Avoiding empathy shortcuts

Sasha Dichter's post, "The Empath Challenge" has me thinking about the way I describe and interact with others. I know I use these shortcuts more often when dealing with coworkers (and other work related colleagues) because it's "quicker" and "easier" to justify my understanding of them rather than to take the time I should be.

That's not to say that I don't use these shortcuts outside of my work environment. Sometimes my initial reaction, after hearing someone's plight, anecdote, story, etc., is to express one of these shortcuts. I would like to think that I do, after that initial reaction, take more time to understand more but I cannot say that I do that with confidence.

It's definitely food for thought and, something to be much more aware of when interacting with people.