From the course: Empathy in Business: Design for Success

The power of a conversation

From the course: Empathy in Business: Design for Success

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The power of a conversation

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- One day, I came upon what I call 'The commercial'. I was already interested in the study of empathy when this commercial came to my attention, and it totally blew my mind. It was made by Edelman and Publicists, London, for Heineken, and it's called World's Apart, because it's about bringing people, who are worlds apart in their thinking, together. It starts with the sentence "Is there more that unites us than divides us?" I know this is totally unusual, but rather than me telling you about the ad, I'd love for you to watch it, now, on another channel, and then come back, and we'll continue together. So hit pause, open a new window, and go to YouTube. Search for Heineken World's Apart. Watch the ad, it's about four minutes long, and them please come right back to me. Okay, now go watch the ad, I'll be right here when you get back. (easy listening music) Welcome back. A climate denier is paired with an activist, a man who believes feminism is man-hating is paired with a feminist, and a transgender woman is paired with a man who doesn't believe in that. Three of the most disparate opinion sets there are, and yet through working together, hanging out, listening to each other, they forgot their preconceived notions, and through empathy, they find they have more in common than not, just like all the rest of us. So obviously, when you're working with another person on a real project, or on something less taxing, like building a bar, it's actually easy to have empathy. Just by sharing a goal, you instantly know you've one thing in common, and you start there and build on it, just like these people did. Keep this in mind the next time you're paired with someone you know you disagree with, and instead, focus on figuring out what you agree on. Nothing about this approach is new, by the way. A couple thousand years ago, the famous philosopher, Marcus Aurelius wrote, "Whenever you're about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize."

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