Spring 2005 Reunion
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Photography by Stuart Cahill, Thomas J. Fitzsimmons, and Neal Hamberg.

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Like climbing aboard a bicycle for the first time in many years, alumni returning to last June’s reunions quickly got the hang of HBS once again. Some 2,800 graduates and guests from five MBA classes took to the campus as though they’d never left, enjoying a busy schedule of social events and academic presentations by HBS and Harvard University faculty.

As it happens, cycling served as an important metaphor at the opening of one novel case discussion. To a classroom full of the teenage children of reunion alumni, HBS assistant professor Zeynep Ton explained, “When we’re learning how to ride a bike, sometimes we fall off, but we get up and try again. That’s our learning model here at HBS, and it’s fun.” Ton’s session, the first-ever for teenagers, was inspired by the success of a preteen program begun in 2003.

After turning the discussion to favorite products (portable CD players were popular) as well as to others that didn’t work so well (toasters came in for particular criticism), Ton then showed the class a Nightline program about IDEO, a highly successful product design firm (and the subject of an HBS case that the teens had also been assigned to read). In the segment, IDEO’s designers were challenged to build a much-improved supermarket shopping cart in just five days. The fast-paced show, perfect for Ton’s teen audience, gave a behind-the-scenes look at creative individuals working in teams within a highly informal, nonhierarchical, and nonjudgmental culture. The shopping cart they eventually built was an ingenious blend of form, function, and collaboration.

COOL CALL: Assistant Professor Zeynep Ton puts reunion kids through their paces at a special class for teenagers.

Photo by Stuart Cahill

After the video, Ton asked, “What do you think makes this company so consistently successful?” Replied one student, “They’re very open-minded. They’re OK with imperfection, but they work on it.” “Just like learning to ride a bike!” Ton pointed out. Said another student, “They can give their opinions, work as a team, and the boss isn’t necessarily the most important person.” Added a classmate, “They hire people who want to be there for the work, not for the pay or a title.”

At the end of class, a show of hands indicated that virtually all the teens would love to work at a place like IDEO. Why? “It’s fun,” concluded one student. “It’s a whole new way of doing things.”

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