1 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,350 ANJALI SASTRY: I've been teaching at MIT since 2001. 2 00:00:09,350 --> 00:00:11,960 And I've taught all kinds of classes. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,350 But the innovation I'm excited to be talking about today is 4 00:00:15,350 --> 00:00:21,410 a new set of linked projects that I helped our mid-career 5 00:00:21,410 --> 00:00:24,440 executive students-- the Sloan Fellow MBAs-- 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,660 on this past year. 7 00:00:26,660 --> 00:00:29,930 So I hung up my shingle and asked 8 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:34,820 students who had a passion for linking technology 9 00:00:34,820 --> 00:00:38,360 with social impact in some way to come and talk to me. 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,170 And I created with them a set of projects 11 00:00:42,170 --> 00:00:45,710 which allowed the students to really dig into areas that they 12 00:00:45,710 --> 00:00:49,550 came to MIT passionate about, but also 13 00:00:49,550 --> 00:00:53,752 to link it to their coursework and their degree program. 14 00:00:53,752 --> 00:00:55,460 SARAH HANSEN: Could you talk a little bit 15 00:00:55,460 --> 00:00:58,472 about some of the specific projects that students did? 16 00:00:58,472 --> 00:00:59,930 ANJALI SASTRY: The project students 17 00:00:59,930 --> 00:01:03,500 did ranged greatly but all had as a theme 18 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:05,390 using what they were learning here 19 00:01:05,390 --> 00:01:11,150 and tapping into emerging or existing technology in new ways 20 00:01:11,150 --> 00:01:15,230 to find solutions to problems that face many. 21 00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:18,560 That's the social impact aspect of it. 22 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,440 And it took with each student some effort 23 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:26,480 to really map out a good enough and focused enough question 24 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,180 that was doable as an independent study 25 00:01:29,180 --> 00:01:33,440 project and that was deep enough to allow me to really bring 26 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,430 to bear the educational goals that I had for the projects. 27 00:01:38,430 --> 00:01:40,790 So one student, Doreen, was really 28 00:01:40,790 --> 00:01:46,610 interested in the problem of creating agricultural products 29 00:01:46,610 --> 00:01:51,620 in Africa using crops and products that are 30 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:53,960 grown right there in Africa. 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,980 Why is Africa importing a lot of consumer products 32 00:01:57,980 --> 00:02:02,570 when the continent has a lot of agricultural assets? 33 00:02:02,570 --> 00:02:05,240 So she was really interested in understanding-- 34 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,120 what are the business models, what are the constraints, what 35 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,090 are the opportunities when it comes to finding 36 00:02:11,090 --> 00:02:14,420 new ways to create locally sourced products that could 37 00:02:14,420 --> 00:02:17,420 actually serve beauty, nutrition, 38 00:02:17,420 --> 00:02:20,540 or other needs in her native Zimbabwe 39 00:02:20,540 --> 00:02:22,850 or elsewhere in Africa. 40 00:02:22,850 --> 00:02:25,970 I'll tell you about another project. 41 00:02:25,970 --> 00:02:30,020 Idoia, a student who came to me after deep experience 42 00:02:30,020 --> 00:02:33,560 at the World Bank, was really interested in a challenge 43 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,530 that traditional governmental organizations really 44 00:02:36,530 --> 00:02:37,760 wrestle with. 45 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,540 How do we tap into entrepreneurship 46 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:41,670 when we're trying to serve the public good? 47 00:02:41,670 --> 00:02:47,000 There seems to be a challenge in linking the entrepreneur 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,190 and the public sector. 49 00:02:49,190 --> 00:02:52,100 And we know that there are all kinds of innovations 50 00:02:52,100 --> 00:02:55,010 that play in this sphere. 