Sastha

Bridge The Empathy Gap

Check out this lesson plan that works beautifully for Sastha’s story!

Bridge The Empathy Gap

Check out this lesson plan that works beautifully for Sastha's story!

Generous Listening

1. Big Questions

   “Why is it important to make connections with people?

   Reflecting on some of your connections or relationships, what makes them stand out?” You can begin the conversation by asking students to think of someone who is important to them (preferably not a family member, so that students can be challenged to think of other meaningful relationships). Once they have one person in mind, ask what makes that relationship special (allow a few students to respond before moving on). Responses may include: commonalities (e.g. in the same class, play the same sport) and levels of support (e.g. gives advice, helps with homework). Next, count off students so that they are in pairs (if there is an odd number of students, you may have one group of three). Have the students describe a favorite moment or experience with the person that they previously thought of. (Optional: Provide paper for students to write out rough story outlines, bullet points, etc. that they may find helpful to tell their stories.) You may ask students to think of and include the following in their stories: The 5 W’s and 1 H, commonly referred to as the “6 W’s” ( W ho, W hat, W hen, W here, W hy, ho W ) You may first ask students if they know what the 6 W’s are. Next, you may prompt students to answer questions such as: “ Who was there?” “ What were you doing?” “ When were you doing this?” “ Where were you?” “ Why was this moment or experience memorable?” “ How did you feel in the moment?” Five senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste) You may first ask students if they know what the five senses are. Next, you may prompt students to describe the moment or experience using at least two of the five senses. The goal is for the story to be as descriptive as possible so that the person listening may create a mental image of the moment or experience. In this exercise, students will practice generous listening. Explain to students that one student in the pair will start as the storyteller and the other student will be the listener (they may choose between themselves or you may decide for them). You will set a timer for six minutes (during which the storyteller may tell their story uninterrupted). After the six minutes are up, the listener will have two minutes to ask any questions that may help to understand the story better and repeat back what they heard. If any of the pairs finish before the eight minutes are up, they may sit quietly or continue the conversation until you tell the pairs to switch (now the listener will tell their story and the storyteller will listen). Once everyone has told their stories and heard their stories being told back to them, come together as a group. Next, tell students that they just practiced “generous listening” and ask students if anyone can explain what generous listening is. Generous Listening “Generous listening” is a form of active listening powered by receiving and respecting another person’s story without a need to understand or question for personal benefit. The purpose is to practice being present and focus entirely on the other person, which is seemingly simple but often uncommon in today’s plugged in world, where we tend to retain 25-50% of what we hear . It is okay to ask questions if they will help to clarify the story, but the listener should not ask questions that take the focus away from the storyteller and only benefit one’s own curiosity. Next, ask students to reflect on the activity: “How did it feel having uninterrupted time to tell your story?” “How did it feel having your story told back to you?” Next, ask students to think about a time in their life (apart from this activity) where they truly felt heard and ask: “What was happening?” “Who was there, and how did they act?” “How did you feel being heard?” Then ask students to think about a time when they weren’t heard and ask: “What was happening?” “Who was there, and how did they act?” “How did it feel to not be heard?”

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2. Dive Deeper

   With your class, watch the video “I am Sastha, Sales & Solar” and read the story “Sastha the Salesman”. After watching the video and reading the story, ask students if there were any important connections or relationships described in Sastha’s story.

