Design thinking as explored by Bernard Roth from the Stanford d.School, Roger Martin from the Rothman School of Management, and the IDEO merger trio by Tom and David Kelley, as well as current its CEO Tim Brown, dominates the narrative of the contemporary schools of design thinking since the late `90s. This article aims to investigate the underlying philosophies, authors, and events that laid the foundation in which these contemporary designers based their strategies on planning for complex environments. To satisfy this intent, the turbulent origin of design methods is explored, following the post-war environment that allowed these ideas to flourish, the generations of methods in design from the `60s to the `90s, and the encroachment of design methods to the embodiment of a commercialized design thinking methodology.