51 00:02:55,010 --> 00:02:59,300 From ridesharing and regulated industries, 52 00:02:59,300 --> 00:03:02,690 all the way through to providing in a better way the services 53 00:03:02,690 --> 00:03:04,640 that governments are already on the hook for. 54 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:07,130 So they're either regulated or they 55 00:03:07,130 --> 00:03:12,208 are substitutes for improvements of services 56 00:03:12,208 --> 00:03:13,250 that governments provide. 57 00:03:13,250 --> 00:03:17,210 And sometimes they're also missing services. 58 00:03:17,210 --> 00:03:19,220 What are the barriers to this? 59 00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:20,570 Where are the opportunities? 60 00:03:20,570 --> 00:03:22,130 What are the trends? 61 00:03:22,130 --> 00:03:25,100 And can we actually map out where 62 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:29,060 we think this field could go, of mixing entrepreneurship 63 00:03:29,060 --> 00:03:30,770 and the public sector? 64 00:03:30,770 --> 00:03:36,440 One of my students, Aline, came to MIT completely on fire 65 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,820 with this idea of tapping into analytics and AI 66 00:03:40,820 --> 00:03:44,510 to solve what she saw as a major challenge 67 00:03:44,510 --> 00:03:49,310 when it came to bringing finance to small holder and small scale 68 00:03:49,310 --> 00:03:50,450 farmers. 69 00:03:50,450 --> 00:03:53,090 She's an expert on agricultural finance. 70 00:03:53,090 --> 00:03:57,230 And she realized that, in her native Brazil and elsewhere, 71 00:03:57,230 --> 00:04:00,920 people who didn't have good credit standing and good credit 72 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,330 records-- 73 00:04:02,330 --> 00:04:04,610 farmers who didn't have those assets-- 74 00:04:04,610 --> 00:04:08,810 couldn't get loans and were forever locked out. 75 00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:12,230 So there's a big dichotomy between the people who have 76 00:04:12,230 --> 00:04:15,230 access to finance and those who don't. 77 00:04:15,230 --> 00:04:18,560 Could she break down that barrier in some way? 78 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:23,250 Could new forms of data and technology help do that? 79 00:04:23,250 --> 00:04:26,840 So instead of relying only on somebody's credit record, 80 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:31,250 could you look at the weather, their farming choices, 81 00:04:31,250 --> 00:04:34,670 their behaviors, and physical data, 82 00:04:34,670 --> 00:04:36,830 and use it to come up with a better 83 00:04:36,830 --> 00:04:40,670 assessment of the riskiness of a given farmer from the lender's 84 00:04:40,670 --> 00:04:41,750 point of view? 85 00:04:41,750 --> 00:04:43,520 Slightly technical area. 86 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,580 But it actually has huge implications 87 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:49,850 because it could open the door to all kinds of folks 88 00:04:49,850 --> 00:04:53,660 who are excluded from traditional finance 89 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:56,960 by providing other methods of sorting out 90 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,770 their riskiness and their credit worthiness. 91 00:05:01,770 --> 00:05:03,960 SARAH HANSEN: So how did it all work logistically? 92 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:08,490 How did you manage to create all these different individual 93 00:05:08,490 --> 00:05:09,930 projects? 94 00:05:09,930 --> 00:05:13,200 ANJALI SASTRY: So that's the downside of this approach. 95 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,240 Each project was customized. 96 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,450 It's kind of a boutique learning experience in a sense. 97 00:05:19,450 --> 00:05:21,030 And one of the things I've learned 98 00:05:21,030 --> 00:05:24,060 about trying to innovate when it comes to teaching 99 00:05:24,060 --> 00:05:25,950 is you have to be willing to invest 100 00:05:25,950 --> 00:05:27,720 a lot the first few rounds-- 101 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:29,610 the first few years you do something. 102 00:05:29,610 --> 00:05:31,380 And then over time, you learn how 103 00:05:31,380 --> 00:05:35,930 to make it a little more efficient, streamlined, 104 00:05:35,930 --> 00:05:40,020 and maybe scalable, and more cost effective. 105 00:05:40,020 --> 00:05:43,080 But this year was definitely a labor of love. 106 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,290 So students came to me with all kinds of ideas. 