Podcast Summary: HBR On Leadership

Episode: How Design Thinking Unlocks Creativity

Date: October 29, 2025
Host: Alison Beard (HBR Executive Editor)
Narrated Article: "Why Design Thinking Works" by Jean Liedtka

Overview of Episode Theme

This episode explores how design thinking can help organizations break free from the tension between efficiency and innovation. Narrated by HBR, the episode is a deep dive into Jean Liedtka’s influential article, “Why Design Thinking Works,” which argues that design thinking drives effective innovation by immersing companies in customer experience, challenging internal biases, promoting experimentation, and facilitating broad buy-in. Liedtka draws on case studies from business, healthcare, and social services to illustrate design thinking as a “social technology” that unleashes creativity and commitment in teams, improving outcomes while lowering the risks and costs associated with change.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Challenge of Innovation vs. Efficiency

• Innovation Outcomes Needed (03:00):

  • Superior solutions
  • Lowered risks and costs
  • Employee buy-in

• Why Efforts Often Fall Short:

  • Companies define problems in conventional ways, leading to conventional solutions.
  • Market research is limited because customers struggle to articulate needs for things that don’t yet exist.
  • Diverse teams produce better ideas but can be divisive without structure.

  “Defining problems in obvious, conventional ways...often leads to obvious conventional solutions. Asking a more interesting question can help teams discover more original ideas.”
  — Jean Liedtka [03:50]

2. Design Thinking as Social Technology

• Reference to Total Quality Management (TQM) (01:10):
  Design Thinking is compared to TQM in how it integrates tools and insights into a “social technology” that shapes behavior and unleashes creativity.

• Addresses Biases:
  Design thinking helps organizations get around status quo thinking, and other human biases, by introducing new structured behaviors.

  “Design thinking has the potential to do for innovation exactly what TQM did for manufacturing: unleash people’s full creative energies, win their commitment, and radically improve processes.”
  — Jean Liedtka [01:25]

• Structure & Linearity (06:00):
  Non-designers benefit from clear, structured processes that help them navigate the unfamiliar tasks of research, co-creation, and prototyping.

  “Anytime you’re trying to change people’s behavior, you need to start them off with a lot of structure so they don’t have to think.”
  — Karen Hansen, Intuit/Facebook [06:40, as quoted by Liedtka]

3. The Seven Activities of Design Thinking (08:17–25:50)

a. Discovery: Immersion, Sense-Making, Alignment

• Immersion (08:30):
  Innovators “live the customer’s experience” to identify hidden needs, moving beyond data to empathy.

  “Design thinking takes a different approach: identify hidden needs by having the innovator live the customer’s experience.”
  — Jean Liedtka [08:40]

  • Case: Katie Gaudion at Kingwood Trust reframed “destructive” behaviors of an autistic adult as sources of pleasure, redefining design criteria around strengths and enjoyment rather than control.

    “Pressing my ear against the wall and feeling the vibrations of the music above...I now perceived Pete’s sofa as an object wrapped in fabric that is fun to pick.”
    — Katie Gaudion [09:35]

• Sense-Making (11:30):
  Tools like the “Gallery Walk” allow teams to surface patterns in ethnographic data and overcome individual bias.

• Alignment (13:00): Workshops focus on possibilities, not constraints, helping teams reach consensus on design criteria.

  • Case: Monash Health (Melbourne, Australia): Mapping a patient’s journey revealed care gaps, shifting the design focus from clinical activity to personal commitment—resulting in a 60% decrease in relapse rates.

b. Emergence: Ideation & Dialogue

• Structured Ideation (15:30):
  Diverse stakeholders brainstorm and build on each other’s ideas for holistic solutions.

  • Case: Children’s Health (Texas) co-designed an asthma management program by involving clinicians, administrators, parents, and community members.

  “Champions of change usually emerge from these kinds of conversations, which greatly improves the chances of successful implementation.”
  — Jean Liedtka [18:45]

c. Articulation: Surfacing Assumptions

• Challenging Bias and Assumptions (19:30):
  Design thinking asks: What would have to be true for this idea to work? This frames discussion as inquiry, not advocacy.

  • Case: IGNITE Accelerator, White River Indian Reservation Hospital: A tech-based check-in was set aside when biases and false assumptions about patients’ technological comfort were surfaced.

d. Prototyping: Pre-Experience

• Low-Cost, Incomplete Prototypes (21:00):
  Prototypes are designed to be rough, flexible, and invite user interaction—mirroring real-life conditions for feedback and iteration.

  • Case: Kaiser Permanente tested hospital layouts using bedsheets and role-play.
  • At Monash Health, “storyboards” were used for telemedicine pilots, making policy buy-in easier.

e. Learning in Action: Real World Testing

• Iterative Experimentation (22:15): Encouraging learning through real-world experiments, which both test feasibility and reduce fear of change.

  • Case: Monash Watch: Lay health coaches were introduced experimentally, with skeptics converted after a successful pilot showed benefits.

  “Three hundred patients later, the results were in: overwhelmingly positive patient feedback, and a demonstrated reduction in bed use and emergency room visits...”
  — Jean Liedtka [23:45]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There is no innovation without action, so psychological safety is essential. The physical props and highly formatted tools of design thinking deliver that sense of security.” — Jean Liedtka [06:55]
• “By involving customers and other stakeholders in the definition of the problem and the development of solutions, design thinking garners a broad commitment to change.” — Jean Liedtka [25:20]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Topic | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|------------| | Episode Theme & Setup | Definition and introduction of design thinking | 00:03–01:00| | Why Companies Struggle | Biases, trade-offs, and the need for structure | 01:00–07:43| | The Discovery Process | Immersion, sense-making, alignment (with cases) | 08:17–15:30| | Ideation and Community Engagement | Emergence of champions, Children’s Health case | 15:30–18:45| | Challenging Assumptions | Articulation, IGNITE Case Example | 19:30–21:00| | Prototyping & Pre-Experience | Rough prototypes, Kaiser Permanente, Monash Watch | 21:00–22:45| | Learning in Action | Experimentation, Monash Lay Health Coaches case | 22:15–24:30| | Recap & Broader Implications | Social technology, buy-in, employee experience | 24:30–25:50|

Language & Tone

Throughout, the episode maintains a practical, research-driven yet accessible tone—combining case study narratives, practitioner quotes, and the step-by-step clarity Jean Liedtka is known for. The mood is encouraging and focused on overcoming real-world organizational and human barriers to creativity.

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a clear message: Design thinking changes not just the solutions organizations generate, but also the way innovators and stakeholder teams experience the work of innovation. By combining structure, empathy, engagement, and intentional dialogue, organizations can break through old habits and realize more impactful, actionable creativity.

For leaders and teams seeking actual change—not just new ideas—this episode details why and how design thinking works.