Design thinking has made huge inroads in organizations today and has been widely popularized as one of the most effective approaches to complex problem solving. However, the prescriptive models to design thinking that are now widely used by "nondesigners" in the business world are criticized for their detachment from users, poor execution, and tendency to converge on safe solutions. This article examines the efficacy of using crowdsourcing as an underpinning technology for executing design thinking by nondesigners to alleviate these issues. It advances a generative model of complex problem solving with theoretical as well as practical implications.

This is an introduction to the special issue of California Management Review on Design Thinking (DT). This special issue joins the growing body of work exploring the idea of DT and whether DT makes a difference in terms enhancing or augmenting the impact of technology-and, as a result, innovation-in a positive way. We have chosen an interesting, relevant, and useful array of papers that provide different approaches, views, and interpretations of applied design thinking. These articles provide both management and scholarly readers with insights in how DT is used, as well as its impact and usefulness in a variety of contexts.