Miguel Ramos RamosSummer 2017LEAD 648 999 Workshop: Creativity & Innovation - SU2017Reflection Paper

At the beginning of this reflection we are going through a challenging problem with

Hurricane Harvey, and suffering from the ravages of hurricanes Irma and Maria that destroyed

our island in Puerto Rico. Our daughter is right now in Puerto Rico surviving these hurricanes.

At the same time, we try to get up from Hurricane Harvey that devastated the city of Houston

where we live. Our residence was not damaged, but our churches and some of our brothers and

colleagues lost everything. It is this Situational framework that started this reflection for our

creativity and innovation class.

This paper will integrate the events that have been happening around Texas and Puerto

Rico with the different parts in which we divide our class, and I will try to extract as much

teaching as possible from these events.

Innovator par excellence

Water, lightning, winds, rain and overflowing rivers; waves that devastated the coasts,

interrupted electrical energy and disconnected from the rest of the world.

People dying, fear, despair, hunger, lack of drinking water; chaos is what we have lived

in the city of Houston, and we have also seen it in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and other islands

of the Caribbean.

I was in shock when I saw the houses of thousands of people destroyed in our city of

Houston and witness the intensity of the damage to the structures of our churches. It was difficult

to hear the stories of men women and children who perished as a result of the storm.

When I knew what is happening in Puerto Rico and being held incommunicado for

several weeks without knowing if my daughter, our families and our friends were well; we were

worried.

All of these experiences have been awkward moments that at the same time can help us

to meditate on profound aspects of our lives.

Through these events, I took my mind to the days of Noah, bud despite the devastation

that we’ve seen around, we can’t fully understand what the universal flood could have been.

However, we can have a better idea because only two and a half days of interrupted rain brought

to the city of Houston, not counting other towns in the United States or the Caribbean that were

also experiencing atmospheric events, an estimated 27 trillion gallons of water (Resnick, 2017,

Seept 1) (see illustration #1)

In only three to six days of intermittent rain, and in Houston the water increased more

than 50 feet. Can you imagine? According to the book of Genesis, it rained for forty days and

forty nights.

Those of us who have seen what happened in Houston in Puerto Rico or on the islands

and who have seen other similar devastations like Hurricane Katrina can have a visual idea of

what would happen if instead of three or four days of intermittent rain we had 40 days of

uninterrupted torrential water. When thinking about these events, the biblical story comes alive

and acquires more significant meaning.

I wonder, however, what does Noah’s story have to do with our innovation class? Apart

from the fact that I have had to write this reflection while these climatic events occur, there does

not seem to be any relationship, however, let me provide you with a vision, which is a

connection that links both events.

In this Noah story, we can identify the five steps we studied in class about the thinking

process–empathy, defining the problem(reframe), thinking(Ideate), creating(prototype), and

finally test your creation–. Design thinking received the most significant attention during this

time on innovation study. (See Illustration #2)

In the first step–empathy– interviews are conducted, and observations made about the

situation that we have to face and for which we need a solution. In class, there was a problem

that we had to work with: how to improve the health of children from zero to five years old?

The first thing we did was to investigate, what’s the need? What’s the problem? Where is the

problem? We shared ideas that led us to understand the final objective–to improve the health of

children from zero to five years old–

Then we take time to define the problem. Why do we need to improve the health of

children from zero to five years old? What can we do to attack the problem?

After defining the problem, we proceed to devise a plan that would allow us to plant

healthy foods in appropriate quantities to feed the children of those ages. What resources we

have? Cost? Then we created a model to visualize the plan tangibly and determine if our strategy

would work.

After presenting the plan, we realized that the initial investment was very high and

needed to reevaluate; the processes that others in the group presented seemed more logical and

feasible.

I can bring this experience and adapt it to the story of Noah. The situation in the days of

Noah was that evil had multiplied and someone had to do something urgently. The only one who

could have done something was God because human beings had moved too far from the creator

and could not reverse the damage themselves.

The process of evaluating the condition of the human being and arriving at the conclusion

that something should it be done complies with step number one of the thinking process. God

empathized with the need of the human being and concluded that He must do something or He

would lose the entire human race.

Chapter six of Genesis says that God faced a dilemma: Human beings–their creatures–

began to multiply on the earth (v.1-3) and evil–an element that brings sorrow, pain and death

introduced by an enemy of God– multiplied and the earth was corrupted. (v.11-12)

God then had to decide: destroy the entire human race and create it again or deliver them

to their adversary and let them live forever according to their wishes. Either of these two

alternatives would have created doubts in the rest of the Angels created about God's love, mercy,

and justice.

God, in his great love, chose the third option: he would look for someone among humans

who would still be willing to listen to his voice and preserve them from among the entire human

race. Then he would purify the earth to allow a new beginning to the chosen ones. In his search

he found Noah, and he chooses him to carry out his plans. Noah found favor in God’s eyes. (v. 8)

Then God proceeded to define the problem together with Noah. In verse thirteen he told him that

because of the violence on earth he had decided to put an end to the earth, but it was not his

desire to destroy the human race because he loved them and had decided to preserve him and his

family so that they could start again. (v.8, 13, 18-22)

How could you purify the earth with water and at the same time preserve the life of Noah

and his family? How could it, at the same time save the animal kingdom without having to create

it again?

