Lost in transmission: Knowledge, academia and the origins of design thinking

Concerns about the declining relevance of academic research overlook the significant role that scholars have played in developing both the process and key concepts behind one of the most well-known approaches used to teach entrepreneurship and innovation today: Design thinking. This study traces the foundational academic texts that led to the creation of key concepts in practitioner-oriented discussions of design thinking, and examines the obstacles that slowed their diffusion across both academic disciplines and practitioner settings. To do so, we focus on three distinct types of concepts: mindset concepts (i.e., those spanning multiple stages, such as assumption surfacing, collaboration, empathy, and visualization), ideation concepts (e.g., idea volume, deferred judgment, and divergent thinking), and the creative process. We explore the implications of the historical evolution of design thinking for ensuring that scholarly contributions to practice do not go unknown or unrecognized within academia, and conclude by offering a set of recommendations concerning how the incentives might be altered to make room for closer collaboration between science and practice.