Exploring for Opportunities, The Power of Near Misses, Diversifying
In this level:
- You’ll learn about and practice each of the skills necessary to explore the space of opportunity surrounding your technology or problem. These skills help you frame the technology or the problem you are working on in terms of the world that surrounds you—they help you make it tangible.
- By analogy with music, these skills are like scales, chords, violin fingerings, and other specific playing techniques: you learn them so you can play an instrument, and you practice them so you are ready to play any melody with your instrument. In this level, you’ll learn how to practice the skills that help you explore any space of opportunity, and we expect you will use them continually throughout the semester to enhance your understanding of the space of opportunity.
- New concepts: differential analysis for impact, adjacencies, proof of concept, near misses, dimension and variation, triangulating value
Schedule
Week 3: Scoping the Challenge, Technology, and Functional Space; People and Parts
Establishing what technology can do and practicing being wrong. New concept: Near misses.
Making sense of people and use, distinguishing data, evidence, numbers, guesses, and biases. New concept: Differential analysis.
- Report back: Interview data chart and new Problem Statement Checklist (PDF)
- Practice sheets:
- Technical/functional space exploration (near-misses, dimension and variation)
- Extreme use-scenario exploration, scoping evidence (differential analysis for impact)
Week 4: Being Productively Wrong and Scalable “Market”/“Community” Exploration
“Being Wrong” as a skill. Use scenarios in in-class practice. Conceiving market itineraries. New concepts: proof and adjacency.
- Report back: “Being Wrong" presentation and new Problem Statement Checklist
- Practice sheet: 50 years from now – market working backwards (adjacencies and proof)
- Team milestones: Must have identified three tentative, distinct application domains
Week 5: Outlining Parts for an Organization
Triangulating value, scaling back down — outlining the boundaries of what you do.
- Report back: “Being Wrong” presentation and new Problem Statement Checklist (PDF)
- Practice sheet: Mapping value
- Team milestone: Be ready to discuss next steps for three distinct opportunities
Week 6: Closing the Exploration Level
Interactive case studies of real-life technology examples through the iTeams lens.
Level Up: Teamwork: outline three distinct opportunities (diversify)
Week 7: How to Present an Opportunity, Technology, IP, Org, Market, Model, etc.
Practice outlining 3 distinct opportunities and midterm activities. Past midterm examples, burning questions, and uncertainties. Midterm events, mixer, and 1-on-1 discussions with select mentors.
- Report back: Midterm presentation; new Problem Statement Checklist (PDF).
- Team milestones: Outline three distinct opportunities, interview chart, and data review. Assess the data your project is still missing and how you’ll get it. Talk with 20 people outside MIT, meet TLO officer (TLO = Technology Licensing Office at MIT).
