Key Takeaways

• Prototype: A physical representation of the ideas your team came up with.
• Three R's of Prototype- rough, rapid, right.
• Rough- Prototype is not perfect, but it is good enough to grasp the concept.
• Rapid- Prototype should be built in as little time as possible.
• Right- The prototype is consistent and rooted in Empathy.###

Group DiscussionWhich of the three R's of prototype will be the most challenging for our team to apply? Why?###

Key TakeawayWhen we Reframe, we are looking at our original Challenge Statement through the lenses of our End User glasses, and we see that it needs to be changed to better reflect the needs of our End Users.###

ActivityImagine you work for a local bike shop that has been open for 50 years and has struggled to bring in new business in recent years. The owner suspects that their marketing strategy is the cause of their struggle but he has no idea where to start. He asks you to take on the challenge of reimagining how the bike shop markets to their target audience. After gathering and unpacking your empathy, you learn the following insights about your End Users-

• Most are using multiple forms of social media
• Quality of service is equally as important as quality of product
• Appreciate the charm of local businesses
• Prefer the convenience of larger companies

Given these new empathy insights, try crafting a Reframe (sentence) of the original challenge that better reflects the needs of the End User. Remember- a Challenge Statement should start with, "How might we..."###

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Personal ReflectionWhat was surprising or challenging about the Reframe activity? ###

Activity: Take a moment and write the name of one or two people you know who are humble. Now, think about what characteristics or behaviors makes that person humble. ###

Activity: When you look at the images that flash on the screen, what did you see?

• Image #1
• Image #2
• Image #3
• Image #4
• Image #5 ###

Key Takeaways: 

1. True innovation requires absolute Humility.
2. Humility is accepting that there are other perspectives and opinions equally as valid and valuable as your own.
3. Humility is not simply discounting or discarding your opinion in favor of someone else’s. Rather, it is opening yourself up to the possibility of another unique perspective that the group might hold.
4. Humility allows those ideas to breathe. ###

Personal Reflection:What does it mean for you to “allow ideas to breathe?” ###

Key Takeaways:

1. There is a risk involved with jumping in.
2. Trust the process.
3. We have to move from chaos back to order and out to chaos again. 
4. We have to move past convergent thinking into divergent thinking. 
5. We have to become comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. ###
   

Personal Reflection:

1. What is my cube I need to scramble to realize new ideas?
2. Do I find uncertainty and ambiguity uncomfortable? How might I build my ability to persevere through uncertainty in order to innovate? ###

Key Takeaways

• Design Thinking is a human-centered, iterative process.
• Empathyis seeking to understand those we are designing for so we can design the best solution for them.
• Reframe is looking at the original challenge through the lens of the End User to see, "What's the real challenge?"
• Ideate is generating ideas to solve the challenge.
• Prototype is creating a tangible representation of the idea the team wants to move forward with.
• Testing is letting the End User interact with the design to continue adjusting and improving it.###

Personal Reflection

• What challenge are you currently faced with that you could apply Design Thinking to?
• What about the Design Thinking process stands out as surprising or challenging?###

Key Takeaways

• Innovation- proactively generating and executing new ideas that add value.
• Reigns of Disruption- We have control over the idea we came up with, and we can limit the disruption that the outcome of our idea has within our own organization and other organizations.###

Personal ReflectionWhat are 1 or 2 expectations that you have as you begin this course?###

Group Discussion

• Do you believe that your organization is innovative?
• Share a time when you your team proactively generated and executed a new idea that added value. What was that experience like for the team? If you're having a difficult time coming up with a recent example, that is okay- we believe in a growth mindset! What do you think it will take for your team to become more innovative? ###

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Key Takeaways

1. When we work as a team, when we’re generative, we see the cumulative effect of each person’s input. 
2. We must trust one another; only then can we be truly generative in the space of innovation. ###
   

Personal ReflectionWhere do I struggle to trust my team? ###

ActivityIf you’d like to go deeper on this topic, get a copy of Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull and read chapter 5, titled: Honesty and Candor. ###

Key Takeaways

1. What needs to die? 
2. To be a steward, we must believe we own nothing and everything in our care is from God. 
3. All in our care is valuable and we care for it with responsibility and accountability. 
4. Our will is submitted to God’s will. 
5. So, to recap, a steward is someone who recognizes they have been entrusted to care for something or someone, that has value, which they themselves don’t own and they are accountable to God and others. ###
   

