"Hi Don, It's always refreshing to follow the way you fearlessly challenge your own ideas, as well as those of others. While Design Thinking proved the most potent pitch of design to business in history, I'm not a fan—although I do think the best designers do have something very special to offer. Never mind the woolliness of its many definitions, design thinkers have struggled to deliver on their overblown promises in practice. Former evangelists like Bruce Nussbaum have distanced themselves from the idea—calling it a 'failed experiment'. A pioneering client of Design Thinking in the UK is Geoff Mulgan—one time advisor to Tony Blair—who experimented with design for social innovation, and now warns of design becoming the 'fad that failed'. He gives a few reasons why, including a process essentially developed for product design being over stretched to a wide range of applications. He also fingers designers' naivety in the fields they often tackle under the guise of Design Thinking. For him asking stupid questions, have hit designer's credibility in the real world. Definitely worth a read: http://www.nesta.org.uk/library/documents/ GMDesignWhatWorksWhatCouldWorkBetter.pdf Let the debate roll..."

"Hi Niti, yes, as ever, Larry Keeley is beyond reproach. My point is more that different emerging disciplines require different vertical skill stacks, and designers learn their craft by doing (over many years), not in class. Although I'm sure Larry's classes make for a great introduction to some of these."