Alicia Linares distinguishes emotional empathy (feeling with someone) from cognitive empathy (stepping into their mental shoes), and asks whether either is a weakness at work. Her answer: it’s a collective strength, but it needs conditions to exist.
The gem is Allport’s contact hypothesis: more contact → less judgment → more empathy. But only under four conditions: no hierarchy in the room, a clear common goal, interdisciplinary cooperation, and institutional backing. Which explains why “we should all be more empathetic” speeches change nothing, empathy is trainable, but the organization has to build the gym.