   Next, ask if they think generous listening is important to Sastha’s job and if so, how it may be practiced. Check for reading comprehension by asking the following questions: In Sastha’s story, he explains that there were two big challenges he faced at home. What were those challenges? Answer: Lack of clean water and clean energy/electricity Do you think the work that Sastha does now may be important to him because of the challenges he faced at home? How so? If you could design a product that addresses a challenge that is important to you (whether or not you have faced it in the past or are currently facing it), what would you design? How would that product help or solve the challenge? Ask students to shout out different challenges, encouraging creativity (e.g. lack of clean water, mode of transportation when it floods, etc.), and write them on the board (if applicable, or on a sheet of paper). Next, ask each student to choose three challenges they would want to address and keep a tally next to each challenge. Identify the top four challenges and label each corner of the room. Divide students up into four groups and give them the following task: Design a new product that addresses your team’s challenge. Before you can begin designing your product, you must figure out who your audience or customers are and what their needs are. Ask students to answer the following: Who do you think is impacted by your challenge? Who would you talk to about your challenge? How would you go about finding people to talk to? What kinds of questions would help you understand your challenge? Why would these questions be important? Optional (time permitted): Have students create a persona (a fictional person who is facing their challenge and is in need of their product). They may include as many details as they want about the person’s background, family life, friends, personality, hobbies, goals, aspirations, frustrations, motivations, etc. Once the students have a better understanding of whom they would be serving with their products, they may begin to design it. Depending on the group’s skills and preference, they may choose to draw the product, make a 3D-model, write about it, etc. They must then present their design to the class. When sharing, each team must include the following in their presentation: who their target audience is, why the challenge is an important one to address, and why their product would help address and/or resolve the challenge. Once the students have finished designing their products and preparing their presentations, come back together as a class. Ask students if any team would like to present first or decide in what order students will present. Allow time between each presentation for discussion. Ask the rest of the class what they think about the product’s design, its functionality, and whether or not it appropriately addresses or resolves the challenge. Remind students that the process of designing a product goes beyond its initial look-- it requires user feedback. Other students may have personal experiences or questions that were not addressed or accounted for before and that, if implemented, would make the product better. The class can ask any questions, and the presenters can respond to the questions to the best of their ability. (Remember that it is okay if the students are not able to answer all of the questions. You may tell students that the questions posed are great and you, the team, or the class will do more research on it. It is important to encourage learning and exploration and reinforce the notion that it is okay to not have all of the answers-- and in fact, not having an answer right away can lead to more thought-provoking discussion later!). Then, you may ask the presenters if they would change anything about their products. It may be that they would not change anything, but if the class discussion prompted a new idea or revision, you may choose to discuss this in more depth with the students (emphasizing that product design requires a lot of generous listening and understanding of people’s needs).

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3. Math Integration

   Regular vs. Essmart Light Bulbs Imagine that three people are each looking for a light bulb: Priya is a thirty-two-year-old single mother with four kids under the age of 10.

