Unconventional Collections

DISRUPTIVE HYBRID LEARNING

 

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WE SEE HOW LEARNER PREFERENCES HAVE SHIFTED

  • Learners demand more experiential learning — dynamic, fun, and collaborative education that boosts retention by up to 75% compared to lecture-based approaches.
  • They want a vibrant community where learning sticks, feedback flows, and collaboration feels alive.
  • Professionals dream of spaces to experiment, apply knowledge immediately, and grow alongside like-minded peers.
Conventional training fail to deliver. We built The Unconventional School as a global movement to answer this call.
Our collections are groups of short, sharp and disruptive courses built around specific learning goals, crafted to push you further, faster, and deeper into bold innovation. 
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HOW OUR COURSES WORK
  • Exclusive to 12 participants → every voice is heard, every challenge matters.
  • Curated for fit → every participant goes through a personal conversation before joining, ensuring alignment between their ambitions and what the program delivers.
  • Designed for real impact → one month after completion, we run a follow-up session to reflect, track progress, and push momentum forward.
  • Powered by people →Led by an instructor, supported by coaches, and inspired by an Unconventional Speaker. Brilliant voices from pioneering companies, universities, or fields. Always bringing real cases, bold knowledge, and lived experience.
  • Run in English and Spanish → making our experiences accessible to a global community of disruptors.

Two instructors blending perspectives to create a live, dynamic environment where disruption unfolds before your eyes.

OUR LEARNING COLLECTIONS

Design Un-Thinking Disruption

DESIGN (UN)THINKING  Disruption and Unconventional Innovation

 

  • Flexible formats from 3-hour sprints to 4-day
  • deep dives into the power of a Culture of Innovation and Innovation Strategy as a mindset.
  • Rewire methods, unlock hidden insights, and build ideas that move people and businesses.
  • Innovation lives in strategic, unconventional thinking.
Experimentation Labs

EXPERIMENTATION LABS  Strategic inspiration and mash-ups

 

  • Immersive experiences lasting from 3-hour creative collisions to 2-day
  • Immersive labs where you fuse disciplines
  • Prototype wild ideas
  • Tackle live business challenges in unexpected environments
  • Play with the Unknown to Provoke the Future.

 

Lego Serious Play

BRICK THE RULES

Where play becomes your sharpest strategic tool

 

  • From 3-hours to 4 day playful and powerful experiences
  • Learn to solve real problems using a step-by-step system
  • Blend LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® with Human-Centered Design
  • Uncover insights, unlock new ways of thinking, and engage teams like never before.

OUR COURSES

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DESIGN (UN)THINKING: The Art of Asking better Questions

Learn to frame questions that unlock creativity, shape strategy, reveal hidden assumptions, and accelerate smarter decisions. Discover how music enhances observation, empathy, and collaboration.

 

  • Nov 14,2025
  • 4hours
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BRICK THE RULES: Humanising AI adoption through play and design

Fuse Design Thinking and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® to uncover hidden barriers to AI adoption and turn AI fear into human-centered opportunity.

 

 

  • Feb 26,2026
  • 4hours
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EXPERIMENTATION LABS: Clearing Space for Disruption

Inspired by the punk movement, turn rebellion into a leadership skill, and learn how to remove what’s holding you back to transform chaos into clarity and creativity into strategy. Use the PARC model to identify how the company organisation supports the innovation strategy and redesign it for impact.

  • Jan 23,2025
  • 4hours
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DESIGN (UN)THINKING: Design To Support People - Lessons from Space and Beyond 

What do astronauts and your customers have in common? Explore the unseen needs that shape human behaviour and learn to look beyond the immediate problem to design environments where innovation truly supports people.

 

  • Feb 13,2025
  • 4hours
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UNCONVENTIONAL INSTRUCTORS

Anne Kearney
Anne Kearney

Environmental Psychologist & Creative Practitioner

Drawing on science and creative practice to bring out the best in ourselves and our organisations.

 

  • PhD in Environmental Psychology from The University of Michigan & BA in Cognitive Science from Stanford.
  • Current artist-in-residence with reDirect, helping organisations reimagine how they do business.
  • 30 years of experience in environmental psychology exploring how our environments shape creativity, productivity, and mental well-being.
  • 8 years consulting to NASA on the human dimensions of spaceflight design.
  • Consultant and lecturer to organisations and universities; former University of Washington faculty member.
  • Award-winning painter who has exhibited internationally.
Célia René-Corail
Célia René-Corail

PASSIONATE DESIGN THINKER

Re-energizing People & Ideas

 

  • Catalyst for Creativity & Innovation
  • Unique blend of Marketing experience and Human-Centered Design expertise
  • Course Facilitator for Stanford's Design Thinking Professional Program
  • Former Coach at IDEO U and Mentor in diverse play-based & future-thinking initiatives
  • 25+ years guiding others to Dance in the Rain.
Enrique Conches
Enrique Conches 

CREATIVE INNOVATION LEADER- Converting organisations’ Friction into Innovation Fuel

 

  • Graduated from Stanford School of Business - Innovation Strategy & Leadership
  • Trained in Design Thinking by IDEO U & Stanford
  • Former Design Thinking Coach at IDEO U - Pioneers of the methodology
  • Specialist in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
  • University Lecturer in Innovation at multiple universities
  • 30+ Years of Experience in Technology Leadership
Jordi Díaz
Jordi Díaz

Science communicator and Science & Nanotech Consultant

“Science is a common good, let’s share it!”

