Please note that this description was taken from an earlier semester. New information will be posted when available.

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 296-3

COURSE TITLE: Problem Finding, Problem Solving

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 Unit

INSTRUCTOR: Clark Kellogg

E-MAIL ADDRESS: kellogg@berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL):

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Thursdays, 2/7-3/7, 6:00PM-9:30PM

PREREQUISITE(S): EWMBA Core Curriculum

CLASS FORMAT: There are five class sessions for this course, and all of them will include active exercises with small groups and teams in the class. This is a "learn by doing" course. There is a "note" for each class session that provides some background for the approaches we'll use in those sessions. You'll be asked to complete some short exercises outside class and bring the results to class to be used in the in-class exercises. At the end of each class session, you'll be asked to reflect on what you learned and how it might apply to your work.

REQUIRED READINGS:
There are two sources of reading material for this cours:
- Series of notes on the Problem Finding, Problem Solving process located on the class website
- A few web-based readings for which links are provided in the assignments for each class We also recommend the book Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur as related reading that will help you apply what you've learned in class to your work.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: 
Your course grade will be determined as follows:
40% on homework assignments
30% on attendance and participation in class
30% on study group output

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
One of the goals that the Dean has set forth for all of you is that you will have a chance to learn about and become innovative leaders. This short course will introduce you to some of the basic skills associated with being innovative – in whatever profession you choose to pursue. In brief, the class will help you both to think about how you frame the problems you are working on in the first place, and to become more generative in coming up with a range of alternative solutions. Classtime will be spent in hands-on exercises to introduce you to a set of tools and techniques derived from the literature on critical thinking, design thinking and systems thinking that will help you with problem framing and problem solving. It is anticipated that the approaches you learn in class will set you up to work on the various projects you will take on in your experiential learning electives such as International Business Development, Social Sector Solutions and CleanTech to Market.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: