Change Starts at Home

Change starts at home

I realized recently that it's been a year since I last wrote on The Changebase. While I don't like to make excuses, I think I've got a pretty good one: motherhood. In January 2013, my husband and I welcomed our wonderful little boy. Little did we know what a journey we were about to embark on.

Over the course of my first nine months as a parent, I've reflected often on the topic of community. When I started this blog, I set my focus and intentions around communities of change – high impact, innovative people and organizations doing great work out in the world. When I went on maternity leave last December, my own personal community of change was redefined, becoming infinitely smaller, tighter and ultimately much more meaningful than I could have imagined.

I've always believed in the 'it takes a village to raise a child' mentality, and I've learned firsthand that my child is truly a village baby. We're incredibly lucky that our inner circle of family and friends have stepped up and supported our little baby and our little family during this daunting, scary and amazing time of transition and change. There's no way we could have grown into the happy trio we now are without the love and support of our greater community.

This past weekend I went to the Net Impact conference in San Jose and spent much of my time there continuing to reflect. Last year at the conference I was 7 months pregnant; now I am mother to an almost one-year old! And yet, like always I felt wrapped up in the warm arms of that incredible community.

The theme of the conference was Change Starts Here. Each of the keynotes focused on various elements required to create lasting change: leadership, a network, dialogue, an idea. As I sat in the keynotes and many of the sessions, I thought about the kind of change I want to create in the world, and what I need in order to get there. Like any new mom, I face the internal (and sometimes very visible, external) struggle of balancing my career aspirations and dreams with an almost-primal urge to soak up every moment I can with my son. Let's just say that while the conversation about work-life balance for working moms has been carrying on for decades, all of a sudden it feels very relevant to me.

What I'm learning is there's no resolution, no end-point to this conversation. Rather than a period, it's a comma – or maybe a run-on sentence that twists and turns and never lets you know where it's going. Some days work feels like my #1, my purpose and my focus. But then I come home, racing in the front door in time for playtime and bath time, and I think to myself: how could I possibly miss this? What could ever be more important than this moment, right here and now?

In the end, I'm starting to see that there's a ebb and flow to this new way of living. A give and take between any number of identities that I hold true and core to me, to Ashley. I'm a mom – and I love being a mom. I'm a professional – and I find fulfillment through working. And I'm lots of things in between. Sometimes one part of me shines through more than the others, but these parts of me are always there. Working in tandem to make up the whole.

No where was this more evident than at Net Impact's three-day conference. For two of those days, I poured myself into the schedule, the networking and the learning. I was inspired and energized, and eagerly awaiting day 3. Yet as I pulled into my driveway at the end of a long second day, I turned inward and asked myself, "if I could do anything tomorrow, what would it be"? The answer rang loud and clear: family. So, on day 3 of Net Impact – while my twitter feed hummed with conference insights and learning from just down the road – I stayed home with my son and husband for some time together. And it was a great day.

When I think about where change starts and how it happens, I agree: it starts with leadership and networks and a big idea. But in my definition of change, it also starts with my family. I'm not yet sure exactly what my mark on the world will be, or how I'll create my own community of change, but I do know that investing in my son, helping him grow into the person he's meant to be and building a community around him is one big way I'll get there. Change may start in many ways, but sometimes – in my world – it starts at home.

I realized recently that it's been a year since I last wrote on The Changebase. While I don't like to make excuses, I think I've got a pretty good one: motherhood. In January 2013, my husband and I welcomed our wonderful little boy. Little did we know what a journey we were about to embark on.

Over the course of my first nine months as a parent, I've reflected often on the topic of community. When I started this blog, I set my focus and intentions around communities of change – high impact, innovative people and organizations doing great work out in the world. When I went on maternity leave last December, my own personal community of change was redefined, becoming stronger, tighter and ultimately much more meaningful than I could have imagined.

I've always believed in the 'it takes a village to raise a child' mentality, and I've learned firsthand that my child is truly a village baby. We're incredibly lucky that our inner circle of family and friends have stepped up and supported our little family during this daunting, scary and amazing time of transition and change. There's no way we could have grown into the happy trio we now are without the love and support of our greater community.

This past weekend I went to the Net Impact conference in San Jose and spent much of my time there continuing to reflect. Last year at the conference I was 7 months pregnant; now I am mother to an almost one year-old! And yet, like always I felt wrapped up in the warm arms of that incredible community.