Personal ReflectionWhen you consider personal ways of thinking, work projects, habits, expectations of others, self-imposed pressure, systems or processes, status quo, assumptions, or judgements, what needs to die in order to posture yourself as a steward?###

Key Takeaways:

1. Curiosity is the antidote to assumptions.
2. Systems are designed to optimize outputs and once those structures are set in place, we are expected to run or drive it, but not change it.
3. Curiosity is a strong desire to know or learn something. 
4. Motives are rooted in the idea that we know best.
5. Vulnerability engenders vulnerability. 
6. If we are vulnerable with information, we build mutual trust.###
   

Personal Reflection: 

1. How have I held back being vulnerable with my team and others, and why? 
2. Do I withhold important information from my team, and why?
3. What are ways that you encourage vulnerability on your team?###

Key Takeaways:

1. Until kids learn the characteristic of sacrifice, they default to selfishness. 
2. Kids don’t share because they default to scarcity. 
3. Scarcity mindsets sound like: “We don’t have enough time for that, or money,” or “I’m just not the creative type.”###
   

Personal ReflectionPause the video for a moment and ask yourself:

1. Do I reflect scarcity to my team or family?
2. What might my scarcity be rooted in? 
3. If I have tunnel vision to the point of not seeing the possibilities beyond my current circumstance, how might I see outside the constraint?###

Key Takeaways

• Empathy is the fuel that drives human-centered design.
• Empathy- putting yourself in another's shoes to learn who they are and how they think and feel so you can design the best solution for them.
• We gather empathy in three ways- listening, observing, and experiencing.
• Empathy is NOT confirming what you already know. Seek surprises!
• Always take notes as you gather empathy.###

Personal Reflection

• Who in your life is gifted in empathy?
• What types of things might you hear from an empathetic person when you share a struggle with them?###

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Key Takeaways

• It is easy for us to share an idea and immediately jump to whether it will or won't work. It is vital when we sit in "what are the possibilities?" that we NOT do that. We need protected space to dream, to put all of the ideas on the table, and build on the ideas of others.
• Put boundaries around your time.
• Allow internal processors some time to work and think alone.
• Quantity over quality!
• One conversation at a time.
• Lean into the divergent thinkers in this space!###

Personal ReflectionWhen someone shares an idea with me that I don't like, how do I react? Remember, we must set aside our biases and suspend negative judgment. ###

Group Discussion

• When was the last time the team had a group ideation session? 
• What were the outcomes of that meeting?
• If we had that same meeting today, what would we do differently?###

Key Takeaways:

1. We make assumptions to make sense of our world, but we often live as if those assumptions are facts.
2. When I understand what triggers my assumptions, self-awareness helps me shift to curiosity. 
3. The boundary of the box we’re in is made up of the questions we have yet to ask. ###
   

Vacation Eyes Activity:Before moving on to the next module, take time to go to a place you visit on a regular basis. Except this time, put on vacation eyes. Pretend as if you’ve never been there before and express curiosity in trying to discover things you’ve never noticed before. What do you see? Smell? Hear? ###

Key Takeaways

• Testing: Allowing your End Users to interact with the prototype.
• Prototype as if we know we are right... Test as if we know we are wrong.
• Testing is iterative; we continuously test and tweak our prototype, getting a little bit closer to our End User's needs and wants each time.
• Start with Minimum Viable Product, then build out additional features for future iterations.
• Desirability- does the End User actually want it?
• Feasibility- do we have the technology to support it?
• Viability- does the organization have the capacity to launch and sustain it?###

Group Discussion

• Is our team or organization willing to test a product, system, or service with our End Users that we know is incomplete?
• If the answer is no, discuss with you team what is at the root of the unwillingness for your team to test with End Users?###

Key Takeaways

• The person in the mirror is the greatest barrier to innovation.
• An open mind rejects the voice of judgment so we can be curious.
• An open heart rejects the voice of cynicism so we can be compassionate.
• An open will rejects the voice of fear so we can be courageous.###

Personal Reflection

• Think back to a situation in life or work where you have heard the voices of judgment, cynicism, and fear. What might an open mind, heart, and will have sounded like in that situation? Are there any situations you are currently in that are being influenced by the voices of judgment, cynicism, and fear?
• Letting things die is never easy, and yet God invites us to lay those things at His feet and trust that He will grow something new and better in its place. Take some time with the Lord to ask what in your work and personal life needs to die.###