   She sends two of her kids to her mother’s home during the day and the other two attend school. She works as a cook in a small kitchen and makes 200 INR per day. She brings home some of the food from the kitchen but must buy other groceries, totaling 70 INR per week. She just moved into a new home so that her kids could attend a better school. School uniforms cost 400 INR each. The single light bulb left in the home broke and her youngest child stepped on a shard. She must take him to the hospital, and the hospital visit costs 500 INR. Arjun is an eighteen-year-old student who works part time as a math tutor. He loves reading comic books and going out to the movies with his friends. He goes to university in Mumbai and sends money to family in Jaipur every three months. It costs 2,000 INR by bus to go home. Sajal is a forty-eight-year-old author who wrote a best selling children’s book series. In her free time, she likes to cook new dishes using all organic ingredients. Her last child just moved out of the house, and she wants to renovate the bedroom with a library and reading nook. Respond to and discuss the following questions (you can reference the story “Sastha the Salesman”) : After initially reading about these three people, which light bulb do you think they would each prefer? Why? See the “note” below. There is no “right” answer to this question! Circumstances, personal preferences, values, etc. may influence how someone makes a purchase. Purely from an economical standpoint, the Essmart light bulb would be more cost effective in the long term, but some people may not be able to pay that higher upfront cost. Are there any additional questions you would want to ask these three people? Examples: If you could categorize your expenses, where do you spend the most money? What do you value most when making purchases? Are there any additional questions you would want to ask the regular light bulb company and/or Essmart? Examples: Does the bulb easily shatter? What is your warranty policy? Do you have any other payment plans? Is the quality of the bulbs comparable? Note : The information provided is purposely intended to be unnecessarily descriptive in some places and vague in others. It is important to see what descriptive details students pick up on and where they believe questions need to be asked. For example: Priya : We know that she is juggling a lot as a single mother with four kids and a job, but she does have help from her mother and her job (bringing home food). The two biggest expenses described (400 and 500 INR) come from one time and unexpected/emergency expenses. We do not know how much money Priya has in savings, but it may be that she saved just enough to buy the regular light bulb and does not have extra funds to invest in a more expensive bulb. Students will likely say that Priya will prefer the regular light bulb. Arjun : We know that he is young, in school, and works a part-time job, but we do not actually know how much money he has or makes or how long he plans to stay in the room that we assume he rents. We know that he likes spending time with his friends, and that may be where he spends most of his money. We also know that he loves reading and is good at math, so he may find investing in a light bulb to be beneficial. This may have the biggest split of opinion within the class-- some students may say that Arjun will prefer the regular light bulb and others may say that he will prefer the Essmart light bulb. Sajal : We can infer that she is financially well off and values the quality of her purchases (and perhaps her environmental footprint given that she only buys organic ingredients). As an author who wants to build a reading nook, she would likely use the room often and would want a long-lasting bulb. Students will likely say that Sajal will prefer the Essmart light bulb. Questions #2 and #3 are asked to further emphasize the importance of generous listening and asking questions that will help to better understand people and their stories. After discussing additional questions the students may want to ask, have students solve the following problems: If Priya buys a regular light bulb (that lasts 6 months) for 20 INR upfront and 100 INR per month, how much will she spend after one year (assuming she replaces the bulb with another regular bulb after the first one no longer works)? Answer: Total cost is 1,240 INR since Priya will need to purchase two lightbulbs over the year. The cost of just the bulbs is 20 INR x 2 bulbs, or 40 INR. The total monthly cost to service the bulbs is 100 INR x 12 months, or 1,200 INR. If Sajal buys an Essmart light bulb (that lasts about 5 years) for 1,500 INR upfront and 0 INR per month thereafter, how much will she spend after one year? Answer: Since there is no monthly cost, the total amount that Sajal will spend is 1,500 INR. After five years, who (Priya or Sajal) will spend more money? Answer: Priya will spend more money. You may use part of your answer to question #1 to figure out how much Priya will pay over 5 years (40 INR x 5 years = 200 INR and 100 INR x 60 months = 6,000 INR, so Priya will pay a total of 6,200 INR over 5 years). You already know that Sajal will spend a total of 1,500 INR after 5 years. Imagine that the regular light bulb works for exactly 6 months, and Sajal plans to continue to buy the regular light bulb for a total of 5 years. At what point will the cost of the regular bulb surpass the cost of the Essmart bulb? How much more will Sajal spend if she buys regular light bulbs every 6 months for 5 years (in addition to the electricity costs) instead of one Essmart light bulb which lasts 5 years? Answer: The cost will surpass after 15 months, since 20 INR x 3 bulbs = 60 INR (upfront costs) + 100 INR x 15 months = 1,500 INR (monthly costs) = 1,560 INR total, vs. 1,500 INR upfront cost for the Essmart bulb with no monthly costs The focus here is on the advantages and disadvantages of upfront and monthly costs. We know from our answer to question #3 that buying regular light bulbs every 6 months for 5 years leads to spending a total of 6,200 INR. By subtracting 1,500 INR from 6,200 INR, the students will find that Sajal will spend 4,700 INR more over the 5 years when choosing the regular bulb over the Essmart bulb. If the Essmart light bulb could be paid in monthly installments at 100 INR per month, at what month would Priya be better off buying an Essmart bulb? Answer: Trick question! Priya would be better off buying an Essmart bulb from the first month since she would be paying 100 INR instead of 120 INR (100 INR/mo + 20 INR upfront for a regular bulb). The students may start to understand the complexity of sales from both the company and consumer perspectives. Ask students: Would you consider any of the three people (Priya, Arjun, Sajal) the ideal customer for Essmart products? If not, what might Essmart need to do to convert as many customers as they can? What are different ways that Essmart could charge customers so that the sales would increase? Examples: Pay 30 INR a month (360 INR/year or less than 1 INR/day) over five years (company would make 1,800 INR vs. 1,500 INR). In this example, by pitching the product to the customer as less than 1 INR per day, there is more emphasis on its affordability. 