The theme of the conference was Change Starts Here. Each of the keynotes focused on various elements required to create lasting change: leadership, a network, dialogue, an idea. As I sat in the keynotes and many of the sessions, I thought about the kind of change I want to create in the world, and what I need in order to get there. Like any new mom, I face the internal (and sometimes very visible, external) struggle of balancing my career aspirations and dreams with an almost-primal urge to soak up every moment I can with my son. Let's just say that while the conversation about work-life balance for working moms has been carrying on for decades, all of a sudden it feels very relevant to me.

What I'm learning is there's no resolution, no end-point to this conversation. Rather than a period, it's a comma – or maybe a run-on sentence that twists and turns and never lets you know where it's going. Some days work feels like my #1, my purpose and my focus. But then I come home, racing in the front door in time for playtime and bath time, and I think to myself: how could I possibly miss this? What could ever be more important than this moment, right here and now?

In the end, I'm starting to see that there's a ebb and flow to this new way of living. A give and take between any number of identities that I hold true and core to me, to Ashley. I'm a mom – and I love being a mom. I'm a professional – and I find fulfillment through working. And I'm lots of things in between. Sometimes one part of me shines through more than the others, but these parts of me are always there. Working in tandem to make up the whole.

No where was this more evident than at Net Impact's three-day conference. For two of those days, I poured myself into the schedule, the networking and the learning. I was inspired and energized, and eagerly awaiting day 3. Yet as I pulled into my driveway at the end of a long second day, I turned inward and asked myself, "if I could do anything tomorrow, what would it be"? The answer rang loud and clear: family. So, on day 3 of Net Impact – while my twitter feed hummed with conference insights and learning from just down the road – I stayed home with my son and husband for some time together. And it was a great day.

When I think about where change starts and how it happens, I agree: it starts with leadership and networks and a big idea. But in my definition of change, it also starts with my family. I'm not yet sure exactly what my mark on the world will be, or ultimately how I'll create my own community of change. But I do know that investing in my son, helping him grow into the person he's meant to be and building a community around him is one big way I'll get there. Change may start in many ways, but sometimes – in my world – it starts at home.

Designing for Business Impact

On OpenIDEO, our global community tackles a variety of big challenge topics, from improving maternal health using mobile technology, to providing accessible voting for citizens with mobility or language restrictions. Each challenge topic brings with it the chance to explore, learn about and design for social and environmental impact in a new and different way.

As I gear up to attend the 2012 Net Impact conference, I can’t help but connect the dots between our current OpenIDEO challenge and the 3,000 or so passionate, driven and connected MBAs and professionals who’ll be gathering in Baltimore, MD for this year’s event.

OpenIDEO’s Business Impact Challenge focuses on designing tools, resources, incentives and other solutions to help for-profit companies innovate for world benefit. At its core, this challenge centers around a topic that was (and still remains) very near to my own heart while I was in business school: doing good and doing well.

The sponsor for our challenge, the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case Western Reserve University, has set its sights on creating a Nobel-like prize to not only recognize current business innovations that have made our society and environment better, but also to spur and catalyze future innovations that drive our world forward. Their intention for this OpenIDEO challenge is to collect inspirations and ideas from around the world that they can incorporate into their own effort toward a vision they call “Business as an Agent of World Benefit.”

Our challenge has opened its Concepting phase, where everyone is invited to collaboratively design ideas to inspire, recognize and enable businesses to innovate with world benefit in mind.

For many of the folks attending Net Impact (or following along at #ni12), this concept – business innovating for world benefit – is already integral to your thinking, approach and outlook at school or at work.

So from your own experience, what do you need to help you do this work better? How could you collaborate with the OpenIDEO community to design concepts that enable your organization to develop these kinds of world changing innovations? To help guide everyone’s efforts in the Concepting, we’ve put together a few tools – Challenge Themes and a Brainstorm in a Box toolkit.

If ever there were a conversation meant specifically for Net Impacters, this is it.

At conferences, it can be so easy to keep the conversation up in the clouds, to speak in what if’s and theories, rather than in the practical and the tangible. This week, why not balance out the theories with some real-world designing? Join our Business Impact Challenge and create concepts to support each of us as we move the needle toward businesses that innovate not just for financial return, but to change the world for the better.

See you on OpenIDEO!

And PS - this Saturday I'm speaking on a panel at the Net Impact conference about breaking into the impact sector and finding a job with purpose. I hope to see you there!