107 00:05:46,290 --> 00:05:47,890 And I had open office hours. 108 00:05:47,890 --> 00:05:50,370 I have a wiki page where students 109 00:05:50,370 --> 00:05:54,060 can sign up to meet with me in 20 minute increments. 110 00:05:54,060 --> 00:05:59,160 And I would just set up hours of these meetings every week 111 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,400 and sit and talk to students about their ideas, 112 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,870 try to formulate some reasonable next steps, 113 00:06:06,870 --> 00:06:09,090 really push them to think about how they're 114 00:06:09,090 --> 00:06:13,590 using their coursework here and their presence on campus 115 00:06:13,590 --> 00:06:16,890 to craft something they couldn't do anywhere else 116 00:06:16,890 --> 00:06:18,390 and that spoke to everything else 117 00:06:18,390 --> 00:06:21,060 they had access to while they were here. 118 00:06:21,060 --> 00:06:23,940 So that process took a lot of back and forth. 119 00:06:23,940 --> 00:06:27,090 Usually, I would meet with students once a week. 120 00:06:27,090 --> 00:06:30,090 I opened a shared folder with each of them 121 00:06:30,090 --> 00:06:33,870 and would shoot materials that I found into the folder 122 00:06:33,870 --> 00:06:38,160 and have them load their drafts, work plans, and other work 123 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,140 in progress there. 124 00:06:40,140 --> 00:06:46,470 And then I also got into a very quick habit 125 00:06:46,470 --> 00:06:50,700 of sending any interesting reading, news article, 126 00:06:50,700 --> 00:06:52,890 conference notice directly to the students. 127 00:06:52,890 --> 00:06:56,700 So some of them would be getting 10 emails from me a week. 128 00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:58,680 But that really got us going because they 129 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,090 could see I was thinking about it all week, and they were too. 130 00:07:03,090 --> 00:07:06,120 I learned I had to keep a whiteboard up in my office with 131 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,020 each project and each person, because I had over a dozen 132 00:07:10,020 --> 00:07:14,160 running, to keep them straight and try to remember who's doing 133 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,160 what so that when I saw it-- when I came into the office-- 134 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,410 that person would be on my mind, or that project 135 00:07:19,410 --> 00:07:20,960 would be on my mind. 136 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:22,710 SARAH HANSEN: Do you see this as something 137 00:07:22,710 --> 00:07:25,567 that is potentially scalable in the future? 138 00:07:25,567 --> 00:07:26,400 ANJALI SASTRY: I do. 139 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:28,192 One question I've been thinking about a lot 140 00:07:28,192 --> 00:07:30,630 is how you could also use peers. 141 00:07:30,630 --> 00:07:35,820 Could we craft project clusters? 142 00:07:35,820 --> 00:07:38,160 So could we link the themes? 143 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,700 But could we also have students helping each other, coaching 144 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:43,500 each other a little bit? 145 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:49,110 Could we use group meetings as a way to surface a helpful 146 00:07:49,110 --> 00:07:52,620 discussion about what's working and what isn't? 147 00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:54,550 I think that that's the next step. 148 00:07:54,550 --> 00:07:57,870 So I think that will get to some scalability. 149 00:07:57,870 --> 00:08:00,000 I do think-- mundane as it sounds-- 150 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,680 I think it's also important to have good forms and paperwork. 151 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,970 Having people really articulate in writing briefly 152 00:08:08,970 --> 00:08:12,780 what they want to do and having a structured kind of update 153 00:08:12,780 --> 00:08:14,490 process really helps. 154 00:08:14,490 --> 00:08:17,790 Keep the momentum, and build the focus. 