I found the perfect little nook to conduct my 4 weeks of interviews. Marge. (All the meeting rooms are named for Simpson’s characters, in case you were wondering). Marge was half-library and half-storage wall for meeting notes, cozy and private.

I asked Simple Truthers I had passed in the hall to iCal me (their lingo for setting up a meeting) and we would talk and sip tea. At first some tentative questions about their job title, role, department, tenure … the basic stats. Then a little “What’s your favorite moment each day?” “When are you in the zone?” “Think of a project you’ve just finished up, let’s walk through it from beginning to end…”.

Eventually the conversation would start to flow more naturally. I’d get to hear about their frustrations, their joys, their passions and their triumphs. I’d learn about new nuances about the work day, or culture, or processes. A puzzle piece would fall into place. Or, my favorite moments, a mental firecracker would go off as a bunch of statements and allusions began to line up into a meaningful pattern.

I learned to relate to people and make them feel comfortable without interjecting my thoughts or opinions into the conversation (a big challenge for me!). I also realized that even though I am a self-defined introvert, having a really great conversation with someone - the kind where you both are open and honest and you connect - it’s my absolute favorite way to spend time. I turned their interviews into post-its, their post-its into models, and their models into insights.

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