On OpenIDEO, our global community tackles a variety of big challenge topics, from improving maternal health using mobile technology, to providing accessible voting for citizens with mobility or language restrictions. Each challenge topic brings with it the chance to explore, learn about and design for social and environmental impact in a new and different way.

As I gear up to attend the 2012 Net Impact conference, I can’t help but connect the dots between our current OpenIDEO challenge and the 3,000 or so passionate, driven and connected MBAs and professionals who’ll be gathering in Baltimore, MD for this year’s event.

OpenIDEO’s Business Impact Challenge focuses on designing tools, resources, incentives and other solutions to help for-profit companies innovate for world benefit. At its core, this challenge centers around a topic that was (and still remains) very near to my own heart while I was in business school: doing good and doing well.

The sponsor for our challenge, the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case Western Reserve University, has set its sights on creating a Nobel-like prize to not only recognize current business innovations that have made our society and environment better, but also to spur and catalyze future innovations that drive our world forward. Their intention for this OpenIDEO challenge is to collect inspirations and ideas from around the world that they can incorporate into their own effort toward a vision they call “Business as an Agent of World Benefit.”

Our challenge has opened its Concepting phase, where everyone is invited to collaboratively design ideas to inspire, recognize and enable businesses to innovate with world benefit in mind.

For many of the folks attending Net Impact (or following along at #ni12), this concept – business innovating for world benefit – is already integral to your thinking, approach and outlook at school or at work. So from your own experience, what do you need to help you do this work better? How could you collaborate with the OpenIDEO community to design concepts that enable your organization to develop these kinds of world changing innovations?

To help guide everyone’s efforts in the Concepting, we’ve put together a few tools – challenge Themes and a Brainstorm in a Box toolkit. Check them out, and join our challenge.

If ever there were a conversation meant specifically for Net Impacters, this is it. At conferences, it can be so easy to keep the conversation up in the clouds, to speak in what if’s and theories, rather than in the practical and the tangible. This week, why not balance out the theories with some real-world designing? Join our Business Impact Challenge and create concepts to support each of us as we move the needle toward businesses that innovate not just for financial return, but to change the world for the better.

Exploring Community

These days, 'community' might as well be my middle name. And, I'm happy to report, it's a topic that just doesn't seem to get old. Here's one aspect of community I've been thinking about lately:

It goes without saying that what a community looks like, how it's defined, as well as what it feels like to belong to that community, is unique to each person and each community. This could be said for in-person as well as online communities; in fact last week I had an interesting conversation with some folks building an online community for Edible Schoolyard, Alice Waters' food education program, and I was struck by how their online community looks, feels, behaves and interacts so differently from the one I manage on OpenIDEO.

The topic of community also came up at IDEO recently, most notably on a floor-to-ceiling chalkboard in a bathroom in the SF office (funny enough, I've written about this bathroom before!). What I love about this image is that it very humorously reminds us that being a part of a community feels different for everyone. From informal recognition to bonding through adversity (with or without the bear hugs), this exercise proves that there's no shortage of answers when we're asking about community!

Although every community may be unique, when I look at this quick snapshot a few key tenets do bubble up to the surface:

• inclusiveness and a sense of belonging;
• common experiences or understanding;
• respect and appreciation;
• humor; and,
• swag (of course!)

While each community may serve its own population, focus on a specific cause or mission, or adhere to different norms or standards, I actually believe that one set of guiding principles can hold true for all communities: make me feel welcome, invite me to join in, validate my contributions, help me have fun, and give me the chance to share my community pride.

It's possible that I'm oversimplifying, but I don't actually think by much. I can attest that these are principles that I try to bring to my interactions with the OpenIDEO community everyday, not to mention the "real life" communities I belong to (family, friends, school etc).

What do you think? Do these principles ring true for you and the communities you belong to? What's missing? I'm curious to hear what you think.

And of course, as my friend Athena recently shared, when all else fails...

These days, 'community' might as well be my middle name. And amazingly, it's a topic that doesn't get old to me.

It goes without saying that what a community looks like, as well as what it feels like to belong to a community, is unique for each person. This week I had an interesting conversation with someone building an online community for Edible Schoolyard, Alice Waters' food education program, and I was struck by how their online community looks, feels, behaves and interacts so differently from the one I manage on OpenIDEO.

These days I'm particularly interested in the distinction between online and in-person communities, and the potential for intersection between the two. Even in my online community work, I often try to remind myself to think about how I might connect our virtual community members together in-person. Easier said than done, but something I'm currently churning through in my head.