30 INR a month is just a little more than what customers would pay upfront for the regular light bulb and is much less per month than what they would be paying for the regular light bulb. The downside for the company is that they would be making less money upfront. Pay 250 INR a month for 6 months or 135 INR a month for 12 months. Plus a five year warranty! For a customer who wants to pay in installments as quickly as possible and spend less money overall, the 6-month option may be appealing (250 INR x 6 months = 1,500 INR). The 12-month option costs just slightly more (135 INR) than what customers would pay per month for the regular light bulb (100 INR), customers don’t need to pay anything upfront, and the lightbulb is guaranteed to last five years (or will be replaced for free with the warranty). For the company , they may see a benefit in a longer payment plan, because they could make slightly more than they would with the shorter payment plan (1,620 INR vs. 1,500 INR). A risk they may need to consider would be within the terms of the warranty-- it may end up costing the company more money to replace a bulb under warranty if it stops working within the 5-year term, however the company may not need to replace a bulb (or many bulbs) at all, and therefore the risk of replacement may be worth it in order to bring in more customers. Pay 1,000 INR upfront and 50 INR for 12 months. Some customers may be willing to pay the larger upfront cost, which is still less than the outright purchase price (1,500 INR). The company can charge some interest on the monthly payments so it is 50 INR/month for 12 months, and end up making 100 INR more than they would with the outright cost. ACTIVITY: Crafting Personas (Refer to the Dive Deeper section for the definition of persona) Remind students of their answers to the previous question (#1), “ Would you consider any of the three people (Priya, Arjun, Sajal) the ideal customer for Essmart products?” , where students may have concluded that none (or at least not all) of the three people are ideal customers. Instruct students to create a persona or ideal customer who would pay 1,500 INR upfront with no monthly fees. Next, remind students of the other question above (#2), “ What are different ways that Essmart could charge customers so that the sales would increase?” Have students create a persona or ideal customer who would buy the Essmart light bulb given their suggested change to Essmart’s sales strategy. Ask the following questions: Are your two personas different? Why? How so? Note: They may have some tangential or small things in common, but from a financial standpoint, they should be different since that’s a big reason why you came up with a new sales strategy. Do you relate to either of the personas you created (one that will pay 1,500 INR upfront and one that fits your suggested sales strategy)? Having personal experience can help students truly understand the needs of the people that they are serving. From what you have learned about the people in Sastha’s community, do they fit the ideal persona you crafted who would buy the Essmart light bulb given your suggested change to Essmart’s sales strategy? If not, what additional changes would you make to your sales strategy? (Note: It can be easy to lose sight of the people you are serving when you are deep into product design. Remember to keep referring back to your persona and ask yourself if he/she/they would not only buy your product but benefit from it-- if not, make the necessary changes!) ACTIVITY: Giving your Pitch Read aloud the following excerpt from “Sastha the Salesman” story text : “Whenever I [Sastha] buy anything, I usually look for the best bargain-- the cheapest product I can find. I’ve found many people here do the same, and we’re looking to spend as little as we need. [...] Initially getting interest is difficult, but over time our popularity is building as people recognize the value of our [Essmart] products.” Allow students ten minutes to craft 2-3 minute “pitches”. A good pitch has similarities with a good book: there’s something that catches the reader’s attention, there’s a protagonist who has something to overcome, and there’s an ending that wraps it all up or leaves you wanting more. In sales, the components may look something like this: A memorable hook. Be personal and tell a story. The first thing you say is your first opportunity to catch the prospective customer’s attention and set the stage for the rest of your pitch. (You also usually only have a few minutes to give your whole pitch, so you want every word to count!) A problem and a solution. It’s important to remember why you created your product in the first place (you’re trying to solve something!). Let the prospective customer know what they are missing and how your product can help them. Data or hard evidence to back up your story. Students can be creative here and make up their own statistics (with the understanding that in a real pitch, these would be researched and fact-checked), but they should be relevant. The sale. Here is where the student will explain their payment plan and how the prospective customer can obtain the product. Follow up. The prospective customer may want more time to think before purchasing the product, so make sure to follow up with them and continue to build a relationship. By showing that you care about them and their needs, you make yourself more memorable and add additional value to your product. Once each student presents their pitch, ask if any of the pitches stood out to them and why. Depending on your teaching style, you may have students discuss as a class or in groups. You may find that there is no one obvious pitch that stands out because people, in general, don’t process or remember information the same. What stands out to one student could be the believability of a pitch while to another student, it could be a personal connection. What you want students to learn here is that there is more to a sale than just “the sale”. The components that are important in giving a pitch are similar to the characteristics and values that are important in building relationships. Customers build relationships with companies that they feel connected to or have shared values or interests with. For example, the shared interest between a prospective customer and Essmart could be that they both value the environment, which as a salesperson, you might have made sure to emphasize in your sales pitch. You may reiterate to students that good sales and product design require building relationships and understanding people’s values and needs, both of which require generous listening.

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4. Reflect Together

   Come together as a class and reflect on the activities. Now that students have practiced generous listening and have an understanding of its importance, ask how they can incorporate it into their everyday lives.

   Explain to students that practicing generous listening is similar to practicing a sport, instrument, or any other activity they enjoy that requires learning a new skill (because generous listening is, in fact, a skill). It may be difficult and unfamiliar at first and they may want to give up, but by doing repetitive exercises (like swinging a bat) eventually they will be able to learn through feedback (such as being able to tell if the baseball coming at them is worth swinging at). By taking small steps to achieve a larger goal, eventually, it will feel like second nature. Ask students to think of one small thing they can do every day to practice generous listening. You may give examples if needed, like asking a family member what they did that day and letting them answer without interruption and with your undivided attention, etc. Then, ask students what they learned about sales from any of the activities. Some responses may include that sales is not just about speaking to people but listening to others, making connections, and truly addressing a person’s needs.

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