Elevating the Human Experience

Chapter 12Cultivating Love and Worth for Othersat Work

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

—Dalai Lama

The study of humans as a primary subject of interest is the focus of the field of human-centered design, which started in response to emerging complexities in technology and engineering. Human-centered design has roots in the fields of anthropology, sociology, and social psychology. When we study humans and really see them, we are human-ologists. We begin with the premise that other humans are worthy of our interest and our attention, which is just another way of saying they are worthy of our love. We make a point of understanding not just observable human behaviors but where there is friction, frustration, a breakdown. We observe and honor what is. For example, Neil Malani, one of the EHX catalyst team members, shared a story of in-depth ethnographic research he conducted on how people make important financial decisions. Neil interviewed a woman who had recently used her tax refund to buy the only new car she will ever have. The monthly payment on the car was half her rent and by the end of her loan, she would have paid nearly three times the value of the car in interest. Neil pointed out that he could say, “She made a poor financial decision and I could judge her for it, but if I accept her as worthy, that leads me to ask better, different, and more interesting questions, such as ‘How can I help this woman access the ...