Course reflection - crash course on creativity Tina Seelig, Stanford Free Online Course. December, 2012

2. In Jamaica we say ‘no problem’ A LOT. Jamaicans (I’m generalizing here) believe intrinsically that every problem can be solved – that
really there is ‘a way around everything’. This course – Crash Course on Creativity – made me believe for the first time that there might be
something to this popular Jamaican expression.
So, why then does Jamaica have the problems it does? In 2005, Jamaica had 1,674 murders for a murder rate of 58 per 100,000 people.
That year, Jamaica had the highest murder rate in the world. There were 1,682 reported murders in 2009 and 1,428 in 2010. According to the
police, 1,125 murders were committed in 2011.(http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20120119/news/news4.html). Jamaica is also plagued by
human trafficking, drug trafficking, unemployment, underemployment, economic stagnation, broken & single-parent homes, high rates of
teenage pregnancies and a long list of other societal and social ills. In 2011, the People’s National Party (then the opposition) won the general
election. The country was divided; many were hoping that the young and newly appointed head of the Jamaica Labour Party (who was in power
at the time) would have gotten his chance to redeem Jamaica from the deathly grasp of social and economic depravity. Disillusioned with the
perennial politicians, many had hoped for Andrew Holness to redeem the country. This was not to be. Whether he had the tools to lead the
country to the solution goldmine one will not know until perhaps, the next general election – 2016.
Having taken this course, I am starting to think there might in fact be a solution to Jamaica’s problems; in fact there might be
several solutions. While there might be laws, treaties, and agreements to which Jamaica has signed; while there may be mounting debts we need
to repay; while potential investors are looking to China instead of Jamaica; and while resources are scarce, I have come to believe that “EVERY
PROBLEM’S SOLUTIONS AWAIT DISCOVERY” and that to find these solutions require us collectively and individually to think creatively. It’s

3. interesting that a section of the Jamaica National pledge implores us to “…promise… to work diligently and creatively, to think...”
(http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/Independence/anthem&Pledge.html).
Jamaica needs a crash course in creativity. When I read these words:
“Starting with the drive to do something big and the willingness to push through the challenges that come their way, they use
their rich imaginations to generate new ideas, using their growing base of knowledge to fuel their imagination. These three
factors—attitude, knowledge, and imagination—are your internal combustion engine of innovation.”
I am compelled to vote smartly in 2016. I will ask myself the questions, ‘Which Team can best tap into their internal combustion engine of
innovation?’ and “Which team has members wearing the six thinking hats and can best utilize these hats?” I will also look for the team which is
most savvy and can understand and manipulate the global context into which Jamaica sits, because having a good internal combustion engine of
motivation is NOT enough. The environmental factors of resources, culture, and habitat must be understood, accepted and manipulated. Can we
change our environment?? We might need to.
I will do my part. Jamaicans are so disillusioned. Our leaders offer the same lackluster solutions that do not produce desired long
term results and always fail. Everyone has noticed it. It is no secret anymore. I believe it is time that Jamaica goes beyond the first obvious
answer. This takes work and some people have not committed to do the work. I will do MY part at the community level and the individual level
to help my country through my community. My community suffers mostly from social ills resulting from lack of education and unemployment. I
am even more committed now to pursuing a PhD in adult education and community development to get the knowledge that I need to transform
my little community using the innovation model, understanding that as new information become available models change.
Simone Williams - Crash Course on Creativity with Tina Seelig (December, 2012