Have you ever had the experience of picking out what you
thought would be the perfect gift for a friend or loved one and then seeing
disappointment or confusion on that person’s face when it was unwrapped? This is an embarrassing moment for everyone involved
(especially if there is an audience).
Why does this happen?
One reason is that we did not know the person’s interests and
inclinations as much as we thought we did.
Another is that we selected the gift because it was something that we
would like to have and just assumed that the other person would as well. Finally, we gave a gift that we thought that
the person ought to have to correct some fault or encourage them to adopt a new
behavior.
Sometimes we do this in ministry settings as well. We assume that a certain constituency needs
something and we plan to provide it.
When it is delivered, the process, program, or service falls flat on its
face. Why?
1. We did not know
our constituency as well as we thought.
We failed to observe, learn, and ask what was needed in the situation.
2. We catered to our
own interests and gifts. As someone
said, “When you have a hammer, every problem is a nail.” We work out of our own gift set and do what
we are best equipped to do whether it is needed or not.
3. We give people something
we think they need: “This will be good for you.” We are providing a corrective or intervention
that they may not be ready to receive.
One way to avoid these errors is to involve those who are
recipients and potential participants in the ministry. In human-centered design or design thinking,
planners work with people at the grass-roots level and involve them in
addressing their own needs. This
approach emphasizes obtaining the human perspective--especially that of the
final user--in the problem-solving process.
As believers, we understand that each person is unique in
their gifts, abilities, and needs. We
are expected to be sensitive to the needs of others, but we sometimes fail to
do that in planning ministries.
Design thinking requires us to see the problem within its
context, brainstorming and identifying possible solutions, developing
prototypes, and implementing the solution.
End users work alongside the designers in all stages of this process.
If we want our gifts or our ministries to be on target, we
need to understand the recipients at a deep level. This requires time and intentionality.
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