Discipline & execution of projects
A semester-long practical course that gives students the training to persevere and complete projects with self-discipline and professionalism.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides students a bi-weekly simulation or game scenario, designed to develop, practice and master key skills for getting things done. The course is meant as a fun, but demanding, sandbox for students to test themselves in difficult scenarios that are similar to real-world professional tasks. It covers various fields of leadership, teamwork, negotiation, persuasion techniques, communication tricks and approaches to getting things done. The ultimate goal of the course is to emulate a »boot camp« for business skills that creates individuals who are confident in dealing with the unknown and have no fear taking on complex tasks.
This course is meant as a complement to the core subjects in the field of study of every student and is aimed at preparing future top performers. Students will be forced to step into new situations, deal with demanding deadlines, think on their feet and quickly self-organize.
It is 100% practical and has no exam at the end. Instead, students are going to »get their hands dirty« and try everything for themselves. They will be expected to do their absolute best in completing progressivelly more difficult and complex tasks. The tasks cover a broad spectrum of skills and mindsets that are required to be successful in the professional arena. The course will culminate in a final graded challenge – a 72 hour group mission in the form of a »scavenger hunt« where students will be expected to demonstrate the skills learned during the course in practice.
After the course, students willt know exactly what steps to take in most professional situations. They will have the confidence and experience to start a new project, bring together people to start a new company or be an effective leader in their field. This will greatly increase their career prospects and leadership potential.
This course is meant to stimulate novel and divergent thinking, therefore grading will be highly biased towards rewarding novel concepts and will not penalize mistakes. The final grade is given to students in three tiers: Cum laude (perfect grade), Pass (second highest grade) or Fail (highest failing grade). It is fully expected every student will pass, and grading reflects this by ensuring everyone with full participation and active engagement (completion of homework tasks) will pass.
COURSE LOGISTICS AND GRADING
The course lasts throughout a semester and is convened two times per week. Sessions are completely practical and more similar to training in sports than traditional lectures. A session lasts 2 or 3 hours, depending on the complexity of the task. They consist of workshops, learning games and simulations, each providing a clear task that needs to be accomplished. Every challenge is followed by a debrief session to discuss the lessons learned and how to apply them in the real world. Students are fully expected to participate actively and try to complete the set tasks to the best of their abilities. Together, the whole semester provides an episodic overview of skills that should be nurtured for future success.
Students will be expected to participate in the class and attend all the sessions, as the learning simulations will not be repeated. They will be awarded points for every weekly task and an active leaderboard will be kept throughout the year. This leaderboard will form a part of the final grade. Instead of a final exam, students will have to complete a »final challenge« which is a 72-hour group challenge that will need to be completed successfully for a passing grade. The grading curve will not expect students to be successful in every single challenge, instead they will be graded on the effort shown during the training lessons. The final challenge is set up in such a way that it should be relatively easy to complete if students actively participated in the preceeding lectures, so it needs to be completed successfully for a passing grade. The final grades will therefore be awarded in the following way:
10% of the grade: Attendance in the learning activities, every unexcused absence results in a decrease of the grade for 5%
40% of the grade: Participation during the class – the points received for performance during the tasks
50% of the grade: Final challenge – the personal performance during the final »scavenger hunt«
COURSE READING AND MATERIALS
As this course is covering practical, real cases, there is no assigned reading and no textbooks. Instead, students will be provided with briefing packs and handouts for every single challenge. This course follows the approach of non-formal education that expects participating students to come up with their own conclusions and lessons learned. The students will contribute to a class learning log with summaries of the skills and approaches that will be useful to them in their future careers.
WHO SHOULD TAKE PART IN THIS COURSE
This course is designed as an elective for undergraduate and graduate students, irrespective of their field of study or their year and is meant as an optional elective for those who wish to complement their theoretical knowledge with a strong, practical skillset. The purpose of this course is twofold: (1) to provide future practitioners in their fields a systematic way to learn »soft« skills that are crucial for success in the future, and (2) to provide an opportunity for students to gain confidence interacting with stakeholders in a professional setting.
This course will bring together students from very different disciplines in order to create a group with diverse experiences. It is highly encouraged all students take part in this course at some point during their studies, but prospective students must be aware this course is meant to be a high-paced and 100% practical experience with no opportunity to passively observe. Those who join will be expected to immerse themselves fully.
COURSE SCHEDULE
This course is designed as an elective for undergraduate and graduate students, irrespective of their field of study or their year and is meant as an optional elective for those who wish to complement their theoretical knowledge with a strong, practical skillset. The purpose of this course is twofold: (1) to provide future practitioners in their fields a systematic way to learn »soft« skills that are crucial for success in the future, and (2) to provide an opportunity for students to gain confidence interacting with stakeholders in a professional setting.
This course will bring together students from very different disciplines in order to create a group with diverse experiences. It is highly encouraged all students take part in this course at some point during their studies, but prospective students must be aware this course is meant to be a high-paced and 100% practical experience with no opportunity to passively observe. Those who join will be expected to immerse themselves fully.
For this course, the outline does not include descriptions of the practical sessions as the activities must remain a secret from the students for them to work. For this reason, only an example of one challenge is provided here, and only a brief timeline is presented here.
Week 1
Introduction of the course: setting expectations and course outline
The purpose of this course is to provide a bi-weekly practice run for various »soft skills« that are important for the future.
The importance of being the person that »gets things done« and not being afraid to try
Team formation: Students are assigned into four teams that will compete against each other during the year by accumulating points
The test challenge: Mission impossible (students are given a team task that needs to be completed in 40 minutes and expect a high level of coordination and teamwork)
Example challenge one: Students will not be provided any other instruction apart from »you have 2 hours, take a selfie with the Mayor« This task will first seem impossible, and very scary. However, it soon appears that it is trivially easy if you just ask, since politicians love to take pictures with young students. The lesson learned here is that sometimes you must only ask – if you dare.
Discussion of the challenge: the importance of simply trying and asking – why are we shy?
Week 2
Challenge two
Discussion of the challenge
Challenge three
Discussion of the challenge
Week 3
Challenge four
Discussion of the challenge
Challenge five
Discussion of the challenge
Week 4
Challenge six
Discussion of the challenge
Challenge seven
Discussion of the challenge
Week 5
Challenge eight
Discussion of the challenge
Challenge nine
Discussion of the challenge
Week 6
Challenge ten
Discussion of the challenge
Challenge eleven
Discussion of the challenge
Week 7
Final challenge: The 72-hour »scavenger hunt«
Students are introduced to the content of the »final challenge« and given all the necessary instructions. Then the clock starts and teams attempt to complete the task.
Course conclusion: awarding grades and final debrief, course evaluation
A debrief is conducted to evaluate the performance of students during the course, followed by a discussion of lessons learned during the final challenge and the class as a whole
Points ceremony and final leaderboard announcement
Course evaluation and feedback session
