Yes it could be a good way of identifying "black swans". But is very important to work and model the future with a true interdisciplinary team. A homogen group doing design thinking could lead to group thinking and false safety. Step two after identifying possible black swans is to set up receivers for weak signals.

The term “design thinking” has come to mean something not really to do with what makes design special and how certain aspects of design can be applied to situations like “grey swans.” The previous answer about who is on the team is partly why design thinking has lost value as it increasingly becomes interpreted and adapted by disciplinary cultures. If design thinking is useful in this situation if its emerging out of a network of people who can be effective interdisciplinary collaborators. I don’t recommend buying a box of “design thinking” from amazon and opening it up on grey swans.

I am coming from studying it through my masters degree and researching it to use to gain the ideas from the methodology

@Gareth Pugsley, ... I assumed something like that was the impetus for your question. I recommend the Helsinki Design Lab (HDL) resources .. free downloads of "Recipes for Systematic Change" and other publications free. There is a two volume set of books called Design Unbound (Designing for Emergence in a White Water World) and Kenya Hara's "Designing Design" as good resources. I do not believe in DT as a formula or methodology that can be followed. What I refer to as "wickedness" (rather than wicked problems) or complex situations with multiple variables you need people who embrace ambiguity and can transcend disciplinary cultures. "Designers" (some) sensibilities and habit of mind fit this charge... in that sense I think you want DT to get your ball rolling and more.

Thank you very much that is brilliant

I wouls strongly advice SYSTEMIC DESIGN used by emergency, NATO, US Canadian, australian armies. It is a methodology 15 years beyond Design Thinking (itself too linear, end oriented and fuzy) well beyond what engineers, designers and forecasters do.

There are methodologies, team building ways of running workshop of Systemic Design which can be extended from natural, humanitarian, military events to other types of crisis. There are final step of building DIMe, PEMSII, Systemigram and Operational Art plans that can provide easy forecasting of potentiel troubles, amongst them grey swan.

Thinking and doing on one's feet in dynamic situations where context changes dramatically, hour on hour is where design think's emergent process becomes valuable. Pretty much useless if only designers are part of the group.

Solutions that emerge usually are transferrable and adaptable.

Layering potential blank swan scenario's can help with preparations. Predictions have limited value. preparedness trumps.

Newer forms of design thinking like design swarms and sprints are useful in black swan preparedness.