“Make yourself an ark,” he told Noah, and proceeded to give him the idea of what he was

planning to do and explained him the plan and gave him the drawings of the design and even told

him the time determined for the judgment day; their days will be one hundred and twenty years.

(v.3) He explained to Noah that he would preserve his life in an ark that he and his family had to

build. (v.14-22) He told him that he would purify the earth with a flood of waters. (v.17) Noah

and his family then entered the process of creating something they had never seen, with results

they could not visualize at the moment.

Today many people could attribute the process of human innovation only to the

excellence of the human being, and take God out of the equation. Many would think that Noah’s

ark was just the result of that beautiful human mind.

The process of innovation in Noah's life was extraordinary and at the same time full of

challenges. While doing what God ordered, people could ask: what is Noah building? Why is he

building it? Why is it so big? Why use gofer wood? Why a single window? Why a single door?

Should it have an emergency door? Three floors? And what is "pitch"? Why so many rooms?

Why do you build it in this place?

There are also other logistics questions that present independent challenges: Assuming

that Noah didn’t work alone with his family, how to cut the wood? How to transport the wood?

Bring everyone their food? How to handle workers' complaints? What was the salary of the

workers? Type of Insurance? Holidays? What goes first? Who can do what? When and where

will it do it? What about breaks biological needs; The religious services at midday, afternoon and

mornings? What to preach in devotions every day? Who is God? Repentance? Repent from

what? World's End? And what in the world is Rain–they had never seen the rain–?

I think they couldn’t solve these dilemmas, and their inability to answer these questions, made

them believe that Noe was crazy. (White, 1890, p. 97)

Even with their brilliant minds, antediluvians could not understand the innovative process

in Noah’s construction because a sinful life incapacitated them.

They were and blinded to the point of not seeing or wanting to obey the true innovator;

the creator of the universe; the designer. Sra. White said: "God is the designer, and Noah is the

master builder" (Ibid, p.92)

God the designer, innovator par excellence, the creator, still uses human beings as

masters of his work. It is creativity and innovation. Sadly, human nature has often used that gift

for their benefit and against divine will and principles.

There is no limit to human creativity. We have all seen how technology has multiplied in

recent years in cars, houses, ships, toys, electronics, hospital innovations, tools of all kinds–there

is a tool for everything–medicines for everything and new inventions every day. Sometimes I

wonder if that limited ability to create and innovate is a blessing or a curse.

I have seen how the innovation process has helped my friends and families in Puerto Rico

after Hurricane Maria. (See Illustrations #3 #4) (Reichard, 2017, nov 13) But I have also seen

how human creativity has come to invent things that have been used for evil and not for good.

Allow me to paraphrase a quote I once heard: Creativity of the human being has allowed

us to build better houses, but we have worse homes; it has allowed us to have better means of

communication, but it seems that we have a worse connection between us. Creativity allowed us

to have more things to give away, but it seems every day there is less love; it has allowed us to

have better facilities of all kinds, but it seems that everything is more difficult; it has allowed us

to have more technology to save time but it seems that we have less time for what is more

important; God and family.

In other words, we have been very creative human beings and great innovators but

solving some problems with innovations has not fixed the biggest problem we are facing; a life

away from the perfect innovator, God. Humans suffer because we want to do things our ways

instead of trusting God. I have seen that if the heart of the human being as an innovator doesn't

incline towards God, or the user of innovation is far from the perfect innovator, all innovation or

creation will be used mostly for evil. (see Appendix #1 on George Carlin)

In the story of Noah's ark, the creator par excellence found one that was ready to follow

the innovative instructions of the creator. God saw a man who found grace before the eyes of

God; an innovator focused on a creative God; an obedient creature in the middle of a disobedient

world, in charge of a task that had never been done before, using construction plans with

measures that in the eyes of the people of that time were absurd.

Sometimes, to be creative or having an innovative mind means to submit to the absurd,

receive critique, people how will laugh at you and even people who would hate you for it.

Human race survival depended on man's obedience to divine’s creativity. God’s creativity is

present in all of creation: Flavors, the colorful and varied landscapes, stars, the universe, the

moon, rain, snow, lightning, the flowers, fruits, humans, etc., all speak of the beautiful creativity

of the king of the universe. (AKJV, Psalms 19)

Today, the story of Noah is repeated in each of us, because God the creator the perfect

innovator is calling someone to follow his innovative instructions to create a path through which

many can find salvation; The way through Jesus. Human race survival depends on man’s

obedience to Gods creativity. Psalms 19 still a reality; everything around us talks about God’s

glory.

Many of us have accepted God’s call and are builders of arks of salvation. Whether our

function is performed in the church, school or any other area, we have the responsibility to

submit ourselves to the plans that God has established for the salvation of all humanity even if

only some belief in him.

God's plans are Innovative and require that we look at them with faith. In the Bible, we

find specific instructions for the construction of the divine project. We should not move to the

right or the left if we wish to succeed. (Jos 1: 7) His plan is redemption for all, and there are only

one means of salvation; Jesus. Today is not different from Noah’s days, and they will never be;

The way in which we transmit salvation to the children of God is what changes from time to time

and from place to place.