Key Takeaways: 

1. Innovation requires collaboration and collaboration requires humility.
2. Catmul wrote: “If we start off with the attitude that different viewpoints are additive rather than competitive, we become more effective because our ideas and decisions are honed and tempered by that.” ¹
3. When individuals function with the mentality of teachability or meekness, which is the fruit of humility, this collective wisdom flourishes. 
4. If we seek agreement, we limit the group to our way of thinking.
5. Innovation emerges from a team, not from an individual. ###
   

Personal Reflection:

1. How might you identify whether you’re listening for agreement or understanding?
2. Has there ever been a time when you feel your ideas were shot down because of creative differences on your team? If you’ve ever rejected the ideas of others, what could you have done differently to understand their perspective? ###

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Footnotes:

1.  Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, First Edition, (New York, NY, Random House Company, 2014), pp. 173-174

Key Takeaways

1. The number one difference between and owner and a steward is that owners operate out of fear. 
2. Formula: Fear + Control = ownership. 
3. Owners fear what others think, but stewards are not unraveled by the views of others. 
4. Owners fear looking ignorant or stupid, but stewards are confident in how God views them. 
5. Owners fear the unknown or ambiguity, but stewards get security out of anchoring themselves to the all-knowing God. 
6. Owners fear losing identity, but stewards don't tie themselves to their roles, projects, teams or organizations.
7. Owners fear failure, but stewards embrace failure as a means to gain deeper insights.
8. Owners fear losing their jobs, but stewards see the higher good is open-handedness and trust God's best for their future.

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ActivityCircle the stewardship traits you are strong in, and circle the ownership traits you might need to grow in. Then, share your feedback with one teammate and have them do the same. ###

Personal ReflectionWhat on your team do you feel responsible to own? Explain why you feel that way. ###

Key takeaways

1. Being generative is about building on the ideas of others.
2. People that create ideas alone grow too connected to the idea and unconsciously create a defensiveness around the idea. ###
   

Personal Reflections

1. When was the last time you built on someone else’s ideas? How was that experience?
2. When someone doesn’t immediately accept your idea as it is, how do you respond?
3. What do you believe is the underlying cause for people not sharing partially-developed ideas?
4. What are one or two suggestions you have for your team to enhance a culture of generativity? ###

Key Takeaways:

1. The hardest time to embrace perseverance is in the time of failure. 
2. The difference as to whether or not failure can be, or is, valuable is what we do with it. 
3. True innovation embraces failure because it sees failure as a way to gain deep insights to innovation. 
4. Failure is not helpful when we personalize it and see it as a regular reflection on ourselves. ###
   

Activity: go to seedsinnovation.com/skaters watch the video. ###

Personal Reflection:

1. What are projects that you are working on now that need perseverance?
2. What was a mistake you made that you learned a valuable lesson from? ###

Key Takeaways

1. Abundance is the antidote to scarcity.
2. Abundance says there is more than enough. 
3. God is not limited by our imagination. 
4. God is capable of inspiring even the most seemingly uncreative people with incredible new ideas for the sake of His Kingdom and Glory.
5. Abundance is rooted in trust that God is and has enough.
6. Abundance is opening our minds, heart and will without being limited by our constraints.###
   

Personal Reflection

1. Do I believe and behave as though God is and has enough? 
2. God has given you creative capacity. How are you expressing abundance in your life and on your team because of that truth?###

Key Takeaways

1. Narrative worship is when we see agility or change as dishonoring the organizations narrative. 
2. When we operate out of fear, we end up making decisions rooted in preservation not solution. ###
   

ActivityThink about your organization’s narrative. Do you sense the team is afraid of change because they feel like they are stepping outside of the initial vision and mission? What does your organization do now that was not part of the original vision? Discuss your thoughts with your team in the context of the idea of narrative worship and preservation. ###

Key Takeaways

• End User: Directly interacts with the product, process, or system; who we are primarily designing for.
• Customer: Involved in some capacity, but less engaged and not as heavily impacted by the solution.
• Extreme User: Interact with the product, process, or system in a different way than was intended.###

Personal ReflectionWhy might it be important to identify all three users?###

Group DiscussionEvery team has an End User that they serve. How well does your team know your End Users?###

