From Workshops to Workflows: A Multilevel Theory of Design Thinking Transfer

Abstract

Organizations run inspiring design thinking (DT) workshops yet struggle to make the behaviors stick in everyday work. This paper theorizes the transfer gap and advances a multilevel model that explains when learned practices generalize beyond pilots and persist across planning cycles. The model links training design and the artifact lifecycle to unit capabilities, especially absorptive capacity, within a context of leadership expectations, time and budget slack, and fit with operational cadences. Digital and AI tools are treated as moderating contingencies that can widen exploration when introduced after human divergence and governed through traceable artifacts, or compress exploration when introduced early without guardrails. From this architecture, we derive five testable propositions and a Transfer Readiness Index that consolidates signals from climate, cadence alignment, boundary infrastructure, and capability into a diagnostic that supports the sequencing of interventions. The contribution is a focused architecture with actionable measures that turn workshops into workflows in operations settings.