In the Bible, different methods of teaching the gospel are used. In all of them, we see the

perfect process of divine innovation working for the salvation of its creatures. A ship in Noah’s

times, the crossing of the red sea, destruction of Jericho walls, the three hundred Gideon soldiers,

water into wine, etc.

Today with the change of times and the differences that exist from culture to culture and

place to place, adequate means and creativity are needed, to bring the plan of salvation to human

beings in an attractive way that they can understand and accept.

At one time the word of God was given person to person. After sin, God spoke through

messengers, and they shared it by speaking; then it was written in stone in rolls and later on

paper.

Today we have it electronic and in audiovisual and even microscopic. It is in television,

radio, digital presentations, by preaching, magazines, etc.

The innovation process allows us today to find innumerable ways to guide others towards

the path of salvation; the old is renew. Sadly, as in Noah’s days, many laughs and mock and

don't believe or understand the need to enter the ark and as in the days of Noah, do not come to

Jesus to be saved (John 5:40) but sadly they will not escape (1 Th. 5: 3)

God has shared his innovative power with us his creatures; This capacity for innovation

must be used to improve our work, relationships, marriages, in the development of family

relationships and all areas of our lives. However, it is important to emphasize that this Innovative

power can become a curse instead of a blessing if it is not subject to the innovative and creative

power of God the perfect creator and innovator. Success in our innovation process is guaranteed

if we follow the instructions that God has presented in his word.

I can apply the innovation process to Noah’s account; Throughout the process, God

showed empathy, defined the problem and devised a plan to resolve the situation. Then he

provided Noah with the ideas so he could build the prototype. The construction lasted 120 years

and only had one opportunity to be tested.

History confirms that the ark resisted the test, why? Because it was built according to the

detailed instructions that the master par excellence gave Noah.

On any innovative process, the procedure can be repeated, reversed or returned to any of

the stages as necessary. If when testing, the prototype didn’t work, we return to the main idea,

and we can also verify if the definition of the problem is complete or if it’s necessary to redefine

the problem or go to empathy at the same time and try to understand better the situation that

needs to be solved. Then modify the prototype and try it again. The process is repeated as many

times as necessary.

I reflect on the fact that God has made definite plans to save us. We fall repeatedly, and

yet God has provided forgiveness and abundant grace for us (Prov. 24:16 Rom.5: 20) In other

words, if the prototype fails we can try again; trust him every morning, do not rely on our

intelligence and success is assured (Psalm 37: 5, Prov.3: 5)

Your way or mine?

I have heard some say: the best way to do it is the one I know and there is no better way

than mine. A problem arises to the innovation process; What will be the best way to do things?

There is always more than one way of doing things. There is the right way and the wrong way.

Sometimes inside the right, there will be a better way to do it and many times there will be many

wrong ways to do something; There will always be room for improvement.

A problem could arise when a person has good ideas and is sufficiently creative but still

has a boss who feels threatened and wants everybody to do things in their way without

considering the creativity of their assistants. Many companies suffer great losses for not

recognizing this creative process.

The three-box solution

Vijay Govindarajan emphasized these ideas in his book “the three-box solution.” He

called these three boxes the past, present, and future. In the creative process, we need to evaluate

the history, work with the present and visualize the future.(Govindarajan, 2016, p. 3)

In the story of Noah, there is a past of perfection that has been damaged by the sin that

turned the present into a society that went from bad to worse. To preserve the future God

proceeded to save human race through Noah and the ark.

The three boxes solution from Govindarajan is not new; These ideas are integrated into

everything we do and are essential in the creative process so that we can grow in our future. The

past is important, but it only helps us to learn what to or not to do in the present, to be able to

enjoy and have success in our future; present, past, and future are intimately related.

In what it has to be with our development as individuals or the development of our

professions, our families, or even our spiritual life we can’t live from the past. The time I need to

spend with God today has to be new. The time I spent with him yesterday passed, and he

sustained me yesterday, but yesterday is past. God invites us to receive his grace, renewed every

morning. God also invites us to forget the past, to begin again and to look towards eternal life as

our goal. (Lam 3:23, Phil 3:13, 1Tim. 6:12).

If I adapt this thinking to my marriage, I can say that yesterday is crucial because it is the

fundament for today; but the words of love that I said to my wife yesterday are like yesterday's

food; you have to prepare new menu every day. Words of love and acts of kindness are needed

on a daily basis to keep our family healthy.

The three-box solution idea requires courage, creativity, decision, and a desire to improve

what you have in your hands. These qualities are necessary to recognize if there is a need, be

willing to abandon the past and venture into new processes that ensure the future.

Together the past, present, and future are essential in this process. I have heard from

doctors who want to operate their vision patients with the old methods causing a slow recovery

in their patients when the new laser resources allow faster recovery and less invasive surgery.

Sometimes you have to abandon the past to obtain new triumphs; Other times it is

necessary to remember the past to be able to stand firm in the present and build for the future.

Mrs. Hellen says: we have nothing to fear for the future unless we forget how God has looked

after us in the past. It is important always to look at the box of the past if you want to make

changes in the box of the future and this will largely determine my actions of the present.

Equally important is having the ability to work with all three boxes at once. The present is

always being handled, by destroying the past and building into the future.(Govindarajan, 2016, p.

