The strength of design is that it brings new perspectives-often referred to as 'out of the box' thinking. However, an attitudinal and methodological strength need not render the designer humble in systems-based business knowledge that improves the prospect of ideas being carried through to implementation. Systems thinking as a discipline offers designers a way to model and understand how a business works, from its processes and power structures to its people and underlying architecture. This paper proposes an incorporation of key system thinking tools including; Soft Systems Methodology, Business Architecture and Viable Systems Modelling into the design process to develop what we term business empathy . The paper contributes a system thinking perspective to an increasing body of literature regarding design innovation.