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Key Takeaways

• Feedback is a gift!
• Two major hinderances to Testing are margin and perfectionism.
• Don't sell it. Don't over-explain it. Don't defend it.
• Say, "Yes, And..."
• The 4 stages of Testing are Stage, Arrange, Re-Empathy, Analyze.
• Remember, there is always something more to learn!###

Group Discussion

• What needs to die in order to give the team the margin needed to do Testing?
• Does leadership need to be engaged to have a conversation around lack of margin and organizational priorities?###

Key Takeaways:

1. If we listen about a problem as a judger, we are constantly trying to determine who is at fault, who is to blame.
2. Listening is essential to curiosity, yet the mindset with which we listen is equally as essential.
3. As you ask questions, support your posture of curiosity with a learner mindset. ###
   

Personal Reflection: 

1. What other systems or industries could you deliberately learn from? What would it take for you to begin? 
2. Where is an area within my own organization from which I need to learn?
3. What assumptions and judgments have I made because I don’t see the full picture?###

Key Takeaways

1. Clear is kind.³
2. In addition to great communication, we must also consistently contribute.  

So, let’s recap! In order to posture ourselves generatively, we must:

1. Listen well,
2. Defer judgment,
3. Accept the possibilities,
4. Consistently contribute. ###
   

Personal Takeaways

1. Do you have someone on your team who checks out regularly? If so, how could you help him or her remain engaged? 
2. How might a posture of generativity allow contributions to ideas, especially when members may not agree with the initial idea?
3. True generativity has an expectation that your team will build upon your idea.  How might you create an environment that expects building on the inputs, thoughts, and ideas of others? ###

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Footnotes:

3.  Brené Brown, “Clear Is Kind. Unclear Is Unkind.”, Brené Brown, 15 October 2018, https://brenebrown.com/articles/2018/10/15/clear-is-kind-unclear-is-unkind/, (accessed 31 January 2022)

Key Takeaways

• Make sure that you are taking time to do the two parts of Ideation separately!
• The goal of sorting is taking the chaos from "What are the Possibilities?" and narrowing down to one idea or a group of ideas that the team will take into Prototype.
• Once you have all of the team's ideas on the wall, you can start asking the more questions like, "Will it work?"
• Lean into the convergent thinkers in this space!
• We sort our ideas into four quadrants-
• Been There Done That Could Have Been Done Better/BTDTCBDB- Yes, that's really the name. We never rule out an idea just because we've tried it before.
• Game Changer- If we could do this exactly as it is on the sticky note, it would obviously and immediately change the game.
• No Brainer- These are ideas that make us say, "We should have been doing that yesterday!" So, do it! Don't wait to implement these ideas!
• Parking Lot- These are not bad ideas, however these ideas will not move us in the direction we are heading for this challenge. That does not mean you can't come back to these ideas later! 
• You do not have to move forward with just one idea into prototype! Your prototype could be a combination of several ideas, or even multiple different prototypes, depending on the team's capacity.###

Personal ReflectionRefer back to the description in video 2.1 of the two types of thinking we do in Design Thinking. Are you a divergent or convergent thinker?###

Group Discussion

1. Divergent and convergent are two starkly different ways of thinking. Who on your team identifies as a divergent or convergent thinker? 
2. How can you capitalize on the strengths of both types of thinking on your team?###

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Key Takeaways: 

1. We are the greatest barriers to innovation.
2. An open Mind rejects the voice of judgment so we can become curious.²
3. An open Heart rejects the voice of cynicism so we can become compassionate.²
4. An open Will rejects the voice of fear so we can become courageous.²###
   

Activity:Read about Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well in John 4: 1-26, or with Lazarus in John 11: 28-37, and reflect on how empathetic listening shaped the outcome of the interaction?###

Personal Reflection: 

1. Reflect on a time when you were convinced when you were right, but later discovered you were not. How did that impact the outcome? 
2. What areas are you quick to believe you are right, or have the best idea?
3. Where do you need to listen more?###

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Footnotes:

2.  C. Otto Scharmer, The Essentials of Theory U: Core Principles and Applications, First Edition, (Oakland, CA, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018), pp. 28-31

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Key Takeaways:8 reasons Perseverance is paramount to realize value-added innovation. Perseverance is paramount so we can: 