143) A right balance between the three boxes is the best solution for any situation.

Your way or mine?

It is my opinion that most of the time there will be more than one way to achieve a goal

as I mentioned before. Those who want to reach the goal must evaluate how they are doing it, but

they will need to be mature infought to make changes as needed. Sometimes they will need to

observe how others do it and be able to learn from them. Also, we must have an open mind to

find other ways of doing things; forms that perhaps nobody has tried before, or that we have

rejected because we thought it didn’t work.

All, the infinite creative power of God has been placed in our hands and is available to us

even if we decide to use it wrong or not to use it. However, that power will manifest in a more

excellent way when we use it to glorify the creator.

Then, my friends, the correct question would not be if the best way is yours or mine; the

right question would be if I am doing it according to the way in which the creator and innovator

par excellence–God– has indicated.

Let’s Play

Unlike the time I started writing this reflection, when we were under the threat of

hurricanes both in Houston and in Puerto Rico, and going through floods never seen before when

we started this class we did it playing. Like children and innocents without knowing what would

happen in the following months.

Suddenly, I asked myself the question: why do we start a doctorate level innovation class

by playing? At first, I thought it was disorganized and without purpose; However, after a while

and after having played, we had time to talk about how we had felt during those minutes of

playfulness and sharing, I could see several of the benefits of starting a class the way it started.

Here are some of the thoughts that came up:

“It takes the awkwardness from people we don’t know to remind us about the

need to pursue and nurture relationships; it also takes spontaneity since when we

play, we are not asking if we can play with these or that person.” (student A)

“Playing is an important element even at church” (Student B)

Thoughts about playing got me searching for resources about the subject. (See Appendix

II.) For this reflection paper, I took some time to read pieces of one of these resources trying to

identify advantages or disadvantages of playing. David Elkind (2007) in his book “The power of

play” confirms what some elementary teachers had commented about the problem of eliminating

recess. He said: “Growing numbers of elementary schools are eliminating recess in favor of more

time for academics.” (Elkind, 2007, p. Sec. Intro. Parr. 8) My wife works at an elementary

school and testifies to this fact. In his introduction, Elkind mentions that taking “play” out of

children growing formula could be as harmful or more dangerous to health development than

“hurrying them to grow up too fast too soon.” (Ibd.)

But what about grownups? Is playing as important? What value is there in playing for

those who are not kids anymore and are pursuing a masters or doctoral degree? Elkind, (2007)

suggest: “Play, is not a luxury but rather a crucial dynamic of healthy physical, intellectual, and

social-emotional development at all age levels.” (p. 4)

I got the confirmation I needed for the moment, and the search served to increment my

interest on the topic. Playing is very important for all ages. Elkind said that playing, is as

important as love and work and he explains that depending on the life stage, play gets more or

less importance.

All of these three elements –play, love, work– are interconnected and present at all life

stages, even when adulthood tend to separate them. I can apply his thoughts to church, workplace

or anywhere you relate to others. Elkind even suggests how vital could be for couples to bring

back a playful relation for the sake of a healthy marriage. “Lasting relationships also require

playfulness and a sense of humor, which keep us from taking ourselves too seriously and enable

us to enjoy our relationship.” (2007, p. 11)

Playing helps relationships. We proved it in our class during these three days. As we

played with the different toys, we needed to improvise, talk to each other, innovate and use

creativity. Someone said: “Practice makes perfection, and analyzing how to do this better,

releases levels of creativity” (Student C)

I considered that trust onto each other was also established and friendship was

strengthened. To become creative in an environment where we did not know most of the

students, became an excellent icebreaker to start class.

Talking about creativity, an experiment performed with students from the USA

comparing them with students from Africa called my attention. Investigators gave some specific

material to them. The investigators found that students from Africa showed more creativity than

those from the USA. Why would that happen? Interestingly enough is a suggestion from Elkind

(2007) about our USA school systems: “Our increasingly test-driven curricula have all but

eliminated creative and playful teaching practices.”

Could it be that in our attempt to be better than other countries we have forgotten basics

of supreme importance? Could it be that in our attempt to create an intelligent species we are

shifting from it? Or Maybe in our effort to protect our children, unknowingly and

unintentionally, we’ve affected them negatively?

A thorough study of this subject could reveal more truth about this. As for what concerns

us, the reality is that in our adulthood we have forgotten the importance of playing; playing

would be a solution to many of the personal or family problems we face.

Creativity reflected in the students in Africa can be a result of the great need they have

given the fact that in Africa where the study was conducted, they might not have the same

resources as the children where the studies where done in the United States. In other words,

children in the United States do not need to be creative because in general, everything is done for

them.

One of the class activities resembles this study; provided with specific materials, we were

asked to seek a solution in groups for some of the universal problems we face on earth. Design

thinking occupied an essential place in this section; Design-thinking present a five steps process.

Faced with the problem, we needed empathy; then we redefine the problem, which allows us to

devise a solution. With those ideas, we create a prototype to be tested. The creative process used

in this part of the program was exciting. Further on I will return to mention some aspects of it.

In the introduction to this class, someone said that playing helps us socialize and when

everyone plays, they have a place to contribute ideas. You have the opportunity to create an

environment in which you can maximize your learning.

