Since my design thinking epiphany the other day I’ve been looking around for more information on what it is and how it works.  I thought posting some links might help me remember where I found things and help you explore this a bit further.

Design Thinking on Wikipedia

d.school @ stanford university has some great downloads to help you think about what design thinking is and how it works.

design thinking for educators has evolved the process to fit an educational context:

discovery	interpretation	ideation	experimentation	evolution

They have a toolkit you can download.

I know this approach has been around for a while but I really think it offers some great opportunities for youth work and for churches.  Starting with people, hearing their stories and then involving them in generating solutions to their problems has to be a good way forward!

I’ve met lots of youth workers and ministers who feel just like this teacher…

Why Design Thinking? from Design Thinking for Educators on Vimeo.

Are you one of them?  Could this way of thinking help?

HT to Steven

Do you ever get stuck?

I do.

I find talking about it helps free the blockage in your brain.

In the conversation the sparks fly and the connections are made.  New things are born and creativity happens.

People who create can’t create if they don’t interact.  It might be with the world, a view, God, a person, a book, a movie, an idea but it’s the interaction that sparks the creativity.

I find that when I’m stuck it’s because I haven’t sought out that kind of interaction.  I sit and look at a blank screen and get more and more stuck.

It’s good to talk.

(thanks to Ruth for today’s creative conversation)

Whose expectations are you trying to meet?  And why?

People have expectations of us.  At work our boss, our colleagues, our constituents, congregations or customers all have lots of expectations of us, each one as different as they are.

Who sets these expectations and who decides when and if you have met or exceeded them?

I find that often in my work that people don’t know what to expect of me, or that their expectations of what I will do with them are very different to what I think they need.

That might mean that they are disappointed because they didn’t get what they wanted or expected.

Is that a good thing?

Or should our jobs be about meeting people’s expectations?

What room does that leave for creativity, prophecy and vision?

Last night I was at an open evening at my kid’s primary school.  Their work was on display and I was finding out what the ‘not much’ and ‘nothing’ they do all day is.

Two things struck me.  The first that there seems to be little room for initiative.  I mean real initiative beyond using a  different colour for something.  Castles, islands, knights, maps… all slightly different but essentially the same.

You get good marks for meeting the set criteria.

Seth Godin talks about this:

Compliance is simple to measure, simple to test for and simple to teach. Punish non-compliance, reward obedience and repeat.

Initiative is very difficult to teach to 28 students in a quiet classroom. It’s difficult to brag about in a school board meeting. And it’s a huge pain in the neck to do reliably.

Schools like teaching compliance. They’re pretty good at it.

On the wall in each class was a chart asking parents the elements they think should be present to make the school a successful learning environment.

It was an interesting list and I wish I had taken a quick photo of it.  Coherent curriculum, rewarding success, respect, justice….

and also creativity, transferring skills, initiative…

I put my stars there.  But I was almost the only one.  Most parents preferred compliance.

I wonder if church is the same?

‘That’s not how we do that’  ‘That’s so-and-so’s job’  ‘We tried that once and it didn’t work’  ‘This is what the parable means’

Are we teaching compliance?  It is easier after all.

Seth Godin is shocked.

I was talking to a religious leader, someone who runs a congregation. She made it clear to me that on many days, it’s just a job. A job like any other, you show up, you go through the motions, you get paid.

I guess we find this disturbing because spiritual work should be real, not faked.

I was interested in his perception of religious work because his remarks seem to focus totally on the ‘spiritual’ and not on the ‘work’.

I’m reading Seth’s new book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? where he seems to be suggesting that with hard work we can all become the kind of people who create and add value.  He says that we can’t and won’t be a creative genius all day but that the 5 minutes that we are makes a huge difference.  Why should ministry be different?

In his brilliant book Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith Mike Yaconelli tell a story of a preacher he met who was counting the days to retirement, like counting telegraph poles along a long road.  This minister was fed up, tired, drained and burned out.

I’ve met many people who feel like that some days.  I’ve felt like that.  Often.

Spiritual work is hard word.  Some days it feels very much like work, mostly because it IS spiritual work and you feel the pressure to inspire people, to lead and to bring them into the presence of God.

Some days you turn up and go through the motions because it’s work… and we are human.

Whether you are a creator or curator of worship there are always times when the blank screen seems to stay blank longer than you would like.  Words don’t come.

I find that those weeks are the ones where I haven’t had the time to read enough, to talk enough or to think and pray enough.  Most weeks there are places I go looking for inspiration.  Places where I know I might find that one line, one thought, one fragment of something which will ignite my imagination.

People create worship in lots of different ways.  I like to begin at the beginning and at the end.  I think a Call to Worship and a Benediction set a tone and a context that help me to fill in the part in the middle.  But before I put pen to paper or press a key I visit some places…

Abbotsford

Roddy posts a ‘Chocolate Teapot’ most weeks.  These are his first reactions to the text for the week.  A thought, or at least the start of one…  He also frequently posts fantastic prayers which I find help me with those beginnings and endings

Laughing Bird

A great lectionary resource.  I head straight for the commission and benediction section.  Again, just a few words can crystalise a theme.

Disclosing New Worlds

Lawrence Moore’s great commentary blog.  Unfortunately, but understandably, it is difficult to keep up this kind of in-depth stuff each week but check the archive for some brilliant stuff.

Lectionary Liturgies

Great liturgies based on the Revised Common Lectionary.

The Text This Week

The one stop shop for all your worship needs.  Loads of links to all kinds of places.

So, where do you go for inspiration?