• Define the real problem. 
• Cycle through the innovation process. 
• Operate outside of your default preference. 
• Work with your team who views and paces differently than you. 
• Test to fail. 
• Overcome obstacles and obstructionists. 
• Not lose the passion behind the vision. 
• Produce value-added solutions.  ###
  

Personal Reflection:

1. What outcome have you seen because of your own perseverance? 
2. Which of the eight reasons to persevere do you find most challenging and why? 
3. How might you approach perseverance in that area differently? ###
   

Activity:Go to seedsinnovation.com/perseverance and watch the following video focusing on innovation perseverance. ###

Key Takeaways

• Checking into the Secret Sauce helps us hold each other accountable and reminds us to be present.
• Embrace your Inner Creativity- We are made to reflect the image of the ULTIMATE Creator!
• Suspend Negative Judgment... or yourself and others. Give every idea room to breathe!
• Be curious! Ask penetrating questions, make precise observations.###

Personal ReflectionWhich Secret Sauce ingredient do you most struggle to champion?  We dare you to check-in with that ingredient... you might be surprised how many opportunities you will get to practice it!###

Group DiscussionThe Secret Sauce is most beneficial when used by a team. How might the Secret Sauce help your team to have more healthy, productive meetings? Try it! Which of the three ingredients will everyone check-in with today? ###

Personal ReflectionNow that you’ve heard Sam’s story about his friend, consider the following questions:

1. If she had been alone on this journey, do you think that she would have come to the same conclusion? Why? 
2. Who on your team, or in your family, pushes you to embrace a mindset of abundance? 
3. Who do you push to ensure a mindset of abundance? 
4. Where in your life might generosity and gratefulness lead you into a mindset of abundance? ###
   

ActivityTake a few minutes and read the story in Matthew 14:13-21. As you reflect on the reaction of the disciples, what do you see driving their response? What areas of your life, or on your team, can you relate to the disciples’ reaction? ###

Key Takeaway"Learning and innovation go hand-in-hand. The arrogance of success is to believe that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow."  - William Pollard###

Personal ReflectionWhat is one way that you have changed as a result of this course, that you didn't expect?###

Group Discussion

• Share with the team your most important takeaway that you want to incorporate into your team.
• What mindsets and postures does our team need to adopt to move toward a culture of innovation?
• What wins can we celebrate today? What recent failures have we learned from? (Celebrate those too!)###

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Key Takeaways

• Go deeper by asking questions that evoke story, rather than using survey-style questions.
• "Tell me about a time..."
• More than just getting answers, we want to have a conversation.
• Use, "Tell me more about that!" to go even deeper.###

Personal ReflectionDo I listen to understand or to agree? We are all able to grow our capacity to listen well. How might I remind myself today to listen for understanding?###

Group DiscussionDiscuss with your team how listening for understanding impacts team dynamic. Also, discuss how only listening for agreement affects your team. ###

Key TakeawaysAccording to Otto Sharmer, there are 4 levels of listening: 

1. Habitual listening,
2. Ecosystem listening,
3. Empathetic listening, 
4. Generative listening. ⁴
   

Generative listening is to hear what the person is saying, accept it, then build on it. Remember, generative listening does not require us to agree with everything we hear. Rather, generative listening postures oneself as a learner, not judger, and works to build on the ideas of others. 

Just because you build on something doesn’t mean you have to do it. ###

Personal ReflectionNow that you’ve completed the series on Generativity, reflect on the following questions:

1. Do I build on ideas of others, regardless of how silly they sound? Or do I typically shut them down because I believe they don’t work?
2. How might I encourage generativity on my team?
3. What level of listening do I utilize most and why? ###
   

Group Discussion

1. Which one of the 4 levels of listening does my team get stuck within? 
2. Where does our team excel: Listen Well, Defer Judgement, Consider the Possibilities, or Consistently Contribute? 
3. Looking at your answer from Generative, section 3, how might our team create a culture that regularly suspends judgments around ideas and builds on the ideas of others? ###
   

ActivityIn your team’s next ideation or brainstorming session, include this one rule: for each idea that is created, three team members must build on it before you move on. ###

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Footnotes:

4.  C. Otto Scharmer, The Essentials of Theory U: Core Principles and Applications, First Edition, (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018), p. 26

Key Takeaway:

