Strategic Decision-Making
the week, on one page
Mentor Srivathsan R (Mon–Wed on campus)
Thu Onam celebration, kept light
Fri Selling presentations + memo work, then the break
Credits 2.0 · Onam break Aug 24–28 · back Aug 31
Thu Onam celebration, kept light
Fri Selling presentations + memo work, then the break
Credits 2.0 · Onam break Aug 24–28 · back Aug 31
Mon
Frame
Framing · Micromax · Lab A · Mission 05 out
Tue
Decide
Weighted criteria · doors · IPL auction · Lab B
Wed
Communicate
The decision memo · Lab C pre-mortem
Thu
Onam
Pookalam · games · Sadya · letters ritual
Fri
Close
Selling presentations · memo drafting · break
The arc, in one line
Three days, three verbs. Monday: frame the problem before you touch the solution. Tuesday: decide with criteria you chose before you saw the options. Wednesday: communicate the decision so someone else could make it. Then Onam, then a Friday of proving the last two missions, then everyone goes home for the festival. Each morning opens with a vote that goes up on the board in chalk and stays there — the week ends by replaying all three.
Day by day · mornings: two core blocks, 10:00 and 11:30 · labs same day at 2:00
| Monday | Frame. Framing and the question behind the question, built around the Micromax case. Lab A — The Reframe Clinic: pairs reframe an assigned problem three ways and defend the sharpest, plus a 15-minute written exercise. At day close, Srivathsan and Revathy brief Mission 05 — The Decision Memo in the Wild. Fieldwork runs evenings; presentations happen virtually during Onam week. |
| Tuesday | Decide. Weighted criteria, one-way vs two-way doors (a pricing test is a two-way door; debt is one-way — know which before you walk through), the intuition trust-test discussion, and the IPL Auction through the India lens. Lab B — The Strategic Choice: a 50-person Series A team, funding for exactly one of three moves. Choose, with this morning's criteria. |
| Wednesday | Communicate. The decision memo, walked section by section, and communicating under uncertainty — including the speed-vs-rigour moment. Lab C — The Pre-Mortem, two rounds: it is 18 months from now and the decision failed; write why, silently, on paper. Srivathsan's last day — he flags participation standouts to the PRs before leaving. |
| Thursday | Onam, kept light. Pookalam from 8:30 (laid together, no judging), commencement in kasavu at 10:30, games, Sadya at 1:00 with the cohort photo at the pookalam. Afternoon: Letters to October Self — sealed, opened Oct 1 at term close — the gratitude round, an optional mission work corner, and vadamvali to finish. |
| Friday | Mission 04 (Selling) presentations, 10:00–1:00 — fellows present on campus, 15 minutes each, Vaisakh joins virtually; presenting opened Wednesday, the PR roster spreads the calls. PM: Mission 05 memo drafting with PRs in the room. Week close at 4:00: the three chalked votes replayed, Mission 05 virtual day confirmed, and off to the break. Classes resume Aug 31 with Financial Literacy & Unit Economics (Akshay & Noel, 1.5 weeks). |
PR duties this week — three unusual ones
- Each morning's show-of-hands vote gets chalked on the board and stays up all week. The Friday replay depends on it.
- The case pack has a sealed section. Remind fellows Monday morning: don't read ahead. Say it with a smile — the curiosity is the point.
- Paper slips ready for Wednesday's Lab C silent-writing rounds. Not laptops.
- Plus the standing set: office-hours pull-out roster, the M04 call roster Wed–Fri, envelopes and a sealed box for Thursday's letters.
Onam ops
- Kasavu / mundu dress code — announce to the cohort by Tuesday.
- Flowers for the pookalam arranged Wednesday evening.
- Sadya headcount confirmed early; cohort photo right after, at the pookalam.
Two missions in flight
- Mission 04 — Selling: submissions close in Gravity Wednesday; presentations run Wednesday to Friday, 15 min each with Vaisakh, main block Friday morning. Scores land after each call.
- Mission 05 — The Decision Memo in the Wild: briefed Monday close, drafted through the week and Friday PM, presented virtually to Srivathsan during Onam week. Booking sheet opens at Friday's close.
Scoring
0.8
Participation
Three days of votes, discussions, defences.
0.6
Labs
Reframe Clinic · Strategic Choice · Pre-Mortem.
0.6
Mission
The memo: framing, criteria, the pre-mortem honesty.
- Standard four criteria: specificity, framework application, depth of insight, honesty.
- M04 and M05 scores enter Gravity as calls complete; everything else by Friday end of day.
The School of Future · Cohort 1 · internal briefing, not for fellows · the schedule of record lives in the SOF Weekly Scheduler sheet, tab W6 - SDM. If this page and the sheet disagree, the sheet wins. Onam break Aug 24–28; W8 opens Aug 31.