155 00:08:17,790 --> 00:08:20,910 SARAH HANSEN: How do you measure success in projects like this? 156 00:08:20,910 --> 00:08:22,493 ANJALI SASTRY: That's a great question 157 00:08:22,493 --> 00:08:27,480 because students who are following their passions really 158 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:28,560 get into it. 159 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:33,450 You give them enough freedom, they will have a good time. 160 00:08:33,450 --> 00:08:37,620 But part of our challenge as their teachers 161 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:42,030 is to help make sure that we're embedding into their approach 162 00:08:42,030 --> 00:08:46,710 enough rigor, that we're looking at the data and the evidence, 163 00:08:46,710 --> 00:08:48,870 and that it's being linked to the content we're 164 00:08:48,870 --> 00:08:50,340 teaching here. 165 00:08:50,340 --> 00:08:55,370 So a passion project by itself may or may not be academic. 166 00:08:55,370 --> 00:08:58,380 So there's a bit of tension there 167 00:08:58,380 --> 00:09:04,920 of us having to remind students of the need to keep making 168 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:06,820 all of these connections. 169 00:09:06,820 --> 00:09:09,090 So I would really view success as when 170 00:09:09,090 --> 00:09:15,210 we're able to get the students to not only pull out, develop, 171 00:09:15,210 --> 00:09:19,890 polish a great new idea, but also to link it to what they've 172 00:09:19,890 --> 00:09:25,350 been learning here and test their ideas with a level 173 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:27,870 of attention to the data-- 174 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:29,400 even if it's qualitative-- 175 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,290 that really we can all stand behind. 176 00:09:32,290 --> 00:09:35,252 SARAH HANSEN: And how did you do that in these projects? 177 00:09:35,252 --> 00:09:36,960 ANJALI SASTRY: So part of the requirement 178 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,600 is to really make sure that if a student-- 179 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,100 there's actually quite a lot of work 180 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:47,250 in trying to unpack the logic, the thinking behind a new idea. 181 00:09:47,250 --> 00:09:50,520 And I would spend a lot of time trying to help figure out, 182 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,150 where is it we need to drill down to backup this idea? 183 00:09:54,150 --> 00:09:57,510 Where is it that we use the literature and the research, 184 00:09:57,510 --> 00:10:01,200 where you're going to do desk research to shore up 185 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:02,675 one leg of what you're doing? 186 00:10:02,675 --> 00:10:04,050 And where is it that you're going 187 00:10:04,050 --> 00:10:06,150 to gather new information-- 188 00:10:06,150 --> 00:10:10,800 whether it's by observation, by interviews, by other methods-- 189 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,160 that you can bring to bear? 190 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,000 So I really was looking for both. 191 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,120 Where's the link to other people's work to the research 192 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:19,230 and the literature? 193 00:10:19,230 --> 00:10:21,210 Where's the link to something new that you've 194 00:10:21,210 --> 00:10:24,090 uncovered using methods that you were going 195 00:10:24,090 --> 00:10:27,410 to describe systematically? 196 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:28,650 SARAH HANSEN: I see. 197 00:10:28,650 --> 00:10:30,570 ANJALI SASTRY: The great thing about this 198 00:10:30,570 --> 00:10:32,550 is that it helps me to learn. 199 00:10:32,550 --> 00:10:36,720 So part of what I think the huge value in teaching this way 200 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,770 is that you, as the instructor, have 201 00:10:40,770 --> 00:10:47,490 this gift of hearing new ideas that aren't necessarily 202 00:10:47,490 --> 00:10:51,390 embedded into the academic structure yet. 203 00:10:51,390 --> 00:10:54,720 So I discovered there really is a need 204 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:56,640 to build a better theory and framework 205 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,240 around public entrepreneurship. 206 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:00,630 That's really interesting. 207 00:11:00,630 --> 00:11:04,500 That helps me think about my own research goals 208 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:07,140 and where I might build new collaborations here 209 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:11,415 on campus with other faculty and researchers. 