design thinking for your day: focus on what's working
i had the privilege of sharing aspects of "design thinking" at a workshop with our school staff this week. the basic underlying premise being that creativity is a birthright for everyone, including but not limited to, those with artistic talent and skill.
one tenant of creative problem solving that i've gotten to practice lately is focusing on what's working. i am naturally a person who sees the glass as half-full and is able to turn most everything into something good, but at the same time, i am human and have to practice (i don't have a big list of pet peeves, for example, but i will admit to being mildly vexed by the following: lumps of baking soda in muffins, stepping in water after donning warm and fuzzy socks...oh, and when you just get over 300 children quietly settled for an assembly only to have the guest speaker think it'd be cool to get them riled up, "how are you today kids? i can't hear you! i said how are you doing?!" until all hundreds of them feel suddenly invited to scream at the top of their lungs. yes, mildly and humorously vexing, all.)
i'm pretty convinced that it's not the big things in life that test our character, it's the little things. "never was there a philosopher who could patiently endure a toothache," as some have said.
recently i hurt my knee and my finger. neither injury too serious, but enough to slow me down. it was tempting to focus on what i couldn't do because i really missed riding my bike. the healing came faster, however, when i got more in touch with my body and listened to what was working. i could, for example, walk UP the stairs. i could do modified yoga poses. i could stretch and take gentle walks. i think because i'm used to everything working perfectly, i run the risk of taking things for granted or being a bad patient because i haven't had to suffer anything truly difficult health-wise. how we focus on what's working with the little things will be a good indicator about how we face the big things.
(along this note, i know it's fairly popular to bash the health care system right now, but i just have to say how grateful i am for the doctors, nurses and pharmacists who helped me when i needed them. thank you!)
so from the mild annoyances of the day to global concerns, let's tap into our collective design thinking and find what's working well and seek to make it even better.
one tenant of creative problem solving that i've gotten to practice lately is focusing on what's working. i am naturally a person who sees the glass as half-full and is able to turn most everything into something good, but at the same time, i am human and have to practice (i don't have a big list of pet peeves, for example, but i will admit to being mildly vexed by the following: lumps of baking soda in muffins, stepping in water after donning warm and fuzzy socks...oh, and when you just get over 300 children quietly settled for an assembly only to have the guest speaker think it'd be cool to get them riled up, "how are you today kids? i can't hear you! i said how are you doing?!" until all hundreds of them feel suddenly invited to scream at the top of their lungs. yes, mildly and humorously vexing, all.)
i'm pretty convinced that it's not the big things in life that test our character, it's the little things. "never was there a philosopher who could patiently endure a toothache," as some have said.
recently i hurt my knee and my finger. neither injury too serious, but enough to slow me down. it was tempting to focus on what i couldn't do because i really missed riding my bike. the healing came faster, however, when i got more in touch with my body and listened to what was working. i could, for example, walk UP the stairs. i could do modified yoga poses. i could stretch and take gentle walks. i think because i'm used to everything working perfectly, i run the risk of taking things for granted or being a bad patient because i haven't had to suffer anything truly difficult health-wise. how we focus on what's working with the little things will be a good indicator about how we face the big things.
(along this note, i know it's fairly popular to bash the health care system right now, but i just have to say how grateful i am for the doctors, nurses and pharmacists who helped me when i needed them. thank you!)
so from the mild annoyances of the day to global concerns, let's tap into our collective design thinking and find what's working well and seek to make it even better.
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