Teresa Au chats with author, speaker, and entrepreneur Michael Ventura about what empathy really is and how it can help your design work and your business.
Michael describes applied empathy: The idea that empathy isn’t just putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, it’s about better understanding what it’s like to be someone else in their own shoes.
They also discuss how car designers rely on somatic empathy, strategies for time-strapped solopreneurs, and an easy way to shake up your video meetings.
What you’ll hear on this episode:
How Michael’s brand and strategy agency used empathy to improve their client work
Somatic empathy as a way to understand your clients’ physical experiences
The importance of reflecting on the impact of your work
A quick trick for learning about the people you meet
Why working more hours is not working better
A tool for comparing competing priorities
How empathy and self-knowledge can help you find your purpose
Remix a template created by Michael Ventura in Adobe Express.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Michael Ventura founded the strategy and design consultancy Sub Rosa, where he advised clients such as ACLU, Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, Nike, The United Nations, and the Obama-Biden Administration. His book Applied Empathy explores the intersectionality of business and personal development through the practice of empathy for the self, and for others.
Michael has served as a board member and advisor to organizations including Behance, The Burning Man Project, and the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. He is a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and the United States Military Academy at West Point, and as an ardent steward of personal and professional development, Michael is frequently engaged as an advisor at moments of transformation and change. Subscribe to his newsletter Understanding Understanding.
ABOUT THE HOST
Teresa Au is an executive for community engagement at Adobe. Her career spans diverse creative fields, primarily in New York’s fashion industry, as well as architecture firms, and now Silicon Valley tech companies. She has always prized working with distinctive design and the interesting people behind it — from designer Elie Tahari to start-up CEOs.
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See the full list of episodes from this season of In the Making.