210 00:11:11,415 --> 00:11:13,290 SARAH HANSEN: And speaking of collaborations, 211 00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:18,870 what was the role of networking in this experience for Fellows? 212 00:11:18,870 --> 00:11:21,570 ANJALI SASTRY: So students coming here 213 00:11:21,570 --> 00:11:25,740 have varying predilections for networking 214 00:11:25,740 --> 00:11:28,350 and connecting with others. 215 00:11:28,350 --> 00:11:34,750 And many of them really benefit from having a focus to that. 216 00:11:34,750 --> 00:11:36,990 So very often we tell students-- you 217 00:11:36,990 --> 00:11:39,240 have this gift of being here on campus for a while. 218 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:40,385 Make the most of it. 219 00:11:40,385 --> 00:11:41,760 But if you're just trying to meet 220 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,940 people to fill up your Rolodex, it's rather self-serving. 221 00:11:44,940 --> 00:11:45,840 And it's awkward. 222 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:47,970 And there's no reason to meet. 223 00:11:47,970 --> 00:11:51,270 But if you can articulate a really interesting question, 224 00:11:51,270 --> 00:11:54,360 this gives students a reason to contact people. 225 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:56,820 So I really view the two as linked. 226 00:11:56,820 --> 00:12:00,450 Develop a great problem statement or research question. 227 00:12:00,450 --> 00:12:04,800 Use that to look at what you have access to on campus. 228 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:10,860 That might include faculty, postdocs, research teams. 229 00:12:10,860 --> 00:12:13,440 That might include alumni. 230 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,360 It includes folks within the MIT ecosystems. 231 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:23,700 You might head over to an incubator or some other-- 232 00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:26,580 a venue, an event where people are. 233 00:12:26,580 --> 00:12:31,500 And then because we get a lot of people passing through-- 234 00:12:31,500 --> 00:12:34,950 as well as invitations to meetings, conferences, 235 00:12:34,950 --> 00:12:36,780 and events, globally-- 236 00:12:36,780 --> 00:12:39,090 I would shoot those to my students. 237 00:12:39,090 --> 00:12:42,360 So say, so-and-so is coming to campus next week. 238 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,910 See if you can get on their agenda. 239 00:12:44,910 --> 00:12:48,320 And that would often work. 240 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:49,850 SARAH HANSEN: How are you looking 241 00:12:49,850 --> 00:12:53,390 to tweak this experience the next time you teach it? 242 00:12:53,390 --> 00:12:55,400 ANJALI SASTRY: So I think having the steps 243 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,370 in the process a little bit clearer 244 00:12:58,370 --> 00:13:04,370 and having the motivating question of each step 245 00:13:04,370 --> 00:13:05,810 in a project like this-- 246 00:13:05,810 --> 00:13:07,310 really central. 247 00:13:07,310 --> 00:13:10,220 So early stages, here's what you should be thinking about. 248 00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:12,260 Here's the questions you need to answer. 249 00:13:12,260 --> 00:13:15,680 Middle stages, late-- so if I have a better framework 250 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:17,960 for the steps in the work, I think 251 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,020 that would be a big benefit. 252 00:13:21,020 --> 00:13:25,370 Another is to realize not every student who comes in 253 00:13:25,370 --> 00:13:30,140 with their passion project is necessarily going to want to-- 254 00:13:30,140 --> 00:13:33,680 or should-- turn it into an in-depth study. 255 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:36,680 So I've learned that you can't convert everyone. 256 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:37,355 And that's OK. 257 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,090 Because this is an offering of a new learning experience. 258 00:13:44,090 --> 00:13:47,030 It's very much driven by the students' interest. 259 00:13:47,030 --> 00:13:50,030 You need to really be able to allow 260 00:13:50,030 --> 00:13:52,400 the students to self select in. 261 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,010 It's hard to offer something like this as a requirement. 