The topic of community came up at IDEO this week, most notably on a floor-to-ceiling chalkboard in the SF office (funny enough, I've written about this bathroom before!). What I love about this image is that it very honestly and humorously reminds us that building a strong community is not one-size-fits-all. After all, as this exercise proves, you can pose this question and we're literally running out of room on the chalkboard!

But then again, when I look at this quick snapshot, a few key tenets bubble up to the surface:

- inclusiveness

- a sense of belonging

- common experiences or understanding

- respect

- appreciation

So are communities really that unique? Is it possible that one set of guiding principles could hold true for communities across the board? I think it's a bit more complex than that. But it could be fair to say that all people, regardless of their interests, backgrounds, geographies or experiences would like to be part of a community that operates according to these tenets. So while it's not perfect, I'd say it's a great place to start.

As my friend Athena recently shared on Instagram

Lessons from the Trenches: My Year in Review

It’s been a busy year of learning, stretching, growing and testing for me at IDEO. Knowing that I’m someone who likes to take stock of my progress and plan for the year ahead (see my posts here and here for examples), I thought I’d take some time to review my efforts and share some big lessons I’ve had along the way.

For those of you out in the working world, my hope is that these might resonate with you. And for the MBAs, design students and other job seekers out there, consider these some helpful tips for what’s to come!

So, here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The Road to Impact is Long…and Bumpy…and Unpaved

If you’re like me, when you start a new job you want to hit the ground running. Eager to make an impact and prove my value to my team, I dove in head first to every big and bold strategic question I could get my hands on – basically with the intention to solve every question, pursue every lead, and wring every ounce of opportunity I could from each day.

Not surprisingly, after a few months of this craziness I realized the dangers of this approach. First and foremost, I burnt out almost immediately. Secondly, this ‘raising my hand to tackle everything’ strategy actually meant that I wasn’t really able to complete anything I started…a brutal a-ha moment when I went back over my to-do lists and saw how many things I started but never crossed off.

At OpenIDEO we talk about achieving impact from our challenges, and yes – the road to OpenIDEO impact is definitely long (but we’re working on it). But from where I sit, my own road to impact at work – not just learning my job but actually doing it well – has been bumpy, unpaved and very windy.  After 12 months on the job, though, I not only know how to do my job, but I know how much of my job I can do. At least at one time.

Opportunities Disguised as Obstacles

Although it might sound cliché, this lesson for me is all about attitude. Buried in post-its, empty cups of coffee and a growing list of things to do, it’s been easy for me to throw my hands up in the air at times and wallow: “This is too difficult/chaotic/busy/challenging/insert negative thought here.”

But the truth is: it’s all about attitude. Take, for instance, the work that I do with my teammates who literally live half a world away. Rather than bemoan our regular Skype calls and long email chains, I’ve chosen to respect and appreciate the fact that our team brings a global voice and perspective to the work we do. Working across three time zones has also forced me to practice communicating in new ways, favoring short and to-the-point over long and wordy (definitely easier said than done – I’m still working on this one!).

Stopping to Smell the Roses…at least once a day

Let’s face it: working in a startup can be a bit nutty, to say the least. Over the course of the last year, I’ve had my fair share of skipped lunches, early morning starts and weekend work-a-thons. But somewhere along the way, the Golden Rule of Business School (you may know it as the 80/20 rule) flashed into my mind.

What I realized is that there is always going to be work. There’s always going to be an opportunity to do better, to try something out, to report back on the last experiment, or just really to do more. But as the law of diminishing returns teaches us, at a certain point this extra effort just stops paying off. Productivity drops, mood drops, everything drops.

I started taking walks at lunch. I started having coffee with new coworkers to welcome them in much the same way I was welcomed when I joined. I started attending lunches and know-hows and speaker sessions. In essence, I started showing up for activities and opportunities that existed beyond my desk.

I learned this lesson late in my first year at IDEO, so I’m truthfully only starting to reap the rewards. But trust me: I’m learning more, I’m making friends, and I’m doing even better at my job. A win win win!

Creating, Promoting and Leveraging Communities of Change

This last lesson has been an especially sweet one for me. When I started this blog almost three years ago, I was attracted to the idea of communities of change – who they are, what they do, and what we can learn from them. So you can imagine my nice surprise when, just a couple of weeks ago, I realized: this is what I do for work.

My job is all about creating, promoting and leveraging one very specific community of change: the OpenIDEO community. My role is to help our global community find their voice, learn about issues that affect them, and translate their enthusiasm and energies into ideas for local and global impact. Amazing how early interests and intentions can end up aligning with real life.

