Exercise: Turn It Inside Out (or Upside Down)

One of the features that makes Stanford unique is its upside down hierarchy. Think of it as a pyramid standing on its tip. At Stanford, students are at the top (Stanford is defined by its students) followed by faculty then staff and administrators. Stanford’s framework truly nurtures intrinsic motivation by empowering individuals with personal opportunities for mastery, autonomy and purpose.

So along the same lines, let’s devise an exercise by reversing/turning inside out/rearranging common frameworks. Through this exercise, we can pursue the “crazy” end of the brainstorming spectrum and identify opportunities for competitive advantage. Our aim is to strengthen how youth critically question a common framework before we consider accepting it.

In the prototype for this exercise, students will study a restaurant or cafeteria and make a list of how it functions (perhaps using one of the IDEO Method Cards). [One of the YCISL workshop projects was on a school cafeteria which operated quite differently from what I have seen myself – from a ticket machine]. Then the students will try imagineering those functions with a reversed view.