Story 09: Empathy
The story: The retrospective produced a clear action: practise more empathy. Everyone nodded. It went on the board. Two weeks later someone expressed concern about a colleague's setback and was told it came across as pity. He had felt for her. She had wanted him to ask what she needed. Same word, two behaviours, and one of them landed badly.
What it means for organisations: Action items without definitions are deferred disagreements. A team commits to a behaviour, nobody says what it looks like on their team, and the item goes on the board looking finished. It is a placeholder. The conversation that would have made it real is the one everyone skipped to save time.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 9
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The retrospective
A meeting room with a bookshelf, plants, a hanging lamp, and a small desk in the corner. Axel stands at a whiteboard, marker in hand, having just written: "Retrospective Action: Agreed to practice more empathy." Ally stands nearby holding a tablet, smiling in agreement. No one speaks.
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: The chat
A text-message conversation between Ally and Axel.
Ally: Hi!
Axel: Hey.
Ally: How's your day going?
Axel: Not great. I got some news.
Ally: They turned down the promotion? I feel awful for you.
Axel: Hey, I don't want pity!
Ally: I'm just trying to be empathetic.
Axel: This has nothing to do with empathy!
Ally: …
Share this story: LinkedIn ↗