1. Through questions, we get to explore reality. 
2. Generally, the systems and structures we operate within are designed to optimize efficiency, so organizations fail to create room for innovation. Desiring deeper knowledge is not about bucking the system but being curious enough to mitigate disruption and change while adding value. ###
   

Personal ReflectionAs you complete this section on Curiosity, spend some time reflecting on the following questions: 

1. Do I regularly exhibit a posture of curiosity? 
2. Do I question the world like that of a child? Remember, children learn through asking “why,” experimenting and observing their surroundings. 
3. Do I truly desire deeper knowledge about the world? Curiosity allows us to experience the world in a unique, creative and refreshing way. Am I curious for curiosity’s sake, as a child? Do I operate out of a mentality of “need to know,” or simply want to know? Rather than being driven by a deadline or a job, is curiosity a part of your personality? 
4. Do I listen with a judger or learner mindset? Ouch! This is a bit difficult because ###
   

Group Discussion: 

1. How might fear, motives, agendas, and lack of vulnerability in organizations, (and on teams), keep the team from asking penetrating questions?
2. As the antidote to assumptions, what ways does our team or organization exhibit deep curiosity? In what ways might we need to improve? 
3. Using the Judger / Learner Chart, discuss areas of strength on your team, as well as areas where your team needs to improve.
4. Does your team regularly and consistently challenge their assumptions? Why or why not?###

Key Takeaway:Listening without judgment is a critical piece of humility.###

Disagreement Activity: Take a moment now and pause the video. Go onto YouTube and find a video of someone arguing for a position you completely disagree with. After watching the video for at least 5 minutes, answer the following questions: 

1. What was your initial reaction? 
2. Could you understand why the person believes what he or she does?
3. Were you able to suspend your personal views in order to listen for understanding, or did your disagreement cause you to struggle to listen?###
   

Personal Reflection: Now that you’ve completed Humility, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on our learnings. Take a moment to ask yourself three questions:

1. Do I listen for agreement, or do I listen for understanding? Remember, listening for understanding means that our minds are not formulating responses or objections or corrections to what we hear. Rather, we are simply listening to gain deep insights so we can better understand the values and beliefs of the person speaking. So, how about you, do you listen to determine agreement, or do you listen to simply understand?
2. Do others see me as a teachable person who listens first? This can be difficult and sometimes requires a few conversations. Perhaps you will find it helpful to ask a few colleagues or family members. Teachability is often associated with meekness. So, the question comes down to: Am I meek, (teachable) or do I speak? 
3. If it is true that I am the greatest barrier to innovation, what can I do to become the greatest catalyst of innovation? Remember, we believe that, due to the human condition, the person in the mirror is the greatest barrier to innovation. This course is designed to address that condition and give us the tools and mindfulness to become a catalyst to innovation. So, as you continue through the other five modules, keep coming back to this question. ###
   

Group Discussion: 

1. How does understanding the perspective of others help your team grow and innovate?
2. Does your team characteristically operate out of competitive vs. additive, humility vs. assumptions, or judgement, cynicism, and fear? 
3. How might we begin to build trust, listen with an open mind, heart, and will, and support one another toward a culture of humble innovation?###

Key Takeaways

• Assumption- a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.
• Assumptions are neutral; they are neither good nor bad.
• Unchallenged assumptions can cause huge problems. ###

ActivityLet's give our assumptions a healthy dose of curiosity! For this activity, please refer to the instructional video and downloadable materials in section 1.5 of the course content. ###

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Personal ReflectionWhat are some assumptions you have made today? When was the last time you challenged any of those assumptions?###

Activity:Go to seedsinnovation.com/davidgoggins and watch the video about former Navy Seal and ultra-Marathon runner, David Goggins. ###

Key Takeaways:

1. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes int strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
2. Hebrews 12: 1-2 says: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneers and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ###
   

Personal Reflection:

1. Ask yourself: What is my why? 
2. Is it powerful enough to keep me persevering? 
3. Have I maintained my why or has it weakened? ###

Group Discussion:

1. Is our team comfortable moving into spaces of chaos and divergence so that we can innovate? If not, how might we gain comfort in that ambiguity space which may not be our default?
2. Which of the above 8 reasons to persevere does our team struggle with and how might we overcome it? 
3. How does your team deal with failure?
4. Do you feel like you are allowed to fail?
5. Reflect on past failure that led to new and useful insights. What were they and how did they affect future decisions? ###
   

