Do I Understand You Enough?
Team Letter | September 8, 2025
Last week a Vietnamese monk explained our product strategy better than I ever could.
A friend handed me the book Peace is Every Step after a conversation we had about the difficulty of finding moments of quiet in an incredibly noisy world and life.
The author, Thich Nhat Hanh, was, during his life, a peace activitist, teacher, and community leader, and his ideas center around finding connection and supporting one another right where we already are — at work, at home, running errands, wherever we find ourselves.
As I was reading about ways to create connection with the people around us in our lives, something felt oddly familiar. In a chapter around supporting and caring for others, he says: “you cannot resist caring for another person when you really understand him or her.” And then goes on to suggest asking the people you most want to care for and care about this question: “Do I understand you enough?” That question reminded me of a question we know well: “How are you doing at work?”
In so many ways, this question of understanding educators is the cornerstone of what we’re building in Alpaca Pulse, and how we ask what we ask. We start with the question “how are you doing at work?” very purposefully — to ask educators to help their leader understand exactly what they’re experiencing at work right now, using real words.
We use real words because we all know that not all positive or negative sentiment can be treated the same. An educator who feels “exhausted” needs something different from one who feels “frustrated.” Just as a staff member feeling “ambitious” may need different support from one who is feeling “on top of their game.”
Pulse now goes on to ask a little more, to understand even a little bit better. We ask “what would help the most right now” to help give a school leader the things that their team is truly seeking. And then we ask about what’s going well, “What should we celebrate right now?” which gives educators an opportunity to read back to their leaders the things that are happening at school that feel great, the help that is getting through, the wins that are making a difference in their days.
When we relaunched the product this fall, we did so with a goal of painting a more complete picture of how teams are doing, and I realize now — creating a higher level of understanding at a personal level. It’s also why we pair those questions of understanding with actionable ideas, questions, and resources to school leaders — so that they can take what they learned, and have simple and clear ways to show care and support.
When your school principal understands that their team LOVES the peer mentoring program they implemented, but that those same teachers really need more opportunities to socialize and connect with their peers, it gives that leader a clear path to providing the support that their team is seeking.
As you work this week — to meet new principals and district leaders, to tell Alpaca’s story, and to build the next features of our product, keep this question in mind: “Do I understand educators enough?”
The simple answer is — we don’t — not yet. And so there’s the work: to get into the conversations, the classrooms, the hallways, the district buildings that help you understand educators better. If you need help finding more ways to build your understanding, don’t hesitate to ask me or any educators on our team.
To understand is to show care. To show care is to support. To support is to lift up the profession and elevate every educator. Let’s go out there and do it, Alpaca.
KB
(Note: I love reading books and wisdom from every genre and philosphical background, and I like to share things I read and what I learn from them. None of it is meant to promote a specific philosophical or spiritual path for any person or for our company. I just like reading and thinking and people who are smart and have different perspectives. Have a book you love? I want to read it!)