All in all, this last year has been an incredible time for me, one that’s pushed me to reevaluate how I work, collaborate, learn and lead. Are you taking time to review your own lessons at work, or in life? What have you learned?

It’s been a busy year of learning, stretching, growing and testing for me at OpenIDEO. Knowing that I’m someone who likes to take stock of my progress and plan for the year ahead (see my posts here and here for examples), I thought I’d take some time to review my efforts and share some big lessons I’ve had along the way.

For those of you out in the working world, my hope is that these might resonate with you. And for the MBAs, design students and other job seekers out there, consider these some helpful tips for what’s to come!

So, here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The Road to Impact is Long…and Bumpy…and Unpaved

If you’re like me, when you start a new job you want to hit the ground running. Eager to make an impact and prove my value to my team, I dove in head first to every big and bold strategic question I could get my hands on – basically with the intention to solve every question, pursue every lead, and wring every ounce of opportunity I could from each day.

Not surprisingly, after a few months of this craziness I realized the dangers of this approach. First and foremost, I burnt out almost immediately. Secondly, this ‘raising my hand to tackle everything’ strategy actually meant that I wasn’t really able to complete anything I started…a brutal a-ha moment when I went back over my to-do lists and saw how many things I started but never crossed off.

At OpenIDEO we talk about achieving impact from our challenges, and yes – the road to OpenIDEO impact is definitely long (but we’re working on it). But from where I sit, my own road to impact at work – not just learning my job but actually doing it well – has been bumpy, unpaved and not at all direct.  After 12 months, though, I not only know how to do my job, but I know how much of my job I can do. At least at one time.

Opportunities Disguised as Obstacles

Although it might sound cliché, this lesson for me is all about attitude. Buried in post-its, empty cups of coffee and a growing list of things to do, it’s been easy for me to throw my hands up in the air at times and wallow: “This is just too difficult/chaotic/busy/scary.”

But the truth is: it’s all about attitude. Take, for instance, the work that I do with my teammates who literally live half a world away. Rather than bemoan our regular Skype calls and long email chains, I’ve chosen to respect and appreciate the fact that our team brings a global voice and perspective to the work we do. Working across three time zones has also forced me to practice communicating in new ways, favoring short and to-the-point over long and wordy (definitely still working on this one!).

Stopping to Smell the Roses…at least once a day

Let’s face it: working in a startup can be nuts. Over the course of the last year, I’ve had my fair share of skipped lunches, early morning starts and weekend work-a-thons. But somewhere along the way, the Golden Rule of Business School (you may know it as the 80/20 rule) flashed into my mind.

What I realized is that there is always going to be work. There’s always going to be an opportunity to do better, to try something out, to report back on the last experiment, or just really to do more. But as we all know, at a certain point this extra effort just stops paying off. Productivity drops, mood drops, everything drops.

I started taking walks at lunch, having coffee with new coworkers, and attending know-hows and speaker sessions. In essence, I started showing up for activities and opportunities that existed beyond my desk. And so far I’m learning more, I’m making friends, and I’m doing even better at my job. A win win win!

Creating, Promoting and Leveraging Communities of Change

This last lesson has been an especially sweet one for me. When I started this blog almost three years ago, I was attracted to the idea of communities of change – who they are, what they do, and what we can learn from them. So you can imagine my nice surprise when, just a couple of weeks ago, I realized: this is what I do for work.

My job is all about creating, promoting and leveraging one very specific community of change: the OpenIDEO community. My role is to help our global community find their voice, learn about issues that affect them, and translate their enthusiasm and energies into ideas for local and global impact. Amazing how early interests and intentions can end up aligning in real life.

All in all, this last year has been an incredible time for me, one that’s pushed me to reevaluate how I work, collaborate, learn and lead. Are you taking time to review your own lessons at work, or in life? What have you learned?

Learning through Empathy

I was lucky enough to spend last Friday morning at a café in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Recently I’ve made a habit of spending Fridays there. I don’t live in San Francisco but I tend to have meetings in SF, which means the Ferry Building often becomes a bit of a home base for me. There’s plenty to eat and drink, and it’s light, bright, bustling with energy and just a bit chaotic – all good things in a vibrant city space! As much as I love the frenzy and noise of the Ferry Building, it can also feel lonely here at times. Just like in any big city, being surrounded by strangers can lead to an awesome and liberating feeling of anonymity. On the other hand, sitting in a room watching everyone else laugh, eat and connect with their friends and family can leave a person feeling alone and cut off.

