Jennifer McFadden '08 and Won Hye Lee '08 in London, England.
Photo credit: Timothy Keefe
Being the innovator
Yale School of Management first-year class
fosters flow of new ideas, products, services
When members of the Yale School of Management first-year class traveled to Japan and Costa Rica (among other destinations) in January, it was far from a vacation. Not only did they follow a packed itinerary of meetings with business and civic leaders, but they were already preparing for their first assignment of the spring term.
For the Innovator course – one of the new Yale SOM core classes, which focuses on a manager’s role in fostering a flow of new ideas, products, and services – students were asked to leverage their travel experience to produce an innovative business idea.
Related links
The new curriculum at the Yale School of Management
The assignment itself read:
“During your trip, or afterwards, identify a few objects or practices you observed or experiences you had that strike you as especially interesting and fascinating.
“Something interesting inevitably has an element of novelty. Now, drawing upon one specific object/experience you’ve identified, try to pinpoint exactly what makes it novel – the specific attributes or circumstances. This is all about close observation and perception.
“Once you do that, bring the object/experience back to the U.S. or your home country environment. Thinking about it in this environment, what ideas come to mind? Can you leverage it for a creative business, cultural, or socially responsible idea?”
Below is some of the work that resulted:
Oliver Hahl
Trip: South Africa/ Tanzania
Idea: Introduction of “bank in a box” to Brazilian favellas.
Jenna Angeles
Trip: Japan
Idea: A new kind of human resources consultancy.
Koichi Kurisu
Trip: India
Idea: Increased use of “urban biological interactions."
Andrew Steffen
Trip: China
Idea: A keyed energy system for U.S. homes.
Jennifer McFadden
Trip: England/ Poland
Idea: Handheld electronic cashiers.
Hannah Grannemann
Trip: Japan
Idea: Better hand dryers.
This story originally ran on the Yale School of Management website.
