#66 - Path to Innovation - Tabitha Kapic with Chalmers Center

Ministry At Scale

Tabitha Kapic is the Director of Innovation at the Chalmers center. In this talk from the 2022 Digital Ministry Conference in Nashville, she talks about design thinking and how teams can be better at innovation.

Be the solution

What if teams started asking the question "What do people need?" rather than "What can I give people?"

Get uncomfortable

Design thinking can be uncomfortable if you’re not used to it. Tabitha uses drawing in the creative innovation process with the Chalmers center and many times, teams don’t feel comfortable drawing out their ideas but in her experience it can be a very effective tool.

Be Emotional

You’ve got to be emotional and relatable when using design thinking. Emotion is a shortcut to innovation.

Be asset based

Use what you already have. Be fast and cheap for as long as you can until you’re ready for a big investment. You don’t have to build the perfect thing before you’re ready to launch. It’s ok to learn and grow as you go.

Get out there

Design thinking is active. Do testing, get out there, talk to people, and be ok with getting uncomfortable.

Design to the edges

Who do you need to listen to? Are there people that you aren’t designing for that you should be? Be ready to design to the edges. Find extreme users at both ends of your target market and design for them and everybody else that falls in the space between.

Limit yourself

Gather together with your team and turn off your computer. Many times, giving yourself limitations can really stretch your design thinking and help your creativity.

To learn more about using design thinking to innovate better, listen to the full episode of the Ministry at Scale podcast.