-James Allen
Boston seems like a village after a month in New York City but a booming urban metropolis after a month in Colorado. Why is this? A 65 degree day in November feels much warmer than a 65 degree day in July. Why? While circumstances certainly play a role in awareness, how would one distinguish between truth and illusion amidst varying circumstances? How do we know if our inner interpretation of the world is in accord with reality? I would like to propose that traditionally altruistic attributes of empathy and compassion, that are not ordinarily associated with the business world, can improve a company's perception of the market landscape. That the clarity with which a company perceives the market, improves as the company's guiding principles incorporate these altruistic elements.
Empathy may alleviate some of the challenges associated with perceptual difference. It helps a company identify with the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of another person; customers or not. It helps us experience the world through their skin and reason through subjective issues with another value system. In order to truly empathize with another person, we would have to trust that their perspective is pure; untainted by superficial ideas and trivialities. Trusting another person enough to "know" that their lens will provide more clarity than distortion, seems to be a matter of judgment. But is it unreasonable to propose that empathizing with anyone provides insight into reality beyond what we experience on our own? I guess the only way to tell for sure would be to reassess the accuracy of our own perceptions after empathizing with another person. If the result on our own perception is positive, it may be safe to assume that we now have a more accurate interpretation of reality than before. If however, the result is negative, empathizing with this other person might ultimately have been distorting. A distortion here, however, must be carefully considered before it is discarded; resulting ultimately in more clarity. Accordingly, any empathetic thought or action either causes us to experience reality from another perspective, or forces us to consider the accuracy of that perspective by reassessing our view of reality.
Empathy may alleviate some of the challenges associated with perceptual difference. It helps a company identify with the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of another person; customers or not. It helps us experience the world through their skin and reason through subjective issues with another value system. In order to truly empathize with another person, we would have to trust that their perspective is pure; untainted by superficial ideas and trivialities. Trusting another person enough to "know" that their lens will provide more clarity than distortion, seems to be a matter of judgment. But is it unreasonable to propose that empathizing with anyone provides insight into reality beyond what we experience on our own? I guess the only way to tell for sure would be to reassess the accuracy of our own perceptions after empathizing with another person. If the result on our own perception is positive, it may be safe to assume that we now have a more accurate interpretation of reality than before. If however, the result is negative, empathizing with this other person might ultimately have been distorting. A distortion here, however, must be carefully considered before it is discarded; resulting ultimately in more clarity. Accordingly, any empathetic thought or action either causes us to experience reality from another perspective, or forces us to consider the accuracy of that perspective by reassessing our view of reality.
Secondly, is compassion a result of empathizing with others? When seeing another person in pain, I would think that most people (including myself) would want to help them end their suffering. Fundamentally, why would we do this? Could it be because we can relate to another person's suffering on some level and would not want to experience such pain ourselves? The experience of feeling another person's plight is uncomfortable for most individuals and ending that discomfort would most likely involve ending the other person's pain. If it is a pain that we have never felt before, experiencing it vicariously would expand our perception of reality. Thus, if this empathy results in compassion, and compassion expands our perception of reality, it seems likely to bring about more clarity.
So if compassion is the result of empathy, and empathy helps us reconcile differences in perception, it would follow that compassionate people would have a more accurate view of reality than those who are indifferent to another person's disposition. Those benevolent few among us would not only be good Samaritans, they would reap the benefits of improved perception. It is interesting to note that compassion is viewed as an altruistic endeavor in modern consumerist societies. The compassionate qualities of kindness and generosity are antithetical to the selfish and egocentric outlines of the business world. However, if we consider the idea that compassionate ideals improve perception, the selfish paradigms that propel business today might consider reassessing the wisdom of their values.
And who knows? Altruism might ultimately even have a permanent place in the business world.
And who knows? Altruism might ultimately even have a permanent place in the business world.
