This book made me reflect on how much empathy and awareness are missing from the way we design, work, and interact with others. It shows that work is not only about results but also about understanding human behavior and emotion.
One line that stayed with me was “The world of design is filled with absences of empathy. The planners of paths around parks, for instance, routinely forget how people actually walk.” It captures how often we overlook real human needs in our decisions. The book also notes that people “mess up their work because they cease to think of themselves as their own first customers,” which feels like a reminder to stay grounded and connected to purpose.
There are parts that speak quietly but deeply about time and understanding. “It might be twenty five years until your child understands why you made a certain decision, let alone acknowledges that there might have been a point to it.” It made me think about how patience and trust shape many of our choices, even when others cannot see it yet.
I also found its thoughts on fear and work very relatable. “Another way of thinking of fearful people is that they start off as overly good children.” It explains how many of us carry old fears into adult life. Sometimes “it can seem as if work is primarily an arena of exasperation and delay,” and that “our lives become dominated by a fear of losing, or never getting, things that we could in fact manage without.”
The final line that stayed with me is simple but true. “Being a good employee should not be that different from being that truly important thing, a good person.”
This book is a quiet reminder that emotional intelligence is not a technique but a way of living with more empathy and honesty, both at work and beyond.