One is living proof that prosperity is not the end all and be all of the national aspirations. Another is wracked by the undeniable deadweight of affirmative action for a racial majority. The third has been known as the “Sick Man of Asia” for decades after being an economic star in the 1960s, second only to Japan. Is there a common thread running through these three distinct narratives?

“If a man carrying half a bucket of water passes you by, you can hear all kinds of water sputtering. If, however, he carries a full bucket of water, it will be much quieter.” When it is only half full, the bucket is lighter and is likely to shake back and forth, whereas a full bucket will be steady because it becomes heavier.

At the heart of Design Thinking is empathy. What drives the other parts of the process – from prototyping to iteration – is a desire to give a seriously impactful solution to a seriously problematic pain point. And the beauty of Design Thinking and empathy is that it can be applied to increasingly sophisticated areas from products and services to culture, policies, interactions, and experiences.