The premise that "most breakthroughs don’t come through feedback — they come from personal immersion in a problem area oneself and bold ideas." is seductive to geeks and generalists, the engineering mindset. I wonder if it doesn't take the huge differences in perspective that exist between different groups of people sufficiently into account. You can scratch your own itch, but if your itch is not common among the target audience, scratching it is not going to be a breakthrough for them.
Design thinking didn't destroy you. It sounds like your issue was poor leadership that decided to try to use one tool to solve all problems. Any intelligent designer will tell you that doesn't make sense. Design thinking (and the design process) can be incredibly powerful when used appropriately.