The Empathy Gap

CHAPTER 1Understanding the cognitive challenges of empathy

I vividly remember the excitement of starting my first major management consulting project. I had freshly arrived in the big smoke of Sydney from little old Brisbane and found myself part of a small team tasked with a colossal challenge. We had been asked to organisationally redesign the Australian arm of a global insurance behemoth. The company had grown rapidly through acquisitions, yet had largely ignored the potential synergies across its diverse business units by integrating them operationally. Our goal was simple: thoroughly investigate and propose ways to restructure the business to enhance operational efficiency and reduce the company's sprawling number of siloed divisions into a leaner, more effective structure.

This was also my first project as a management consultant and I was in awe of the incredible intellect and talent of my colleagues. They effortlessly crafted voluminous, sophisticated PowerPoint decks brimming with graphs, charts and diagrams that mapped out a clear path through the labyrinth of opportunities. In only a few days we had crafted a ‘master plan document’ that was nothing short of an awe-inspiring journey from the current state through to a utopian future. The seasoned consultants seemed to possess an intuitive grasp of the company's complexities, visualising a streamlined future marked by consolidation of resources and efficiency of output. The prospect of massive cost savings, well into ...