262 00:13:56,010 --> 00:13:59,720 So that's another piece is striking the right balance 263 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:04,310 between opening the door and inviting people 264 00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:07,700 in versus cracking the whip and following up on them. 265 00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:09,000 Students get really busy. 266 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,410 So one downside of an unstructured course 267 00:14:12,410 --> 00:14:14,390 is that it can fall by the wayside 268 00:14:14,390 --> 00:14:16,670 because they have their structured requirements 269 00:14:16,670 --> 00:14:19,700 and course meetings for all their other classes and this 270 00:14:19,700 --> 00:14:23,430 begins to feel like something on the side. 271 00:14:23,430 --> 00:14:28,070 So how you maintain the momentum and make sure 272 00:14:28,070 --> 00:14:32,690 that enough investment is going in is really important. 273 00:14:32,690 --> 00:14:37,940 So better sourcing and screening. 274 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:39,210 Better process. 275 00:14:39,210 --> 00:14:41,510 And having regular meetings are all really 276 00:14:41,510 --> 00:14:43,880 important ingredients. 277 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:45,380 SARAH HANSEN: Is there anything else 278 00:14:45,380 --> 00:14:47,840 you'd like to share about facilitating 279 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,690 an experience like this that we haven't touched on yet? 280 00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:53,120 ANJALI SASTRY: I think one of the challenges 281 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,010 that an instructor has to balance 282 00:14:55,010 --> 00:14:57,890 is, how far am I willing to go outside 283 00:14:57,890 --> 00:15:00,530 of my domain of expertise? 284 00:15:00,530 --> 00:15:03,710 How much do I know about the block chain? 285 00:15:03,710 --> 00:15:06,420 That's not an area of my research. 286 00:15:06,420 --> 00:15:10,160 So how far do I want to go down a set of projects 287 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,410 that take that on. 288 00:15:12,410 --> 00:15:15,530 I need to be able to figure it out for myself 289 00:15:15,530 --> 00:15:18,740 and then also be very clear with the students. 290 00:15:18,740 --> 00:15:20,260 I'm interested in this topic. 291 00:15:20,260 --> 00:15:21,530 I'll learn with you. 292 00:15:21,530 --> 00:15:24,620 But my domain of expertise relates to these areas. 293 00:15:24,620 --> 00:15:27,150 We can apply it to your questions. 294 00:15:27,150 --> 00:15:31,160 We can apply systems thinking, or organizational change, 295 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,730 or business models to the questions you're articulating. 296 00:15:34,730 --> 00:15:37,760 But I am not the technical expert on this domain. 297 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,450 So you'll need to work with someone else on that. 298 00:15:41,450 --> 00:15:43,850 And different instructors have different interests 299 00:15:43,850 --> 00:15:46,650 in stepping out of their comfort zone. 300 00:15:46,650 --> 00:15:49,920 So I think that's really important. 301 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:54,050 Another big question is, how willing are you 302 00:15:54,050 --> 00:15:59,300 as an instructor to have a mishmash of projects that 303 00:15:59,300 --> 00:16:01,790 take on very different domains? 304 00:16:01,790 --> 00:16:04,850 Or would you like them to be geographically or thematically 305 00:16:04,850 --> 00:16:06,170 linked? 306 00:16:06,170 --> 00:16:08,510 I suspect that I'm going to evolve a little more 307 00:16:08,510 --> 00:16:11,630 towards clustered projects. 308 00:16:11,630 --> 00:16:13,610 And I've seen some of my colleagues 309 00:16:13,610 --> 00:16:16,940 use such clusters of projects over time 310 00:16:16,940 --> 00:16:19,620 to build their own research insights. 311 00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:21,920 So I think that's really exciting. 312 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:26,420 The idea of encouraging students to take 313 00:16:26,420 --> 00:16:29,750 on projects that motivate them but that also speak 314 00:16:29,750 --> 00:16:33,650 to an ongoing research program and on which you 315 00:16:33,650 --> 00:16:37,562 can start to build more knowledge and evidence. 