What the Case Study Method Really Teaches
Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.
✒ The meta-skills that the author suggested are:
- Preparation — to read materials in advance, prioritize, identify the key issues and have an initial point of view.
- Discernment — to identify and focus on what’s essential, ignore the noise, skim when possible, and concentrate on what matters.
- Bias recognition — to learn to listen more carefully to others whose different viewpoints may help them see beyond their own bias, which is essentials when leaders inevitably have to work with people from different functions, backgrounds, and perspectives.
- Judgment — to develop the judgment of making decisions under uncertainty, communicating that decision to others, and gaining their buy-in.
- Collaboration — to orchestrate a good collaborative discussion in which everyone contributes, every viewpoint is carefully considered, yet a thoughtful decision is made in the end.
- Curiosity — to stimulate curiosity about the range of opportunities in the world and the many ways students can make a difference as leaders.
- Self-confidence — to instill self-confidence in people through discussing cases that makes students feel prepared for much bigger roles or challenges than they’d imagined they could handle before their studies.
As the author summarises nicely:
“Cases expose students to real business dilemmas and decisions. Cases teach students to size up business problems quickly while considering the broader organizational, industry, and societal context. Students recall concepts better when they are set in a case, much as people remember words better when used in context. Cases teach students how to apply theory in practice and how to induce theory from practice. The case method cultivates the capacity for critical analysis, judgment, decision-making, and action.”