Category Archives: Creativity

The Art of Empathy

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If you’re a creative person, empathy can be your most powerful weapon. Why? Because practicing the art of empathy can enable you to solve real problems for your customers.

Yes, empathy is an art. And, like any other of the arts, empathy needs to be practiced regularly in order to excel at it.

ArtEmpathy

Photo by Ryan McGuire

So, how do you practice empathy? Start by sharpening your senses.

Listen: Practice really listening to your customer. Listen when he/she makes a big, bold statement. Often, that big, bold statement is a clue to what he’s most concerned about, i.e., what he may consider his biggest challenge. Listen for words or phrases he uses over and over. They could provide clues to what’s most important to him. Listen, also, for silence. Depending on your customer’s communication style, he may suddenly become silent when quizzed about a particularly problematic area of his business. This could be a signal that he feels he has an “unsolvable” problem.

Ask: Ask your customer, “Why?” and “How?” about everything. Ask even the obvious questions. Don’t assume you know the answers. You might be surprised at some of his answers. Asking those questions several times again in different ways will help you get to the real answers.

Look: Watch your customer when he/she speaks to you. Body language can be telling. A sudden animated gesture may point to what he currently considers his most pressing problem. If he shrugs his shoulders in resignation, it may indicate that he has all but given up on finding an answer to a particular problem.

Feel: Consciously think about how you feel when using your customer’s product or service. Give yourself this feel test and be sure to take notes: Document how you feel just before using the product or service. Next, document how you feel as you’re using the product/service. Then, describe and document your feelings after using the product or service. Be specific. Don’t leave anything out. Small things can turn out to be important things.

Touch/Taste: Put yourself in the shoes of your customer’s customer. Walk the aisles of his store. Touch his products. Put together that toy or shelf with your own two hands. Dine in his restaurant. Taste his food. Drink his coffee. Experience the buying process from start to finish.

Observe: Take time to observe your customer’s customers as they interact with his products or services. Not everyone will interact with them the same way you do.

Combine: Combine your senses to become a better observer. Watch and listen for inconsistencies in what your customer says and does. If he says one thing and does something else, this may alert you to a problem in need of solving.

Practice: Practice these empathy exercises to learn more about your customers and their customers. Take notes. Organize your thoughts. Share your ideas with others on your team. Draw conclusions together.

Empathy is an art…and there’s no such thing as too much art.

by Rebecca Cochran

5 Innovation Quotes Worth Remembering

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RocksWe’re bombarded with quotes around the topic of innovation every day. Thanks to social media and today’s sharing society, quotes by well-known (and unknown) figures are jockeyed about ad nauseam.

As we begin a new year, I’ve winnowed a list of 5 innovation quotes I feel are worth remembering. I’m happy to share them with you here.

“It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.” — Georgia O’Keeffe

“Your best plan is a plan to improvise.” — author unknown

“If I had an hour to save the world, I’d spend 59 minutes defining the problem and 1 minute finding solutions.” — Albert Einstein

“It ain’t innovation unless something moves.” — Bob Allen, IDEAS

“Get the customer first, then solve the problem.” — author unknown

What would you add to this list? Please share your comments via the “Leave a Reply” feature below.

by Rebecca Cochran

Walking Matters

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TreeI happened to hear an interesting interview entitled Why Walking Matters on WBUR’s Here & Now program last week. Host, Jeremy Hobson interviewed psychiatrist and author, John J. Ratey, They discussed a recent Stanford University study finding that walking enhances creativity. Read or listen to the complete interview here.

Last December, I wrote a post entitled Walking, Fast and Slow. In it, I referenced an article I had read espousing that walking at a brisk pace is better for us than walking slowly. In other words, intensity matters.

One of my earlier posts on walking was a recount of my own lifelong walking habits instilled in me by my father. By focusing on my stride and the surroundings, I use walking as a way to solve problems and fuel creativity.

In the Here & Now interview, Hobson points out that Dr. Ratey is a fan of walking with no purpose. In fact, they conducted their interview while walking aimlessly outdoors. Ratey says that walking aimlessly, rather than walking with a clear goal, is extremely beneficial for our brains. Our thoughts will be more creative and we’ll hold onto those thoughts much longer.

So, my new goal is to intersperse my own goal-oriented walking rituals with aimless walking episodes at least twice a week. That’s not too much to ask of myself, especially at this time of year.

I jumped right to it yesterday. Instead of my usual route along city sidewalks, I took an aimless and inspiring walk in a heavily wooded park. Rather than focusing on my stride, or on “getting there,” I just enjoyed being outside in the lovely, natural surroundings. The rest of the day, I was clear-headed and content.

Where is your favorite place for aimless walking?

by Rebecca Cochran