Why Design Thinking Is Good Business Thinking

What if the boardroom moved outside and became a place for doing instead of meeting? It’s already happening. Decision making, strategy, and direction setting are all important parts of any executive’s role. However, being customer centered, in touch with employees, and learning quickly via rapid prototyping and iteration are fundamental expectations of a modern business leader. Today’s leaders must invite diverse perspectives, work collaboratively, and be open to being wrong—not your typical boardroom behaviors.

Working outside the boardroom requires a shift in mindset and an openness to developing and using design thinking skills as well as those learned in business school. Succeeding in today’s business environment requires mastery of both business thinking and design thinking.

After spending more than 20 years in the consumer products industry and as founder and CEO of Ampersand Innovation, LLC, I’ve observed that the most successful leaders are the ones who bring an open and curious mind to any challenge. Successful leaders apply business acumen and a human-centered approach in all they do—they demonstrate mastery of both business thinking and design thinking.

Why “Business Thinking” Is No Longer Enough

In business school, I studied finance, economics, and strategy to learn the mechanics and metrics of business, along with what to expect in the boardroom. These courses focused on numbers and the need to perfect the all-important ...