StillCreative

My guest is Liberato Garced Torres, Data Management Specialist at Simon Property Group, where he designs data integration solutions and AI-driven tools for commercial real estate. Liberato spent nearly a decade as a building engineer before moving into cybersecurity, cloud architecture, and web development, a non-linear path that built a perspective on how physical and digital systems connect in ways most people never see.

At the time of this recording, Liberato is completing a master's degree in Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He is also an INCOSE-certified Associate Systems Engineering Professional.

As Liberato put it during our conversation: "If you don't accept that things can be better, they will never be better." That belief connects directly to one of the central ideas we explored, drawn from Donella Meadows' Thinking in Systems: the possibility that the system itself is the source of its own problems.

Liberato brings that lens to the StillCreative framework, exploring why blaming is easier than understanding and changing what is producing problems, and why humility and curiosity are prerequisites for seeing the whole picture.  A question worth sitting with: when something isn't working, is it because of the people, or the structure they're operating inside? 

Mike Butler has over 20 years of experience in financial services and consulting, serving in roles that include Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Director of Business Intelligence, and Senior Director of Data Delivery. He earned the Indianapolis Business Journal CTO of the Year award in 2017 and the Award of Achievement from the Miller College of Business at Ball State University in 2020.

Mike has successfully drawn on his leadership experience and research to empower his teams to shift into creative problem-solving mode. In contrast, cognitive biases can lead to mistakes when teams are in rapid response mode. In this episode, we discuss debiasing techniques and explore how Mike has applied them to foster a culture of innovation and drive better outcomes through creativity. 

My guest is Lorena Lane, Senior UX Consultant at New Era Technology. Lorena holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science from San Diego State University. Before transitioning to user experience (UX), she spent over two decades as a professional creative (Graphic Designer). Lorena excels in bringing clarity and solving problems within complex ecosystems. She explores optimizing AI for UX and UX for AI, and examines the intersection of humans and technology, balancing philosophy with pragmatism. Lorena has been recognized for her creativity and is described by one colleague as “not only a brilliant creative but also extremely thoughtful and strategic.” 

I learned a lot from talking with Dhinesh Ram Muralidharan, IT Manager with JBS USA. Dhinesh earned a Master of Computer and Information Sciences degree from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science from Anna University. When it comes to the creative process and solving problems as a Business Analyst, he is passionate, knowledgeable, and disciplined. Dhinesh's ability to apply insight make him a strong leader and an interesting guest on StillCreative. 

I talked with Shelly Towns, Chief Marketing Officer at Marathon Health. Shelly has earned Women of Influence recognition from the Indianapolis Business Journal and she has served on several boards, including United Way, TechPoint, and the Indy Chamber. I enjoyed learning about the ways Shelly applies creativity as a leader, including team building, storytelling to create a compelling vision, and making things “as real as possible, as fast as possible!”

I talked with Sam Bloomquist, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at DriverReach, which has developed a recruiting and compliance management platform for the trucking industry. We discussed applying the principles of deep work, building momentum in a growing company, and doing meaningful work. I was also happy to learn about Sam’s inner punk rocker, who is - still creative! Enjoy hearing all of that and more about SAM. Stillness, awareness, and mindfulness, that is. 

My guest is Jenora Adams, a Software Quality Analyst at Fusion Alliance. In this episode, we learn how being creative applies to Jenora’s role and how her love of music and dance are sources of creativity, joy, and fellowship (through Line Dancing and Double Dutch groups). Jenora describes progressing in dance to the point of not thinking about the movement and experiencing the feeling of flow. As she says, “when you are not thinking and you are just moving, there is something that is freeing about that and your mind is clear.”  

I talked with Donald Anderson, Sr. Director, Software Quality Assurance & Application Security. “If automation was easy, everyone would do it” was not just a great line, it connected to Donald's point that creativity and innovation with software is hard work. It was also interesting to hear that through knowledge about cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), and API technology, we begin to understand that “it’s malleable, it’s flexible, it’s software!"