My Biggest Mistakes in Teaching Cases (and Lessons Learned)

This chapter is not about the virtues or drawbacks of using cases in teaching management. There is an ample supply of both ¹ . Nor is it meant to be a confessional piece from the serial case-user that I am. I have better things to do than hang my proverbial professional dirty laundry in public (or, for that matter, in private) and engage in an, albeit liberating, self-flagellation exercise. Rather, this paper is about pitfalls in store for all case teachers, young and old, newcomers and old hands, teachers of MBAs, and those in executive development. The ‘mistakes’ I am about to write about are specific common behaviors that negatively impact a teacher’s performance and her ability to use cases most effectively. And it’s written with the spirit of ‘live-and-learn’, to share, with the other practitioners of the case method, what I have learned from my own experiences—especially the bad ones.