I arrived at the Royal College of Art with my laptop in my bag and my inner productivity elf taking a firm hold of me. Two minutes later, it was clear that neither was needed.
Special Projects’ two-day Executive Course on Design Thinking hosted at the RCA is exactly the same as Design. No one typing away on a keyboard, instead there are paper templates, thick markers, sticky notes and a room to collaborate.
In order to complete all the work in two days, the pace of the course must be relatively fast. It’s not too intense, though, and leaves plenty of room for curiosity and conversation.
It’s not a course designed for designers, either. The room was filled with people who are already impacting the world: leaders, strategists, operators, founders and those closely involved in decision-making. Special projects partner Clara Gaggero-Westaway, who teaches the program alongside studio co-founder Adrian Westaway, said the mix means everyone can learn from each other, as well as from the course itself.
When asked what draws people to the course, Clara explains: “I don’t think design is a small subject.
“It’s not just an aesthetic pursuit, it’s a problem-solving attitude — one that looks at setbacks in a more positive light — and that applies to everyone.”
Executive courses started with permission
Very early on, you realize that this course is about more than just teaching tools. It allows people to talk about “magic” and admit confusion in a business setting. It actually encourages you to sit with the discomfort rather than rush to eliminate it.
Clara explains the importance of this candidly, saying: “We are coming out of an era where speed and efficiency are the primary parameters.
“We’re trying to get back the humanity, the magic, the joy. It’s not a frivolous thing – it’s an important thing.”
It’s worth noting that this only worked well with a group of executives because it was supported by a process.
Why simulated stuff actually works
The rule against bringing laptops has not been enforced for the past two days, but I never saw a laptop. The nature of the course and the practical teaching definitely encourage better collaboration. “Physical tools are often more helpful,” Clara explains. “You go around the table and you can see each other’s eyes…the screen is kind of like a divider.”
It also forces you into a way of thinking that is harder to fake. You can’t outsource your thinking and attention, and because you’re making things together, the work becomes more social and human. This is important because one of the main ideas underpinning the course is to study first and then think.
In many organizations, “research” either becomes a big, slow, expensive endeavor or is skipped entirely, but here it is demystified. We’re taught to think of research as an active, accessible skill, whether that’s mapping a journey, observing parallel markets, recording what you see, or just talking to people. You then refine these insights into opportunities.
One of the most striking moments came from short, structured interviews: twenty minutes with experts, twenty minutes with users, and then immediately synthesized. Clara heard the same reaction many times: “Oh my gosh, we learn so much from these interviews,” she said, describing how participants often only talked to a few people but still experienced those “tiny fireworks” of insight.
On-site briefing
Crucially, the course does not rely on what-if scenarios. The profile is genuine and charitable. This time it’s a live challenge from UK children’s literacy charity BookTrust.
This really helps build enthusiasm because you’re not solving a fictitious problem for a fictitious client. You’re exploring how to help families integrate the joy of reading into their daily lives, or how to support multilingual families, or how to keep children engaged after the age of six, when many parents stop reading with their children once they can read independently.
Clara’s reasoning was straightforward: “We had 30 amazing brains in a room, and I felt like it would be a waste of their thinking on a fictional brief,” she said. She added that the charity briefing meant participants could “learn and give back at the same time”.
The presence of BookTrust also makes the course more down-to-earth, reminding you that design thinking is not a corporate parlor trick. If used correctly, it is a way to make complex systems more human.
Double diamond background
Each day follows a three-part rhythm: inspiration, practice, and reflection. In the morning, a guest speaker builds context; in the afternoon, you work; then you slow down and reflect. We even wrote a letter to our future selves toward the end of the course and mailed it a few months later.
The guest lineup also provides useful perspectives, from the foundations of design thinking to startup speed and enterprise realities. Professor Emeritus Jeremy Myerson (who helped shape the Design Council’s Double Diamond) talks about design thinking as a bridge between creativity and innovation, and the dangers of viewing any process as drawing a solution by numbers.
This nuance is important, especially since design thinking is attacked every few years by headlines like “Design Thinking is Dead.”
Can everyone become a designer after the two-day course?
One of the most refreshing parts of my interview with Clara was how candidly she addressed the backlash against design thinking. She doesn’t pretend criticism doesn’t exist, nor does she exaggerate the lessons.
“I think there’s this message that everyone can be a designer once they learn design thinking, and I think that’s too simplistic,” she explains. “We’re not saying we’re going to make you a designer in two days. We’re just saying we’re going to teach you a problem-solving approach and a new way of thinking.” Her metaphor is apt: “You can learn how to cook a dish from a great chef’s book, but that doesn’t make you a chef.”
If anything, the course fostered more respect for design expertise, not less. It teaches non-designers a common language for collaborating with design teams, knowing when to give freedom, and recognizing when expertise is needed.
Frustration, redefined
If I had to summarize the theme of this course, it would be that setbacks are not failures.
Clara describes how organizations often deny or hide frustrations, especially when problems are complex, but design thinking changes your relationship to these tensions. “Depression is not necessarily a negative thing,” she said. “With the design thinking we teach, you can say ‘I have the tools to explore this and then solve it.'”
As someone who lives with deadlines, client requests, and constant context switching, I wasn’t sure the two-day course would stick, but it did, and I’m sure the executives in the room felt the same way. I found a repeatable way to deal with messy problems by looking beyond the obvious, talking to real people, rapidly prototyping, and treating joy as a serious business input.
The two days of teaching are always valuable, sometimes magical, and maybe even a little radical in the way they challenge typical board culture. Not because they provide neat answers, but because they change the way you look at the problem.
Secure your place on the next course on the RCA website.
