As a follow on to my lengthy post about "empathy", I thought that this post I saw on Ian Curtis's FB page was a great article to share:
The Engineer's Lament
by Malcolm Gladwell (author of several amazing books).
In the article, he tells a famous engineering joke about a Preist, a Doctor, and an Engineer playing golf. They are held up by a group of golfers clearly struggling. They ask the range manager what is going on, and the manager explains they are a group of firefighters that were blinded fighting a fire not too long ago. The Preist says he will say a prayer for the firefighters. They Doctor says he will call up an optimologist friend to see if there is something she could do. The Engineer asks: "Why can't they play at night?"
In the article, it talks in part about some of the biggest recalls in auto history and how they were handled and mis-handled.
While we may find the best compromise of a given solution set, sometimes the lack of compassion or empathy can come across as out of touch. As many communication experts will tell you, it is often less about what you say, and more about how you say it.