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GUiDe Egocentric Versus Empathetic Thinking

flight performance of the drones. Alexis thinks the team The team would make a concerted effort to address the 107
should determine which drone parts could be 3D-printed. different points of view, and the outcome will be much
Joni, once she understands what is going on, is likely to be more positive—possibly a recognition that the team
focused on wasted employee time and the lack of consensus should be meeting virtually and asynchronously. Either
among team members. way, the attendees have the same information; the differ-
Now imagine yourself in that meeting. If everyone ence in outcomes results from the thinking style of the
engages in egocentric thinking, what will happen? The attendees.
meeting will be argumentative and acrimonious and likely Empathetic thinking is an important skill in all busi-
will end with nothing accomplished. ness activities. Skilled negotiators always know what the
Suppose, instead, that the attendees think empathet- other side wants; effective salespeople understand their
ically. In this case, Cam may make an effort to find out customers’ needs. Buyers who understand the problems of
why Felix is missing meetings. Felix would make an effort their vendors get better service. And students who under-
to understand why his behavior is a problem to the team. stand the perspective of their professors get better . . .

DiSCUSSion QUeStionS

1. In your own words, explain how egocentric and empa- real problem is that . . . ” followed by her definition of the
thetic thinking differ. problem. How do you respond?
2. Suppose you miss a staff meeting. Using empathetic 5. Again, suppose you and another person differ substan-
thinking, explain how you can get needed information tially on a problem definition. Assume you understand
about what took place in the meeting. his definition. How can you make that fact clear?
3. How does empathetic thinking relate to problem definition? 6. Explain the following statement: “In business, empa-
4. Suppose you and another person differ substantially on thetic thinking is smart.” Do you agree?
a problem definition. Suppose she says to you, “No, the