One of the dangers of design thinking is that it’s easy to focus on theory, not practice. Embedded in the term itself is a bias towards, well, thinking. And that often correlates to “not doing”. However, if all design thinking has to offer is a bunch of theory, then there’s really no intersection with business, which has to produce results to be successful (at least over the long term).

At the Rotman Business Design conference last January, I asked Patrick Whitney what business people could do on their own to improve their design thinking. His answer, unfortunately, was for them to come to the IID Strategy conference…hardly an adequate response, but that was all I got before the mic was whisked away by an attentive volunteer.

So, what are simple exercises that people can do on their own to increase design thinking ability? I’ll start working on specifics, here’s some of the areas that come to mind (I’d appreciate others in the comments, this is just a quick dump to boost the pragmatic content quotient).

Draw. Buy Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and work through the drawing exercises. The point isn’t to become an artist, it’s to see the world differently.
Improv. The spontaneity of improv frees our minds to let go of our inner critic, and connect with fundamental internal creativity. Definitely visit the online Improv Encyclopedia.
Children.Young kids are better than adults at being open to the world. Spending time with a toddler provides a different lens on the world.
Culture.For that matter, any change in culture can be good for promoting wholistic thinking that exposes your own internal framing (if you’re not aware of your own frames, it’s hard to help others move theirs). Eat steak tartare, rent a Hindi movie, go to Pandora and type in a band name you don’t know anything about (recommended: VNV Nation, Bloc Party, S.U.N. Project, Autechre, The Velvet Teen)
Concrete Creation. Making things unleashes a mindset that is different than simply conceptual thought. Think Legos, play clay, cardboard, glue, string, scissors. Making stuff, lots of stuff, particularly low-fi stuff, is essential to becoming a prototyping ninja. Subscribe to Make, even if you don’t know how to solder.
Intentional Failure do something with the specific intent or permission to fail…most cultures create fear of failure, and we need to overcome that fear.
Explore Edges and Intersections Learn about something in a discipline or topic you have no familiarity. Google or a quick pass at your local newstand are good - topics to consider: watch making, sport kites, biomimicry, China’s policy on dollar holdings, tween fashion dolls (like Bratz and My Scene) and their impact on Barbie.
Storytelling and Narrative Tell stories…make a quick storyboard with pictures cut from magazines, put in sequence, and write captions underneath the pictures.

So, looking at this list, I wonder if there’s more to design thinking exercises than standard “improve your creativity” activities…something else to ponder, but hopefully we’ll *do* things too.

Dan Pink includes exercises for each chapter in A Whole New Mind…