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Empathy First: How Jamie Dimon Shows Design Thinking Isn’t Just for Designers
- Curious People
- Dec 9, 2025
- 4 min read
“I like to visit different countries, and you always get to learn a lot,” said the charismatic and outspoken head of the largest bank in the United States. “It’s an important time in the world with what’s going on now, and the best way to learn about it is to go out and talk to people.”
When we read the recent interview with Jamie Dimon — where he describes travelling the world to “visit different countries, meet people, learn a lot, and get a pulse of what’s going on” — something stood out to us.
Dimon wasn’t talking about design thinking.He wasn’t discussing workshops, post-its, or innovation frameworks.
And yet, in his actions, he demonstrates the very principle that powers the most effective design thinking: empathy.
It reminded us of a truth we sometimes forget:If a single leader can embody the essence of design thinking without ever calling it that, what does that tell us about the real nature of the discipline?It tells us that design thinking is not merely a framework reserved for designers — it’s a mindset, and it starts with people.
Empathy: The Engine That Transcends the Framework
Too often, design thinking is taught as a linear five-step process: Empathise → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test. Teams treat it like a checklist: complete one step, tick it off, move to the next.
But here’s the reality — and what Dimon exemplifies:
Empathy isn’t just the first step; it’s the engine.
When a leader truly listens, observes, and connects with people on the ground, they naturally gain insights that clarify what really needs defining.
Those insights spark fresh thinking, driving ideation.
And the deep understanding of the problem and its human context motivates experimentation — essentially prototyping and testing — all without following a formal sequence.
In short: one immersive empathy phase can trigger the entire design-thinking cycle in one fell swoop.
Dimon’s travels, conversations, and first-hand observations shape his decisions, priorities, and strategy. He doesn’t call it “design thinking,” yet he embodies its core power in practice.
This is a lesson for all of us: start with people, and everything else follows.
Leaders Who Think Like Designers Without Using the Label
Across industries, we see leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs applying the same principle. They:
seek real-world context,
listen before assuming,
stay curious about lived experience,
and let human truth guide their decisions.
These behaviours are universal. They aren’t owned by designers or innovation specialists. They are the very traits that drive human-centred problem-solving — the essence of design thinking.
Recognising this allows us to see design thinking not as a toolkit but as a leadership and organisational mindset.
The Purist Trap: How Strict Definitions Hold Us Back
Ironically, the more we cling to rigid frameworks and “purist” definitions of design thinking, the more we undermine its purpose.
Purism manifests when organisations:
insist the five steps must be followed in sequence,
equate innovation solely with workshops, canvases, and jargon,
police who “qualifies” as a design thinker,
or confine design thinking to designers alone.
This mindset makes design thinking technical, exclusive, and inaccessible — the very opposite of its intention.
Design thinking was created to break silos, democratise creativity, humanise problem-solving, and bring more voices into tackling challenges. Purism shrinks it. Empathy expands it.
A Universal Mindset, Not a Designer’s License
Today’s challenges — from technological disruption to social change and environmental crises — cannot be solved by designers alone. They require more people thinking in human-centred ways.
Reframing design thinking as a universal mindset allows organisations to embrace it across roles and functions:
Empathy: understand people first
Curiosity: question assumptions and seek deeper insight
Context awareness: see the system, not just symptoms
Open-mindedness: learn iteratively and adapt
Iterative experimentation: let understanding drive action
When these behaviours are embedded broadly, innovation accelerates, solutions resonate, and organisational culture shifts toward human-centric problem-solving.
This is the real promise of design thinking.
Putting People First: The Curious People Solutions Way
It tells us that design thinking is not merely a framework reserved for designers — it’s a mindset, and it starts with people. At The Curious People Solutions, this isn’t just a philosophy; it’s our guiding principle.
We are always curious. Always learning. Always observing and listening to the real needs, desires, and pains of the people we serve. Empathy isn’t a step in a process for us — it’s the engine that drives everything we do.
By starting with people, we uncover insights that lead naturally to clarity, ideas, and solutions that work in the real world. This is how we transform understanding into impact, and curiosity into meaningful outcomes.
Because when you put people at the centre — truly at the centre — innovation, strategy, and culture follow naturally. That’s the mindset we champion. That’s the power of curiosity guided by empathy.
At The Curious People Solutions, people aren’t just part of the process — they are the lynchpin of everything we do.
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