A few weeks ago, I had an experience that left me feeling particularly isolated and alone, one that I thought I’d share in the hope that it offers some interesting learning and questions.

I was rushing like always to get out of the house and catch my train to San Francisco. I had a lunch meeting scheduled at (surprise, surprise) the Ferry Building, and I didn’t want to be late. To get there, I planned to walk to the train station (10 minutes), ride the train (40 minutes), take another train (10 minutes), and then walk a bit more. I sprinted to the station and hopped on just in time.

As I went to grab my monthly train pass, my heart sank: I had forgotten my wallet. Oh my god, I thought, I got on the train without a ticket! I don't tend to make mistakes like this often, so I immediately got a bit angry with myself.

Then, a few moments later the bigger reality hit: I don’t have any money. At first I didn’t think this was a huge deal – I crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t get booted from the train for not having a ticket, and amazingly luck was on my side and I managed to make it all the way to SF.

But here’s where it got complicated. To get to the Ferry Building in time for my meeting, I had planned to board a city train. But without money, I couldn’t buy a ticket and I knew I wouldn’t make it on a second time for free. So I started walking, and walking, and walking. Finally, a mile and a half later I made it to the Ferry Building – out of breath and 30 minutes late! I apologized profusely as I met my lunch date and we headed toward the entrance.

But of course, then I remembered: we were supposed to have lunch, and I had no money. My companion was very understanding and even offered to pay for my meal, but after all that walking and the stress and embarrassment of the morning, I wasn’t hungry so I passed on his offer. So we chatted while he ate, and about an hour later, we parted ways.

As we said goodbye, though, I had an instant moment of clarity and realized what was happening. It was late afternoon, and I was hot, exhausted and all of a sudden excruciatingly hungry. And I had no money. I was supposed to meet my husband a few hours later, and on the surface, waiting a bit before we met up didn’t seem unbearable.

But then I got to thinking – which was unfortunately becoming increasingly hard to do on an empty stomach:

Where do I go? Where can I wait?

Where’s the nearest bathroom?

Where’s the nearest water fountain?

All of a sudden, I felt alone and hopeless. I was hungry, thirsty, tired and completely by myself. As I wandered around and looked for a place to rest, I couldn't help but think to myself: this must be what it feels like to be homeless.

Now ok, in hindsight I will admit that was a sweeping generalization. In the grand scheme of things, I barely brushed the surface of understanding the challenges of being homeless. And rest assured that I did end up reuniting with my husband, over a delicious meal no less. Still, my afternoon without cash left a real imprint on me.

The truth is I’ve been thinking a lot about empathy these days. At IDEO, empathy is an integral component of what we call human-centered design. By putting ourselves in the shoes of others, we learn about people’s concerns, hopes, fears and perhaps most importantly, needs. And their needs are what we design for.

Take the current OpenIDEO challenge in partnership with Amnesty International as an example. Human rights, and unlawful detention specifically, is something that not everyone can relate to – so we’re using empathy to delve deeper into the experience a detainee or his/her family might go through. Empathy, in many ways, is the golden ticket that helps us design solutions successfully and with compassion and authenticity.

Last week David Brooks wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about the limits of empathy. His central argument is that while empathy can be a tool for understanding, it can also lead to misguided efforts. Empathy, for example, can make us feel more compassion for cuter, more approachable causes – like puppies, sick babies, or polar bears.  And empathy, he argues, doesn’t actually translate to action. Just because you empathize with a homeless person on the street doesn’t mean you’ll actually act to improve his circumstance.

I agree with Mr. Brooks that empathy doesn’t guarantee action. Since reading his article, I’ll admit that my brush with empathy hasn’t exactly changed my behavior or inspired me to act differently.

I do however believe that empathy guarantees awareness.Without sounding overly dramatic, in the span of just a few hours that day, I was transformed. As I walked around, staying close to the restrooms and considering where I might find free snacks, I realized that I no longer felt like Ashley. Instead, I felt invisible, embarrassed, and to be honest even a little emotional.

Now, thanks to that experience a few weeks ago, I have at the ready some very tangible touch points for how it feels to be someone else. To be in a different place, in a different body and live under very different but very real constraints. Has my heightened empathy motivated me to reach into my pocket and give money to someone on the street? No, not yet. But have I approached my interactions, my work, and my personal life differently thanks to this renewed awareness? Absolutely. And I think that’s a great place to start.