In the 1960s, influential thinkers defined design as a rational problem-solving approach to deal with the challenges of sustainable human development. In 2009, a design consultant and a business academic selected some of these ideas and successfully branded them with the term “design thinking.” As a result, design thinking has developed into a stream of innovation management research discussing how to innovate faster and better in competitive markets. This article aims to foster a reconsideration of the purposes of design thinking moving forward, in view of the sustainable development challenges intertwined with accelerating innovation in a perpetual economic growth paradigm. To this end, we use a problematization method to challenge innovation management research on design thinking. As part of this method, we first systematically collect and critically analyze the articles in this research stream. We uncover a prominent focus on economic impact, while social and environmental impacts remain largely neglected. To overcome this critical limitation, we integrate design thinking with responsible innovation theorizing. We develop a framework for responsible design thinking, explaining how to apply this approach beyond a private interest and competitive advantage logic, to address sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, resource depletion, poverty, and injustice. The framework contributes to strengthening the practical relevance of design thinking and its theoretical foundations. To catalyze this effort, we propose an agenda for future research.

Circular oriented innovation aims to address sustainability problems such as resource scarcity, pollution and climate change by (re)designing industrial products, processes, business models, and value network configurations. Although the literature identifies collaboration as crucial for circular oriented innovation—due to the complexity, risk and uncertainties involved—few tools have been developed to support it. To address this gap, we develop and test a tool that helps companies ideate to identify partners and value within circular oriented innovation. The tool integrates decision-making principles from the entrepreneurship theory of effectuation within a design thinking approach to stimulate collaborative ideation of circular propositions. We demonstrate and test the tool through six workshops, and collect data via observations, field-notes, assessment forms and user discussions. Our results show that: 1) users are receptive to visualisation and effectuation-based questions to collaboratively ideate circular propositions; 2) expert facilitation helps to maintain a circularity focus to avoid ‘business-as-usual’ ideas; and 3) differences in the maturity and scope of projects may influence the usefulness of the tool. We contribute to theory by demonstrating the integration of effectuation, design thinking, and lean experimentation approaches into a tool to advance circular oriented innovation. We contribute to practice with the tool itself that supports early and quick ideation to identify partners and perceived value. This supports companies to collaborate and advance the design of circular propositions that bring circular business model ideas closer to implementation.