During the process of creativity, on the exercise to solve universal problems, we had the

opportunity to go from group to group and receive feedback from them; The activity opened our

minds to the process of innovation since those groups had ideas that we had not considered.

I also understand that in the innovation process we need to be willing to listen in order to

improve. Putting ourselves in the hands of other people and trusting them, maximize the learning

and the innovation process.

"Altogether the ideas showed a great construction of concepts; Listening

to others helps fight pride; pride fight against creativity. Humility is an important

part of creativity; high-performance groups, show that they never remember who

the idea was; nobody takes credit for the idea, and it is wonderful what can be

achieved when this happens." (Student 3)

Someone shared this powerful thought: "there is no limit to what I can do if I am willing

for others to take credit" When we participate in the game or work together without seeking to

take the credit, we achieved extraordinary and innovative things. How truth is this. Many times,

we do not accomplish more because we are afraid someone else will take the credit.

Concerning this, Dr. Siebold mentions: “high-performance leaders in level five say: when

there is something done right is because I have a great team, but if something goes wrong is my

mistake. He mentioned three ways of failing: fast, safe or cheap, and Timmy–another

extraordinary student in our class– added, fail forward.

We will fail or fall at some point; what we do with that failure is what will make the

difference between my past, today and my future. Maybe I can’t decide when I am going to fail

or fall, but I can choose how. Getting ready, preparing, accepting the facts, having a contingency

plan, but most of all, falling into the hands of my creator and innovator par excellence, will allow

me to make a difference after I fall or fail and I will be able to stand firm.

Suddenly, the class was interrupted to start with the reading of the scripture and a prayer.

Even when at first, I was confused because the introduction was unorthodox and I would have

expected to start the class with another introduction, devotional or prayer, I found the benefits of

getting into the class introducing ourselves by playing together. I’m still not sure if it was

planned or it came naturally, but the result was positive.

Creator and community

During the first devotional, presented by Dr. J. Brand, a vital thought was shared: "all

paradigms originate in God." (Dr. J. Brand) I agree with that statement; I already mention that

God is the innovator par excellence and He gave us the opportunity to create and innovate."

As part of God’s gift, we were created to function in a community setting. "God the

father, the son and the Holy Spirit were together in the creative process of creation. Together

they are a community. "

Creativity is something we all have and need. I need it in my daily planning, I need it to

start a new church, a new job, to deal with my family, or with my children, to cook, to keep my

marriage with the flame burning, everything we do every day requires some creativity. How

good it would be then if I ask God, the creator and innovator par excellence, to provide me with

the creativity I need for each of the areas of my life. I invite you to do the same.

Creativity

In creativity, there are four essential aspects I need to mention: Originality, functionality,

influence or power provided and Investment. Generally speaking, I need to innovate because

there is a need and nothing is in place or created that may fulfill that need or there is a design that

can be, but I need to be ingenious in the way I use it.

In the process, I need to ask myself if what I am creating is functional and can be used to

provide for our needs; How well will the creation or adaptation provide for our needs; It will be

easy to use? Can I reach more or less amount of people? And finally, I have to consider my

investment of resources like time and money, etc.

Creativity and innovation can increase influence and bring power but require dedication,

effort and sometimes, is painful. People like to influence others and want power but many times

are not ready to pay the price,

Another consideration in creativity has to do with patents. Who receives the credit for

creativity and innovation? It is a problem that demands attention. To illustrate let’s consider this

question:

Who invented the plane?

For a long time, there has been a debate about whether or not the Wright brothers were

the first to invent the plane. In the journal, “the Space magazine,” September 2013, written by

Tom Crouch, revive that dilemma and mentions several names of other people who had been

experimenting with artifacts similar to those of the Wright brothers on the same time. History

credited to the Wright brothers because they were the first, able to stand in the air longer and

operate under the control of a pilot. (Crouch, 2013)

I ask myself, to whom does the creativity of flying belongs? Is it to the Write brothers or

someone else? The dilemma of patents is a billion-dollar enterprise, and that amount of money

give control and power to many. But even with that money, there is not an answer to whom the

creativity belongs.

The law credited to the first person who pays for a patent. Some will argue that the law is

not fair since sometimes the person who has the idea might not have the financial resources to

pay for a patent, and other resourceful people take advantage of that fact. I would say that the

law is necessary to keep people from hurting each other for the sake of power, but to the question

about to whom the creativity of flying and most other innovations belongs, depending on your

worldview your answer will change.

Psalms 19:1 says that heavens declare the glory of the innovator; we see it in birds, flying

insects, flying fish, flying mammals and more; the creativity of flying belongs to God.

Then I ask: If creativity belongs to God, are there any original creation? I declared in a

previous class that there is nothing new under the sky; the teacher reminded me that every day,

new creations and new inventions appear and those, exert power and influence on humanity

today; I agree with that reality but in still believe that in a sense there is nothing new under the

sky.

I am not going to abound on this reflection about what the meaning of “there is nothing

new under the sky” I’ll just say that my ideas, that I consider original and ingenious are not

necessarily so. It is interesting to see that somewhere in the world someone has had the same

thoughts than me; That is why the issue of patents has become so important.

