Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This holds true in business today.

Leaders face intense pressure to innovate but can have difficulty generating breakthrough thinking that leads to innovation. Many generate and settle on ideas in isolation, without input, testing and feedback.  And they go nowhere.  To avoid the insanity trap, a different way of going from idea-to-innovation is needed:  leaders need to think like designers.

Here are 3 reasons a leader who becomes adept at design thinking generates more ideas that lead to innovation than those who don’t:

• They develop empathy for the customer.  Empathy for the customer can be achieved through many methods, including interviewing and videotaping.  What it gives leaders is context for idea generation and decision making and a view into how to design something that will work for the customer.
• They are willing to fail fast, and try again.  Prototyping is the gold standard for product design, and it works for designing services and experiences for customers as well.  Prototyping allows leaders to test an idea quickly and solicit feedback quickly in order to refine it quickly.
• They hone their ability to influence others. Leaders who think like designers understand that an idea alone will not become a financed project until support for that idea can be generated.

Want more tips?  Read our Leader as Designer article.