Supplemental Notes:

1. Define the real problem. It’s easy to assume what the problem might be. However, until we’ve gained deep insights from our end-users, understanding their values and beliefs today, we can’t actually identify the real problem. 
2. Cycle through the innovation process. This is not easy. The front side of innovation can feel like a breeze. Yet, most innovation projects fail on the back end where execution skills and tools are necessary to operationalize innovation. 
3. Operate outside of your default preference. Each of us has a default way in which we work. Yet, to innovate on a team, we need to become incredibly comfortable suspending our preferences. 
4. Work with your team who views and paces differently than you. Some of us are introverts, others are extroverts. Some like to work alone, others in teams. And, some enjoy imagining the possibilities and thinking divergently, while others default to converging on a single perceived solution. A few members may plot slowly, considering every step and others consider steps only as they are running. We must be comfortable with operating in spaces of ambiguity and uncertainty so we can generatively work together on our team to create value-added solutions. 
5. Test to fail. Testing is the 5th stage in Design Thinking. We don’t test to prove we are right or show off our new idea. Rather, we test to identify weak points, gain end-user feedback, and relaunch in a way that our prototype better represents the needs, views, beliefs, and values of those we serve. However, if you view failure as a personal defeat or a reflection of you from other’s perspective, we miss the point all together. See testing to fail as a step in the design process, not a personal defeat. 
6. Overcome obstacles and obstructionists. We often quit or become dismissive when we receive pushback. Innovation requires perseverance because you will get pushback and hit obstacles.
7. Not lose the passion behind the vision. Innovation is difficult and can uncover some very unhealthy personal or team characteristics and behaviors. Those challenges are emotional and have a tendency to drain our passion that we once had. Innovation requires perseverance to keep the Why ever before you.
8. Produce value-added solutions. It’s easy to presume we’ve innovated because we’ve created a new system, process or product. However, if it does not create value for those you serve, and your organization, we’ve missed the mark all together. Push through the temptation to simply create something new and stretch further to ensure it actually reflects the deep needs of your end-users and customers, while adding benefit to your organization as well. ###

Key Takeaways

• Constraints, if we allow them, change the way we see and interact with our everyday challenges.
• Constraints will launch new possibilities if we leverage them for our advantage.
• Don't become a victim to constraints.
• Break free from the Path of Dependence.
• Our current success blinds us from our future success.
• Identify unhelpful paths so we can reshape them into better paths for the future.
• Bold Ambition + Significant Constraint = Propelling Question
• We can if...###

Personal ReflectionWhen in your personal life did you experience a constraint that caused you or your family to uncover a creative solution?###

Group Discussion

1. In what ways has your team remained on the Path of Dependence?
2. How might your team leverage a significant constraint to break free from the Path of Dependence?###

Key Takeaways

1. The core principle of abundance is gratitude.
2. How do we build a mindset of abundance – start by practicing generosity. 
3. The future is completely unknown to us, but not unknown to God. 
4. When we anchor ourselves to God, our mindset shifts away from scarcity to abundance. ###
   

Personal Reflection

1. What are ways that I practice gratitude? 
2. How might I practice generosity on my team?  ###

Activity Find someone on your team today and express gratitude for them. ###

Group Discussion

1. Does your team or organization easily see the possibilities beyond current circumstances, or is it often difficult to maintain a mindset of abundance?
2. Does your team feel the freedom that comes from a mindset of abundance? If not, what can your team do to shift from scarcity to abundance? 
3. In what ways have you used your God-given creativity on your team?
4. As mentioned in the video, surround yourself with people who have an abundance mindset. So, to practice abundance, take a few minutes to express gratitude toward one another. ###

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Key TakeawaysThere are three postures of stewardship, they include: 

1. Openhandedness. To be openhanded, we present ideas with the expectation that others will build on them and not that our ideas are the ultimate solution.
2. Stewards see relationships through the lens of responsibility, not transaction.  
3. Accountability. Stewards are accountable to care for that which is in their care. Also, stewards are accountable to engage others with the mindset of, “how might I serve this person God has brought into my life.” ###
   

Personal Reflection

1. What might it take for you to become the most content person in a room full of people?
2. What needs to change in your life to openhandedly steward things and people? 
3. How might a posture of stewardship affect your life?
4. Can you make a connection between your stress or anxiety and your posture as an owner (rather than steward)? ###

