First introduced decades ago, the term “design thinking” has been used to describe the ways designers think, how non-designers can think like designers, and how organizations can embrace design to become more complex-capable. The research project sought to identify and validate the core competencies related to design thinking. An online questionnaire was used to validate a set of six mindset themes identified in the literature review and to reveal how they are connected. A design probe activity was used to understand how individuals can develop in each of the six mindset themes. Despite a limited sample size, the data revealed promising connections between the mindsets themes. User Focus, Diversity and Problem Framing appeared to be the three core mindset themes with a sixth mindset theme, Process Wayfinding, acting as a balancing force. The research project concludes with recommendations on the role of design thinking for organizations, how individuals can understand and improve their capacity for design thinking, and how a design thinking instrument could support both of these goals.