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Episode 261: Empathy Everywhere with Michael Ventura

by Mike Vardy

This time around I’m joined by Michael Ventura. Michael is the founder & CEO of Sub Rosa – a strategy and design practice – and the author of Applied Empathy.

Michael and I talk about why it’s important to know the distinction between sympathy and empathy, what you can do if you want start applying empathy, and why knowing the differences between the types of empathy is important. I really enjoyed my conversation with Michael and I hope you do as well.

Talking Points

  • Michael suggests that finding empathy, let alone applying it, is as elusive as I think it is
  • Michael digs into what empathy is but more importantly… what it isn’t
  • Michael talks about the different types of empathy
  • I ask Michael how someone who is trying to help or advise someone when you’re not able to completely empathize with them because their circumstances are so foreign to you
  • Michael discusses the importance of asking questions and why follow up questions are so critical
  • What is a virtue you need have in your toolkit to help you in applying empathy?
  • When did Michael realize that empathy was something he needed to explore?
  • How important is it for people to learn the language of empathy and apply it regularly?
  • We talk about an easy way to understand the difference between sympathy and empathy
  • How does Michael go about helping organizations foster empathy?
  • How can someone take what Michael teaches and apply it on a personal level?
  • What is a simple step that someone can take to start applying empathy today?

“If you go to a doctor and tell them ‘My knee hurts’ they don’t jump into ‘Well, there’s five different surgeries we could do to fix your knee.’ They’re going to do some x-rays, they’re going to some CAT scans, and what they might find is that you’ve got a bum ankle. And your ankle is going to throw off your knee a lot. So the root cause isn’t going to be the knee. The knee’s just where it’s showing up.”

– Michael Ventura

Helpful Links

  • Applied Empathy
  • Your Lack of Patience is Killing You
  • Brené Brown: The Call to Courage

While understanding and applying empathy may not seem helpful to your personal productivity, once you have a better grasp of empathy it can save you time when looking inward and dealing with others. Understanding and applying empathy can help you stay in touch with your humanity in a world that is driven by getting things done. I’m going to try to more on applying empathy to my work and my life and I encourage you to do the same. And Michael’s book is a great place to start.

Enjoy the show? Want to keep up with the podcast? You can subscribe to the podcast feed by clicking the “Share” button in the player above – and you can share it further using the same button as well. You can take things even one step further by rating and reviewing the show wherever you listen to podcasts. (FYI: I use Overcast on iOS.)

About Mike Vardy

Mike Vardy is a writer, speaker, productivity strategist, and founder of Productivityist. He is the author of The Front Nine: How to Start the Year You Want Anytime You Want and The Productivityist Playbook.

Categories: The Podcast Tagged: empathy, podcast, productivity, time management

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