The Religion of Design Thinking

Design thinking has become what the presenter calls “a religion” based on two fundamental beliefs that are largely untrue:

1. Design has a solution for every problem - whether sales, education, science, or global pandemics
2. Anyone can do design - skills, training, experience, and talent don’t matter; just follow the steps

However, design thinking is actually better understood as “an incredibly successful information product and marketing campaign” rather than a universal problem-solving methodology.

The Academic Origins (1950s-1990s)

John E. Arnold: The Forgotten Pioneer

The story begins with John E. Arnold, a professor at MIT and Stanford in the 1950s who first explored the research question: “How do designers think?” Arnold wanted to create a science of creativity, invention, and innovation for engineering and business. He laid the foundation for modern design and innovation thinking but died in 1963 at age 50, before becoming widely recognized.

The Scholarly Movement

From the 1960s-1980s, scholars like Bruce Archer, Herbert Simon, Nigel Cross, Horst Rittel, and Donald Truman continued this research. Their key contributions included:

• Establishing design as its own discipline - arguing for “designerly ways of knowing” that are distinct from scientific or engineering methods
• Advocating for design as a recognized profession - pushing for design schools and formal recognition of “designer” as a legitimate occupation
• Developing theoretical frameworks - creating models and concepts, though practical processes were harder to produce from pure academic research

IDEO and the Practical Evolution

From Academic Theory to Business Practice

The most influential practical design thinking process emerged from IDEO, a California design consultancy famous for designing Apple’s first mouse. IDEO transformed from a small mechanical engineering shop in the 1970s to a global company employing nearly 1,000 people worldwide.

David Kelley’s Academic Connection

IDEO founder David Kelley studied at Stanford’s Joint Program in Design in the late 1970s - a program originally proposed by John E. Arnold that combined engineering and arts education. This direct academic lineage explains how scholarly design thinking concepts made their way into IDEO’s business practice.

The Expansion Strategy

IDEO’s success came from massively expanding the scope of design, allowing them to take on projects in branding, electronics, marketing, healthcare, software development, management consulting, and education. They achieved this by:

• Defining a unified culture and process that could apply across all project types
• Using academic design thinking language to explain and coordinate their work
• Creating a scalable methodology rooted in their original design and engineering practice

The Productization Revolution (2000s)

Tim Brown: The Business Genius

In 2000, Tim Brown became IDEO’s CEO, and this marked the critical turning point. Brown, educated at Northumbria University and Royal College of Arts, brought deep academic design research background. The presenter calls Brown “an absolute genius” not for what he says, but for what he never discusses - his masterful business strategy.

The Evidence of Productization

The transformation is visible in the Kelley brothers’ publications:

• 2001: “The Art of Innovation” - zero mentions of “design thinking”
• 2005: “The Ten Faces of Innovation” - only 3 mentions
• 2013: “Creative Confidence” - 50+ references to design thinking

Tim Brown’s “Change by Design” mentions design thinking over 150 times and became the definitive book on the subject.

The Productization Strategy

Productization involves taking a service business’s knowledge, expertise, and methodology and creating information products from it. Tim Brown masterfully executed this by:

1. Writing books and articles explaining IDEO’s methods
2. Launching websites like designthinking.ideo.com (originally Brown’s personal blog)
3. Creating an online school (IDEO U) in 2015 selling courses and certificates
4. Establishing thought leadership through speaking and content creation

The Flywheel Effect

This strategy creates a positive feedback loop:

• Direct revenue from books, courses, and workshops that “earn money while you sleep”
• Free marketing through success stories and case studies from trained practitioners
• Enhanced recruitment - potential hires come pre-trained in IDEO’s methods at their own expense
• Increased perceived value - IDEO commands premium pricing as the “original gangster” while competitors charge hundreds or thousands for similar services

The Modern Misunderstanding

What Design Thinking Actually Is

The presenter argues that design thinking is widely misunderstood by most people who practice, sell, and teach it. Originally, design thinking was:

• About studying and appreciating designers as experts in creative work
• About cooperation with professional designers rather than replacing them
• A set of exercises like “going to the gym and lifting weights” that must be developed over time

IDEO employees refer to “design muscles” that need continuous exercise - you can’t simply pick up design thinking in one day.

The Religion Metaphor

Modern design thinking has become “a religion with David Kelley as its prophet and Tim Brown as its apostle” with various factions like IBM Enterprise Design Thinking and Google Design Sprints. This religious following often misses the core truth: “doing is the truth of design” - design thinking has little to do with thinking and everything to do with practice.

Key Takeaways for Practitioners

1. Design thinking is not a quick fix - it requires sustained practice and development
2. It’s not about becoming a designer - it’s about understanding and collaborating with professional designers
3. The popularization was a brilliant business strategy - understanding this helps separate marketing from methodology
4. Academic roots matter - the scholarly foundation provides important context for proper application

The video reveals how a legitimate academic research area became a successful business product through masterful strategy, while highlighting the gap between the original intent and modern popular understanding of design thinking.