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Empathy & EngineeringBeing a successful engineer isn’t just about coding.
Kim Nicol+ thanks to Hackbright Academy & Women Who Code
Kim NicolCoach - attorneys, entrepreneurs, leaders
Mindfulness for Hustlers - General Assembly
Meditation Teacher - nuclear engineers, startups, Fortune 500 co’s
People + Culture meet-ups - Startup HR community
Led People + Culture at venture foundry Factory X
. . . & InnerYoga teacher, former attorney, fitness instructor, hospice volunteer
Why Empathy & Engineering?
For your personal and career development, it's critical to know your emotional range.
This webinar will help you gain clarity on how you most like to connect with others, what you know of yourself, and how you like to work with and connect with others.
Being a successful engineer is not just about coding -- it’s about how well you play in the sandbox.
Tech DebtQuick fix. . . clean it up + pay it down some day. . .
Or it accrues and can lead to significant consequences.
Codebase
Cultural DebtQuick fix. . . clean it up + pay it down some day. . .
Or it accrues and can lead to significant consequences.
E.g., communication skills, how we treat each other when we’re stressed, buggy on-boarding, unwelcoming vibe
Group Dynamics
Emotional DebtQuick fix. . . clean it up + pay it down some day. . .
Or it accrues and can lead to significant consequences.
E.g., stress / burnout, passion + purpose, ignoring or avoiding emotions (they are so inconvenient)
Individual
Empathy
The ability to share* and understand someone else’s feelings**
*You must have awareness of and access to your own emotional range.
**Empathy is not about having experienced the same circumstances, or having the same opinion about or response to the circumstances.
Productivity depends so much on human dynamics and interaction.
Self-Awareness: Practice
Self-Awareness: Four Frameworks
(1) Energy + Energy Management
What energizes you?
What drains you?
What’s your energy like at different times of the day?
Bonus: Productivity as a function of energy + attention, not just time!
(2) Physical Symptoms of Emotion
Notice how emotion presents as physical sensation.
And. . . how physical shape can shift emotional tone!
Boost awareness of where your body is, and how it feels.
E.g., taking up space vs being small, collapsing downward (discouraged / resigned), contracted (fear / aversion), tense + upward rising (high stim / excited), relaxed + upward rising (joyful)
(3) Introvert. . . Extrovert
Are you energized by being alone / connecting with one person? Or by engaging with many people at once?
E.g., colleagues may be different, because humans vary
(4) What do you care about?
Know what matters to you.
Remember that humans are variable -- others might care about other things.
E.g., building cool products with cool people, solving complex problems, seeing the result of your work in the world, being the best in your domain, building relationships and community, teaching others, growth and learning. . .
How to find the time?
In a fast-paced environment, it’s easy to skip pattern recognition. . . which can be very costly and create a lot of friction and drag.
And yet this doesn’t take much time. . . it does take attention, awareness, and knowing how to see.
Time vs. Attention + Energy
Humans in Tech at Work
Group Dynamics
Culture
Leadership
Communication (Fast vs Slow)
Personal + Professional Growth
Navigating Change + Challenge
Productivity depends so much on human dynamics and interaction.
Leadership depends so much on human dynamics and interaction.
Success depends so much on human dynamics and interaction.
Happiness depends so much on human dynamics and interaction.
Living life with meaning, purpose, passion, satisfaction, and joy depends so much on human
dynamics and interaction.