316 00:16:37,562 --> 00:16:39,020 SARAH HANSEN: Do you have any words 317 00:16:39,020 --> 00:16:41,660 of advice to your colleagues out in the world who might 318 00:16:41,660 --> 00:16:44,300 want to try something similar? 319 00:16:44,300 --> 00:16:47,180 ANJALI SASTRY: Teaching this way is incredibly rewarding 320 00:16:47,180 --> 00:16:49,220 and also really scary. 321 00:16:49,220 --> 00:16:52,685 You'll often be invited into domains where 322 00:16:52,685 --> 00:16:55,700 you don't have the expertise. 323 00:16:55,700 --> 00:16:57,500 And it's quite hard to predict how 324 00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:01,130 a given session or a conversation will go. 325 00:17:01,130 --> 00:17:04,010 It's not like running a case where you know the story 326 00:17:04,010 --> 00:17:07,910 and you know what you're going to say at each moment in class, 327 00:17:07,910 --> 00:17:09,560 or you at least got a sense of what 328 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,099 that might look like because very often students will 329 00:17:13,099 --> 00:17:16,938 come in and say, I've totally changed my mind. 330 00:17:16,938 --> 00:17:18,230 And you have to deal with that. 331 00:17:18,230 --> 00:17:21,290 So there's both the personal journey 332 00:17:21,290 --> 00:17:23,660 of learning that's less predictable 333 00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:26,480 and the domain part that's less predictable. 334 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,060 But you, as the instructor, get to set 335 00:17:29,060 --> 00:17:30,320 some of those parameters. 336 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,990 By, for instance, requiring a written update 337 00:17:32,990 --> 00:17:36,650 before a meeting, you can manage the conversation better. 338 00:17:36,650 --> 00:17:40,580 And by specifying the types of projects 339 00:17:40,580 --> 00:17:42,690 that you would really want to take on, 340 00:17:42,690 --> 00:17:45,230 you can also ensure that they're clustered 341 00:17:45,230 --> 00:17:48,970 in areas that are relevant to your own expertise. 342 00:17:48,970 --> 00:17:50,950 For me, one of the challenges-- 343 00:17:50,950 --> 00:17:52,750 I have to tell you-- is branding. 344 00:17:52,750 --> 00:17:55,060 What do I call this? 345 00:17:55,060 --> 00:17:57,700 Is it something different than just doing 346 00:17:57,700 --> 00:18:00,520 a bunch of independent studies? 347 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,020 I think it's a work in progress. 348 00:18:02,020 --> 00:18:03,910 So I think the first few times you 349 00:18:03,910 --> 00:18:06,070 try out something like this, it doesn't yet 350 00:18:06,070 --> 00:18:08,950 have a fully distinct identity. 351 00:18:08,950 --> 00:18:11,020 And then, as I hone it, I'm going 352 00:18:11,020 --> 00:18:13,120 to give it a clearer name. 353 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:17,230 But I've been using terms that link to social impact, 354 00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:21,760 that link to technology, and that also frame-- 355 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,950 perhaps because it's focusing on the students 356 00:18:23,950 --> 00:18:26,800 I'm teaching-- but the idea of thinking strategically, 357 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,920 thinking as a leader, and really putting 358 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:35,620 yourselves in the shoes of an entrepreneur or an executive. 359 00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:39,880 So I want them to not simply make general arguments 360 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,130 about what should happen, but to think 361 00:18:42,130 --> 00:18:45,760 about what they could do as a leader, an entrepreneur, 362 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,130 an executive. 363 00:18:48,130 --> 00:18:49,930 So, yeah, come up with a great name. 364 00:18:49,930 --> 00:18:51,280 I'm still working on mine. 365 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,880 All suggestions are welcome. 366 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,560 I put in there terms like new executive 367 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:02,210 thinking for social impact or technology for social impact. 368 00:19:02,210 --> 00:19:04,330 So we'll see how that plays out. 369 00:19:04,330 --> 00:19:06,137 Check back later. 370 00:19:06,137 --> 00:19:07,470 SARAH HANSEN: Thank you so much. 371 00:19:07,470 --> 00:19:08,303 ANJALI SASTRY: Sure. 372 00:19:08,303 --> 00:19:09,750 You're welcome.