I will not expand on the issue of patents or why would other people would have the same

ideas as me, but it is essential to mention it because, in the process of creativity and innovation,

we have to understand that we are not alone and others can have the same ideas that we have and

many times better than ours. This helps us understand why the community is vital in the creative

process. Together we can achieve more. "Two are better than one." (Ecc. 4:6)

Community

The issues of unity and community are extremely, important. Brown mentions the

importance of community in the creative process. He says that collaboration is critical among

people who work for others and also between our company and other entities.

The unit is of the utmost importance. God said that two are better than one (Eccl. 4:9) and

Jesus add that a kingdom a city or a house divided with itself will not prosper and will fall. (Mat.

12:25) Despite all the warnings we have about this issue, pride, vanity, and selfishness have

caused the fall of many who prefer to fight divided. I recognize that many personal defeats were

produced for the same reasons. We were created to leave in communities and not to be alone; to

be united and help each other; to be creative on behalf of humans. At this point I have to bring

back a quote I mentioned before: There is no limit to what I can accomplish if I am willing to let

others take the credit.

There is a word that Brown mentions, that is the cause of many failures: discouragement.

Discouragement is a big word. To create is quite difficult, and sometimes in just a moment, with

only a word, or a look it’s so easy to get discouraged. Brown mentioned that the first aspect that

that discourages people's collaboration is fear. (Brown, 2014, min. 19:02) Fear is a big wall in

front of innovation and creativity.

In some of my sermons, I have said that fear can cause one of three reactions: it makes

you static or petrified before the situation; makes you run to escape the situation or; makes you

face the situation and fight like the concept of fight or flight. Which one of these reactions is the

correct one? None of them. There is a fourth reaction mention in the story of Josafat in 2

Chronicles 20:3, he consulted the creator, the innovation par excellence, and God answered.

Many times, when we talk about innovation and creativity, and we put it in the

framework of the community, fear shows up interrupting creativity and the innovation process.

People fear rejection, making mistakes, making a fool of themselves. People fear that others will

laugh at them, or fear loss; financial losses, losing friends, losing a position, etc.

Fear is a powerful inhibitor that we need to confront and subjugate. Once more I have to

say that my success needs to be dependent on the creator If I want real and complete success.

Growth and Product

The processes of innovation and creativity are very intimately related. There needs to be

a desire for growth, change and doing things better so that creativity and innovation can exert a

more significant influence. If there is no interest in growing, we will not put our minds to think,

and our creativity will not be able to exercise its function.

God gave the power of creativity, and he provides the desire to do right and the ability to

do it; but many times, if that desire does not exist, creativity will be present and will have an

influence, but it will be a negative one. When our creativity and the power of innovation is not

subject to the creator and innovator par excellence, this power is generally used against the

dignity of the human being and its creator. In the process, we can obtain a good product if we are

tied with God in the whole process.

When talking about this in class, we consider worldviews; each one will consciously or

unconsciously use their creativity and innovation according to their cosmovision, which will

make many, use those capacities for good and others for evil while there are others who will not

use them at all.

I believe anyone can change its worldview with proper information and influence, but

this idea will be the main idea for another paper.

I compare this process to life. A person first study then worked and finally retire; the

same happens in the thinking process: first, we analyze what the need is, we work to resolve the

need, and finally, the need is fulfilled. The process is also a daily one because every day we need

to see ahead what we want to accomplish on that day. Therefore, we analyze the needs of the

day, then we try to find alternatives to meet those needs and finally meet them; After the day

finished we evaluate what has been done and repeat the process the next day.

Throughout this process, creativity and innovation are essential from the moment the

need is present and assessed until the end of that day; the need is fulfilled or during the entire

life.

Some, however, have wanted to leave God out of this equation and pretend to be able to

carry out all these processes without the help of the creator; Not recommended. It is when

working with the creator that we will have in our hands the power and capacity to innovate and

create with first hand advise and will assure success and avoid a disastrous defeat. When we

carry out this process far from God, there will be an apparent success, but the end "is the way of

death" (Prv.16:25)

Composition

Finally, we refocus the theme of innovation and creativity under the lens of composition.

We complete the task of taking some images and then analyze them according to three main

components. The first one the primary lens is the main focus. The secondary lens is a support

element. The third lens is the context and has to do with what is in the background. In summary,

the thinking process considers the primary, secondary stages and the context.

This process involves other people especially to strengthen the background, and the

product result will be more effective. Proudness should be put aside; we must be willing to

redefine our thinking using the criticism of those who are going to share their point of view, the

background of the situation or the center of the problem. We must be willing to see the big

picture before seeing the smaller parts

Tim Brown on the thinking process

In Brown's video about thinking design, he presents some concepts that we should use in

this innovation process: Instead of thinking in a convergent way, taking the best of a series of

alternatives and converging all in that direction, thinking design invites to think in a "divergent"

way, create new options that did not exist and apply them.

Instead of thinking analytically, breaking down the problem and solving its parts

separately, we must think in an integrated and holistic way.

When thinking about designing several areas need to be considered: Desirability; what

will meet the needs of the people for whom we will be designing a project?

Feasibility; what can we do with the technology we have, to make the design possible?

Viability; which answers the question about whether the solution proposed is sustainable

and will produce a profit. (Video in el min 5:56)

In other words, when you design you need to ask, what is the primary need? What are the

resources we have to meet that need? Is it indispensable?