 

  • Doctor of Chemistry and specialist in Nanotechnology
  • Microscopist at the Universitat de Barcelona
  • Founder of NanoEduca & Nanoinventum educational projects
  • Founder of 10alamenos9, the Nanotechnology Festival
  • National Scientific Communication Award (Generalitat, 2018)
  • Author of multiple science outreach and ethics books
  • Design Thinking specialist with a focus on Science
  • Pioneer in hybrid art-science projects combining theatre & visual arts
Nohemy Veiga
Nohemy Veiga Moyar

Cognitive Solutions Director

Advocating for Sustainable & Human-Centered AI

 

  • Bachelor degree in chemistry and specialist in polymer mechanics.
  • Cognitive Solutions Director at IFF.
  • Graduated Master's Degree in Biostatistics from the University of Barcelona.
  • Design Thinking specialist with a focus in Health and Science.
  • AI Instructor teaching applied AI and how to create AI-based end-to-end products.
Ben Mizen
Ben Mizen

IDEAS ALCHEMIST
Turning insights from unexpected places into clarity and momentum. 

 

  • Designs cross-disciplinary processes that help organisations think differently, unlock potential, and achieve clearer results.
  • Works with businesses, charities, and community groups to improve collaboration, strengthen leadership, and deliver strategy with impact.
  • Brings over a decade of practice with LEGO Serious Play, reimagined as an open and remixable tool within a commitment to open-source learning and Creative Commons.
  • Supports and mentors students in the School of Business at Solent University, where both classroom and workplace are treated as spaces for growth and applied learning.
  • Informed by nearly 30 years’ experience in youth work, education, and the wider social sector, bringing depth and perspective to organisational challenges.
Harald Nuhn
Harald Nuhn

VALUE-CENTRIC INNOVATION LEADER

Converting insights into customer and organisational value

 

  • Executive educator, Stanford GSB — Design Thinking, Business Models, Strategy.
  • AI‑empowered innovation — Bridging the Imagination Gap.
  • Innovation leader, $190M non-profit startup studio, deep-tech.
  • Expert in cross-industry insight-to-market execution.
  • Facilitate workshops at Fortune 500 companies
  • Technical Biology and Bionics leader - Unconventional solutions and breakthrough products.
Oliver Watson
Oliver Watson

Unlocking People's Potential Through Rhythm

 

  • Co-Founder and C.E.O  of Music Training Lab S.L.
  • Graduate  in Business Management Administration specialised in Marketing 
  • Coaching and PNL by Institut gestalt 
    University Lecturer in The path of wellbeing, Self-awareness and personal development. 
  • Professional international speaker on self-awareness
  • Board Member of Professional Speakers Association Spain
  • Music therapist applied to corporate teams  and business schools.
  • Team building and creative mindset expert & Trainer of trainers
  • Agile and Mindfulness practitioner & Drum Circle facilitator

 

Joan Mendoza
Joan Mendoza

Philosopher & Nanotech Ethicist - 

Exploring the ethical and social frontiers of nanotechnology

 

  • PhD in Contemporary Philosophy, with advanced studies in Moral & Political Philosophy.
  • Project Manager at the Scientific and Technological Centers, University of Barcelona.
  • Teaching Associate in Philosophy in History of Ancient & Medieval Philosophy (Geography & History program) and History of Modern Philosophy (Art History program), UNED.
  • Engaged in dissemination and research projects on the ethical and social implications of nanotech.
  • Co-author of several books on nanoscience ethics and societal impact.
  • Organizer of courses, seminars, and lectures on nanoscience & nanotechnology.
  • Collaborated on pioneering science communication and ethics projects alongside Jordi Díaz, bringing philosophy and nanotech together.
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What make us unconventional

Here, you...

  • Play with the unexpected: Mix disciplines, break norms, rewire how you think
  • Learn from the brightest minds: Guest provocateurs from IDEO U, Stanford, and pioneering minds and companies
  • Work on real challenges from real companies and see your ideas spark transformation
  • Learn in wild spaces, not lecture halls
  • Step into a global community of rebels who will push you, support you, and co-create with you beyond the course
  • Unlock your next career breakthrough in a space designed to amplify your voice, your vision, and your velocity
PREVIOUS COURSE EDITIONS

 

  • Innovation Mindsets Quest → A hands-on journey to explore, challenge, and rewire the mindsets that make innovation inevitable.
    Impact: Learners leave with a set of practical mindsets they can apply immediately to spark creativity, handle uncertainty, and turn challenges into opportunities for innovation.
  • Unleadership Expedition → A hands-on journey to strip away myths, explore your identity, and design the leader only you can be.
    Impact: Learners leave with a clear picture of their authentic leadership style, a roadmap of behaviors to start/stop/continue, and concrete next steps to grow as the leader they want to be.
  • Own Your Space → A transformative training program empowering women in science and technology to reclaim their presence.
    Impact: Participants built strategies to amplify their voice, navigate systems, and design career growth with intention.
  • The Change Lab - Friction as a Superpower: A hands-on lab where leaders learn to flip friction from a blocker into a driver of ownership, commitment, and innovation—designing smart friction that sticks.
    Impact: Participants leave with a 100-day Change Plan and the ability to define their audience, craft a Change Playbook, and turn organizational pain into lasting progress.
  • Humanising AI: People at the Core of Adoption: Explore how to make AI adoption human-centered by addressing fears, values, and culture so that technology truly serves people and organisations.
     Impact: Learners design strategies that turn AI from a technical project into a trusted, people-powered transformation.
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