Does ‘Design Thinking’ Actually Do Anything — or Is It Just Corporate BS?
Let’s Be Honest: Everyone Talks About Design Thinking — Few Know What It Actually Means
You’ve probably heard it in meetings, workshops, or on LinkedIn posts loaded with buzzwords:
“We’re applying Design Thinking to solve this.”
And you’ve probably wondered:
“Okay, but… does it actually do anything?”
At RL Edu Skills, we’ve seen both sides of the coin — people who swear by Design Thinking as a creativity superpower and others who roll their eyes, calling it corporate theatre.
So let’s strip away the jargon and look at what’s real, what’s hype, and how Design Thinking actually works (when done right).
Where Design Thinking Went Wrong
Design Thinking started as a problem-solving framework used by designers at places like IDEO and Stanford’s d.school.
The core idea?
👉 Focus on people first.
But somewhere along the way, it got hijacked by boardrooms and PowerPoint slides.
It became:
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Sticky notes on a whiteboard.
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3-day workshops that end with no follow-up.
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Teams saying “we’re being creative” but never testing ideas.
That’s where the “corporate BS” label came from — when Design Thinking turned into a process without purpose.
The Truth: It Works… If You Do It Right
Here’s the thing: Design Thinking absolutely works — when it’s not treated as a checklist.
At RL Edu Skills, we use Design Thinking not as a buzzword, but as a mindset in how students, trainers, and teams solve problems.
It’s not about drawing diagrams.
It’s about asking:
“Who are we designing for, and what do they really need?”
The five stages — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test — aren’t magical steps. They’re simply a structured way to avoid lazy thinking.
When done right, Design Thinking helps you:
✅ Build products or lessons people actually want
✅ Cut through assumptions and get real feedback
✅ Fail faster — and smarter
✅ Collaborate across disciplines
✅ Bring creativity into data-driven decisions
That’s not BS. That’s smart problem-solving.
Example: Design Thinking in Education
Let’s take an example from our own experience at RL Edu Skills.
When designing our STEM and Robotics programs for schools, we didn’t just copy global models.
We sat down with teachers, students, and parents.
We asked:
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What frustrates you about STEM learning?
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Where do students lose interest?
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What would make it fun and practical?
From that empathy stage, we realized — students didn’t want more theory. They wanted hands-on experiments, visible outcomes, and team challenges.
So we prototyped small robotics challenges, tested them in a few schools, refined them, and scaled them.
That’s Design Thinking in action — real, measurable improvement born from listening and iterating.
Why Most Companies Fail at It
Here’s the hard truth:
Design Thinking doesn’t fail — people fail at implementing it.
It fails when:
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Teams treat it as a 1-time workshop, not a habit.
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Companies confuse “creativity” with “no structure.”
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There’s no real customer testing.
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Leadership doesn’t support experimentation.
In short — if you want guaranteed outcomes without risk or empathy, Design Thinking will disappoint you.
But if you want real innovation, you have to embrace curiosity, not control.
How to Make Design Thinking Actually Work
At RL Edu Skills, we’ve seen it transform classrooms and companies when applied right.
Here’s how:
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Start with empathy, not assumptions.
Talk to users, students, or customers before building anything. -
Don’t stop at ideas. Prototype fast.
Even a simple sketch or demo can reveal what works (and what doesn’t). -
Encourage safe failure.
Reward learning, not perfection. -
Collaborate across disciplines.
Innovation happens when coders, artists, marketers, and engineers brainstorm together. -
Measure the outcome.
If it doesn’t improve real experiences or performance, it’s not design — it’s decoration.
That’s why we embed Design Thinking principles into our Robotics, Coding, and Career Skills programs — because the next generation needs to learn not just what to think, but how to think.
So… Is It Corporate BS?
Only if you treat it that way.
Design Thinking isn’t a silver bullet — it’s a lens for human-centered creativity.
Used well, it can spark innovation in classrooms, startups, and even government projects.
Used poorly, it’s just sticky notes and buzzwords.
The difference lies in intent.
At RL Edu Skills, we’ve seen students who applied Design Thinking go on to:
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Create social impact prototypes
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Win school innovation challenges
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Build early-stage startups
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Lead projects that solve real community problems
That’s not “corporate fluff.” That’s education that means something.
Final Thought: Keep the Thinking, Drop the Theatre
You don’t need a fancy workshop to “do” Design Thinking.
You just need to stay curious, stay empathetic, and keep testing ideas with real people.
So next time someone says “Let’s do Design Thinking,” ask:
“Are we doing it to tick a box — or to actually solve something?”
That’s where the real difference begins.
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