These simple set of questions can be transferred to any work environment. For example;

as a pastor, applying these methods to my church could help me ask me the following questions:

what is the fundamental need of the church I serve at this time? What are human, financial or

technological resources at our disposal to help us meet the need of the church? And thirdly, the

means we will use to meet that need are self-sustaining? Are they cost-effective? Will give the

result expected?

Allow me to go a deeper into this matter. I will use the example of a regular evangelism

campaign.

The need is to fulfill the mission, preach the Gospel, and win souls for Christ.

It is planned for six months or a year in advance, and human resources are selected and

assign to commissions which will be in charge of specific areas of the campaign so that

everything works well.

It is rarely analyzed, if all the effort that is being made to carry out an evangelism

campaign is cost-effective or is fulfilling the need and mission of the church; Sometimes we

could invest $ 3000 to $ 7000 in an evangelism campaign, and seven to ten people join the

church making the cost to guide a person to join the church approximate $1,000 in the Hispanic

community, without counting the effort and sacrifice of the human resources involved in the

campaign.

To make matters worse, during the process of receiving ten new converts, a good number

of members have left the church. There have been times when Church continues to win new

converts and never gets full because some come and others go. What happens then with that

$1000 invested per person?

It is difficult to answer this question, but I can say that our effort is never in vain (1 Cor.

15:58). We can’t stop doing evangelism, but we can use the thinking process to look for different

creative alternatives to increase results. What other ways to work can we find in order for the

means and methods used to accomplish the mission to be cost-effective?

Much has been said about this, but it seems that not enough attention has been paid

because history repeats itself every year. It seems to resonate in my mind that phrase attributed to

Albert Einstein that says: a madman is one who aims to obtain different results by always doing

the same. Perhaps if we took into consideration the following principles, a change could result.

According to Tim Brown, the thinking design has the human being as the center of focus;

Design is human-centered. Continuing with the example of the campaigns of evangelism, I think

that many times they are designed taking the Church as the center and not the people. We need to

meet a target, or our work is in danger, we want the church to be filled, we want to see many

people coming, etc.

If we consider the service to others and understand that what we do, is first for God but to

benefit people, and remove the focus of our church and place it on the people who need, I believe

we would be more successful.

Mrs. Hellen G. White said that only the method of Christ gives result; she noted that the

method of Christ is to worry about people first, attend to their needs and sympathize with them.

Then make friends with them and after all of that, invite them to follow Him; this is a less

expensive and more effective system and is God’s instruction and example.

Mrs. White compared

Let’s make a comparison with Mrs. White's quote.

The first principle that Brown mentions is to care about the people, and Mrs. White said: "The

Savior dealt with men as he wants to do them good."

In Crist method, showing sympathy to people, meeting their needs, and earning their

trust, is part of the process of focusing on people and empathize with them and could be

considered as the primary lens according to the photographic method.

By showing sympathy, Jesus was building a mode of thinking, and at the same time, he

could go deeper in understanding the needs of the people. It could be considered the secondary

lens since it would allow seeing other aspects of the person's life that are not visible to the naked

eye.

Meeting the needs of people, involved in one way or another a prototype. In Jesus times,

it started a movement; The problem was reevaluated, and a method was followed to solve it.

Remember, for example, when a crowd of more than 5,000 (Mat. 14:21) needed food? Jesus

showed sympathy when the disciples came to him bringing the need, and in the process of

attending to that need, our Lord Jesus created a way of doing it by multiplying the bread and

fishes and filling the baskets with what was left over. It was an extraordinary idea that started a

movement. In the process, Jesus gained the trust of the people, they themselves participated in

the process and collaborated with each other.

The system had to be tested; the disciples were not sure how it would work, they even

told their teacher in an incredulous tone that they didn’t have enough. Jesus showed them again

that anything is possible; He used the resources on hand to feed all those people and in the

process invited them to follow him although, sadly, many wanted to follow him only for the

bread and fish.

More could be said, however for the purposes of this reflection I will only complete a

simple comparison between the method of Christ with thinking design, creative thinking, the

principles that Mr. Brown presents in his video and the aspects of photographic composition

presented in class. I can see a close relationship between all of them and I’ll try to show this

relation with the following table:

EGW Tim Brown Design Thinking Composition lens

Vijay Govindarajan

Jesus treated all men as one who wanted good for them

Focus on the People Empathy Primary lens Box: Past

He showed them sympathy…

Building to Think Refrain- Dig deeper Secondary lens Box: Present

Prototype Fast Re understand the problem

He attended all of his needs…

Start Movement Ideate

He won their trust…

Enable Participation Prototype

Cultivate Collaboration

Test Background lens

Do you want to come with me? Follow me

Ask the right question.

Re-evaluate Box: Future

As I close this reflection, and after reflecting back to the events during class and the

learning we experience during that last part of the summer I reaffirm the idea that humans are

super-extremely- creative. Even if I don’t recognize it, the capacity to create comes from God

itself, and depending on each person’s worldview, the gift of creativity will be used in a way or

the other, either for good or wrongdoing. (Rom. 6:16)

The only limitation for our creativity is ourselves. There is nothing I can’t accomplish

since “I can do all things in Christ…” (Fil. 4:13) but my most significant accomplishments need

to be subjected to Christ my Lord if I want to have real success.