Key Takeaways

• Observation helps us paint a more colorful picture of our End User and the challenge.
• Observed empathy is gained by paying attention to what our End User is doing, looking for what they wouldn't have told us otherwise when we were listening to them.
• Ask yourself, "are they using the system, service, or product different than I expected? ###

ActivityLet's do some people-watching! Grab a notebook and find a place with a lot of people. Maybe a mall, a public park, or the airport. Find a place to sit and spend 10-20 minutes just watching as people pass by. What trends do you notice? How are people interacting with each other and with the environment? Who stands out, and why? Remember- seek surprises, think about WHY, and take notes!###

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Group Discussion

• Share about your people-watching activity with your team. What surprises stood out?
• How might we observe how our End Users interact with us?###

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Personal ReflectionThis section is designed to go deeper in considering a life of a steward. Reflect on the following five question as you consider your relationship to your work and family.

1. Am I transactional in my relationships? In other words, do I see or treat others as a means to accomplishing what I want? Where is this mindset rooted in? 
2. Is my identity anchored to what I’ve produced, or my title, or my position, or my team or my organization? How comfortable am I walking away from all of those things should God ask me to?  What might it take for me to become comfortable? 
3. Do I operate out of hidden fear of the unknown, fear of ambiguity, fear of losing my job, fear of failure or fear of what others think? What is this fear rooted in?
4. Do I get emotionally entangled with people and things that I manage? How might a posture of stewardship affect my emotional involvement?
5. Do I unknowingly hold the organization’s narrative above God’s meta-narrative? If so, where is that mindset rooted in?
   

Stewardship is vital to innovation for three key reasons. First, we must become stewards so that the solution we design reflects the values and needs of those we serve. Second, stewardship orients our thinking and postures, so we are not the obstructionists to innovation. And third, stewardship allows us to not anchor ourselves to the organization’s narrative, preserving the past and perpetuating outdated paradigms.

Last, let us remind you to become indifferent to anything but what God wants. In doing so, we openhandedly steward, not own and grasp, those things and people God puts in our path. ###

Group Discussion

1. What are examples of healthy stewardship within our organization? 
2. How has our team shifted away from stewardship and moved toward ownership? Are there fears that need to be addressed, individually or collectively?
3. What might our organization feel like if all we did was from a posture of stewardship? 
4. Considering the 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12: 1-2 scriptures, we need to focus on the meta-narrative outside of ourselves and personal preferences in order to persevere. Does our organization hold up the meta-narrative as its key "why," or do we have the tendency to over focus on the organization’s narrative? What is the difference and how might we not misplace our focus? ###
   

Key Takeaway"Yes, I hear you and I'm suspending judgment. And, I'm going to build on that idea."###

Personal ReflectionDo you ever find yourself comparing your own circumstances to the circumstances of others? How might you use "Yes, And" in your personal relationships?###

Key Takeaways

• Experiencing empathy helps us further answer the question, what do my End User's feel, believe, value... and why?
• Gaining empathy through experience is a personal and intimate experience.
• We MUST take off our own glasses and put on our End User glasses to see the real challenge.###

Personal ReflectionCan you remember a time when you made a connection with someone because of a shared struggle?  Think for a moment about that interaction and that person. What thoughts or feelings come to mind? Are you willing to go to this level of depth in gathering empathy?###

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Key Takeaways

• To help make sense of all the empathy you gathered, we recommend writing out all of these short insights, quotes, anything that may be of value in building your End User glasses, on individual sticky notes or in a spreadsheet.
• Look for anything that may help us answer the question, "How might I see the world through my End User's eyes?"
• There will be pieces of your empathy notes that aren't relevant or helpful in building your End User glasses- that's okay!
• Categorize your empathy into 4-7 groups in a way that makes sense to the team. We suggest looking for trends around how your End Users think and what they value.
• Write short statements to summarize the new categories, which will serve to clearly represent who your End User is and what they need as you enter into the Reframe.###

ActivityEmpathy gathering can quickly get disorganized, so it is important that you have a plan of action. For this activity, please refer to the instructional video and downloadable materials found in section 2.8 of the course content. ###

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Group Discussion

• How might empathy help our team address immediate challenges we are facing?
• Are we designing anything right now with End User glasses on? If not, how will we begin building our End User glasses?###