effective decisions and achieve better organizational performance. To find out how, read Michael’s story at Empathy Improves Team Performance.