Why are Tim Brown, Elen G White, and Vijay Govindarajan ideas, plus the concepts

included in design thinking and composition lenses, related? Because the origin of all of those

ideas is the same: God, the innovator par excellence.

If you and I submit ourselves to that merciful God, we all can experience the development of our

creativity and the ability to innovate.

I should never forget, who deserves the glory and honor for all if any of my accomplishments.

To God be the Glory, Amen. (Apoc 19:1)

Illustration # 1

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/28/16217626/harvey-houston-flood-water-visualized

Illustration #2

Image by Miguel Ramos

Illustration #3 and #4 (Washer Machine and Showering)

https://wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/puerto-rican-inventions-post-hurricane-maria/

Appendix 1

LUNES, 11 DE MARZO DE 2013

Un mensaje | George CarlinUn mensaje

por George Carlin

La paradoja de nuestro tiempo es que tenemos edificios más altos y temperamentos más reducidos, carreteras más anchas y puntos de vista más estrechos. Gastamos más pero tenemos menos, compramos más pero disfrutamos menos. Tenemos casas más grandes y familias más chicas, mayores comodidades y menos tiempo. Tenemos más grados académicos pero menos sentido común, mayor conocimiento pero menor capacidad de juicio, más expertos pero más problemas, mejor medicina pero menos bienestar.

Bebemos demasiado, fumamos demasiado, despilfarramos demasiado, reímos muy poco, manejamos muy rápido, nos enojamos demasiado, nos desvelamos demasiado, amanecemos cansados, leemos muy poco, vemos demasiada televisión y oramos muy rara vez.

Hemos multiplicado nuestras posesiones pero reducido nuestros valores. Hablamos demasiado, amamos demasiado poco y odiamos muy frecuentemente.

George Carlin, actorNueva York, 1937-2008

Hemos aprendido a ganarnos la vida, pero no a vivir. Añadimos años a nuestras vidas, no vida a nuestros años. Hemos logrado ir y volver de la luna, pero se nos dificulta cruzar la calle para conocer a un nuevo vecino. Conquistamos el espacio exterior, pero no el interior. Hemos hecho grandes cosas, pero no por ello mejores.

Hemos limpiado el aire, pero contaminamos nuestra alma. Conquistamos el átomo, pero no nuestros prejuicios. Escribimos mas pero aprendemos menos. Planeamos mas pero logramos menos. Hemos aprendido a apresurarnos, pero no a esperar. Producimos computadoras que pueden procesar mayor información y difundirla, pero nos comunicamos cada vez menos y menos.

Estos son tiempos de comidas rápidas y digestión lenta, de hombres de gran talla y cortedad de carácter, de enormes ganancias económicas y relaciones humanas superficiales. Hoy en día hay dos ingresos pero más divorcios, casas más lujosas pero hogares rotos. Son tiempos de viajes rápidos, pañales desechables, moral descartadle, acostones de una noche, cuerpos obesos, y píldoras que hacen todo, desde alegrar y apaciguar, hasta matar. Son tiempos en que hay mucho en el escaparate y muy poco en la bodega. Tiempos en que la tecnología puede hacerte llegar esta carta, y en que tú puedes elegir

compartir estas reflexiones o simplemente borrarlas.

Acuérdate de pasar algún tiempo con tus seres queridos porque ellos no estarán aquí siempre.

Acuérdate de ser amable con quien ahora te admira, porque esa personita crecerá muy pronto y se alejará de ti.

Acuérdate de abrazar a quien tienes cerca porque ese es el único tesoro que puedes dar con el corazón, sin que te cueste ni un centavo.

Acuérdate de decir te amo a tu pareja y a tus seres queridos, pero sobre todo dilo sinceramente. Un beso y un abrazo pueden reparar una herida cuando se dan con toda el alma.

Acuérdate de tomarte de la mano con tu ser querido y atesorar ese momento, porque un día esa persona ya no estará contigo.

Date tiempo para amar y para conversar, y comparte tus más preciadas ideas.

Y siempre recuerda:La vida no se mide por el número de veces que tomamos aliento, sino por los extraordinarios momentos que nos lo quitan.

http://colomenta.blogspot.com/2013/03/un-mensaje-por-george-carlin-la_11.html

Talk: https://georgecarlin.com/media-2/

Reference:

Brown, T. (Writer). (2014). Design Thinking - Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO. In K. Ventures (Producer). You Tube.

Crouch, T. (2013). Who flew first? Air and Space Magazine( ).

Elkind, D. (2007). The power of play : learning what comes naturally. Cambridge: Da Capo Press.

Govindarajan, V. (2016). The three box solution. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard business revew press.

Reichard, R. (2017, nov 13). 5 Creative Ways The People Of Puerto Rico Are Persevering. https://wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/puerto-rican-inventions-post-hurricane-maria/

Resnick, J. Z. a. B. (2017, Seept 1). All the rain that Hurricane Harvey dumped on Texas and Louisiana, in one massive water drop. Vox.

White, E. G. (1890). Patriarchs and Prophets (Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. ed.): Washington, D.C.:Review and Herald Publishing Association.