Team Member Spotlight: Joe Auer

WHAT SOFTWARE / PRODUCT WOULD YOU LIKE TO REDESIGN?

Smart speakers, the voice-controlled digital personal assistants, are still new and lacking many features. Even though the purpose is voice activated, it would be nice to easily change volume, colors, and power on the device directly, which is currently very cumbersome. I would also increase the quality of the acoustics for better, more robust sound, and integrate with other home speakers. Increase integration with other apps (e.g. Apple Music can’t be played on Google Play), which is more important than protecting the products of those companies. Finally, add the ability to change what you call the device; I prefer to use a pet name (HAL 9000).

WHAT PRODUCT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ERASE FROM HISTORY?

Mobile phones: There are so many advantages of mobile phones related to business, accessibility for the disabled, entertainment and safety. There are also social advantages from mobile phones making our lives better and easier. Unfortunately, there are currently way too many negatives impacting our lives, such as injuries/deaths while driving and walking, lack of focus (e.g. dings/chimes disrupt your attention) and vision/health problems. There’s also a loss of social interactions and intimacy with friends and family now, with the newly added stress of always being online. Like most inventions, mobile phones will change over time to be properly used in a way that is healthier for society; I just wish that time was now.

HOW IMPORTANT IS EMPATHY IN YOUR WORK?

Being on the consulting side for the past 25 years, I learned that empathy is very important to all businesses. Empathy is necessary to understand and communicate ideas with other people. Without empathy, it’s very difficult to be curious and prompt the correct business questions (e.g. asking for more detail and depth, deciding how issues impact clients personally, and confirming understandings). Without fully understanding business needs, you are lacking information and prematurely applying a solution for your client.

As a leader at High Seas, it is important to properly complete work on time. Through openness and understanding, being empathetic can help build a closer team and can increase productivity by allowing team members to focus on their goals vs. issues and conflicts.

Originally published at www.highseas.com.