TLDR: Not really. And No, you’re not. (You are all fine people.)
It’s become fashionable to bash Design Thinking, maybe more so last year but it takes me a while to get around to articles like this one. Actually I found the reaction to the reaction to that article first. I got the jist at the mention of that logo artist who is the chief basher, noted by her ridicule of post-it notes. (Edit: what he said)
The arguments are basically: this is common sense (or this isn’t new), why are people (not me) making money on this, and you all are sheep for following it.
It is correct that Design Thinking isn’t new. It is really the Scientific Method. I really don’t mind IDEO and Stanford making money from it. I am also fine we don’t have to go to trainings on Total Quality Management anymore either.
Obvious to me, as I really came into ‘Design’ through Applied Experimental Psychology; and had this methodology driven into my head. Add to it the systems approach emphasized by Human Factors Engineering, and the requirements elicitation work I had to do getting into product R&D and the software development lifecycle, and you get a fuller definition of what Design means.
I had this thought as I read the Medium article, then writing this response I came on this same line of thinking.
Plus, I had written a quote on my whiteboard that Design Thinking is the Scientific Method for Business that I finally found the source for.
EDIT: Adding a link to read later, more background/history of DT. We have come far from the days when they said UX was all brand new…