Why design thinking (DT) facilitators are fed up — untold struggles

Avoiding the downstream trend but still doing good work

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.” — John Ruskin

Design Thinking mostly originates in the late 1960s, when scientist and Nobel Prize laureate Herbert A. Simon, in his book, The Sciences of the Artificial, suggested design as a way of thinking and solutioning. Simon would later contribute to many emergent theories, and frameworks throughout the 1970s which crystallized into what is now referred to as the principles of design thinking.

Today, design thinking, has been popularized by practitioners like Tim Browne of IDEO, and has emerged as a problem-solving approach that involves empathy, creativity, and experimentation. It has also been seen as a partner to business and aligned to more Agile ways of working. It is a way of thinking that helps designers and non-designers, alike, come up with innovative solutions to complex problems.

Out of this emerged a whole new space within the design community, with many more seasoned design professionals practicing as “design thinking facilitators” and “design strategists.” These facilitators work across various industries…