US ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE

US Army Command and General Staff School

Command and General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC) Common Core
L100: Developing Organizations and Leaders

L101: Developing Organizations and Leaders

Reading L101RA: Challenging Student Thinking Through Case Method Teaching
Authors: Dr. Ted Thomas and Ken Turner

An essential element of leadership classes in the Command and General Staff Officers Course
(CGSOC) is the use of the case method. The case method is unlike many other educational methods you
may have experienced because of the different role of the teacher, the increased requirement for your
interaction, and a classroom environment characterized by active engagement and dynamic dialogue.

Experience is a powerful teacher. Reflecting on failures and learning from them is one of the best
ways to improve and develop as a leader. Learning from others’ failures provides a more efficient, less
time consuming and less costly way to learn. As one of the premier pedagogical approaches in improving
individual problem solving, persuasiveness, and analytical skills, case method facilitates your
development as a leader by allowing you to experience vicariously the successes and mistakes of other
leaders in a compressed timeline, much faster than life experiences allow. 1 The insights garnered through
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analyzing experiences of others are portable and adaptable to challenges of the future. 2 1F

Unlike lecture-based teaching where the teacher as the expert delivers knowledge to the student in
case method the teacher rarely delivers expertise. Instead, the instructor enables learning through creating
a robust dialogue facilitated by teacher-led Socratic questioning. In lectures, the teacher analyzes the
material and delivers their perspective to the students. In case method, you analyze the materiel, and the
teacher guides you in your work towards deeper understanding of the subject. 3 Case method requires
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detailed preparation before class and active engagement in the class dialogue, coupled with active
listening. You examine most of the content of the case through your dialogue in class. You develop
understanding and create knowledge during interactions with the teacher and your peers. Lecture based
teaching relies on the teacher’s expertise and normally provides a single interpretation of the facts,
particularly suited to a training environment. Case method does not yield a single school solution, neatly
packaged for the learner. Rather, cases often present multiple ideas and feasible conclusions that
challenge you to think critically. 4 Case method is particularly suitable for education where emphasis is on
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reflection, critical thinking, and uncertainty.

Defining a case
A case is a story that replicates a factual or fictional situation in life using experiences, actions, and
decisions of others to facilitate learning. Case studies provide a form of vicarious experiential learning
that exposes the reader to realistic scenarios and challenges their thinking. 5 Stories appropriate for case
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method teaching are complex enough that they do not present a single “right answer,” but present facts,
issues, details, problems, and choices requiring you to determine a possible solution to the problem. 6 5F

Useful cases share several characteristics. They simulate reality by providing a nuanced presentation
of facts with a realistic lack of clarity and do not provide all the information. At a minimum, a case should
introduce a significant issue relevant to the educational purpose and provide enough information to
support reasonable conclusions. Although the case focuses on the concept or subject at hand, it also
contains unclear information, misconceptions, and nuances, to encourage critical thinking. Exceptional
cases may include irrelevant, erroneous, and biased information to lead the reader astray, and insufficient
information forcing the reader to infer facts to arrive at a feasible conclusion. Good cases are also often
ambiguous, presenting relevant facts in a non-linear fashion, replicating reality. 7 It is not important how
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L101 Reading A (2435 words) August 2024

*Written for CGSC. Not to be altered without the express permission of the authors.
current the case is. What is important is the relevancy of the issues presented in the case. A useful case
presents ideas and concepts that are timeless in their applicability.

Another important characteristic of a good case study is that it allows us to examine something useful
about human nature and how the world works. Case studies are history, yet we are not interested in the
past for its own sake. Instead, we are interested in how the world works today. An effective case helps us
understand today’s world by illuminating enduring insights based on enduring principles. If the case study
illuminates principles that are still at work today and are likely to remain working in the future, then the
case study is a useful and therefore relevant.

Does a case study need to be recent to be relevant? In some cases, “recency” matters a lot. If we want
to examine the effects of modern artillery, a Desert Storm case study might be better suited than one from
the American Civil War. The cause-and-effect relationships that governed artillery in the 1860s are
significantly different from today due to technological change. However, the cause-and-effect
relationships that governed artillery in the 1990s are similar to the relationships that govern artillery on
the modern battlefield. Thus, Desert Storm may be more relevant for understanding artillery tactics.

In other instances, “recency does not matter as much. In fact, cases that are not recent may be more
relevant because they illustrate principles that have endured for decades or centuries. Writing in 400 BC,
Athenian historian Thucydides argued that the cause of the Peloponnesian War was “the growth of
Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.” In the 2017 book Destined for War: Can
America and China escape Thucydides’ s Trap?, Professor Graham Allison identified sixteen historical
cases of rising powers rivaling established powers, and twelve of these cases led to war. Although
scholars continue to debate this so-called “Thucydides Trap”, it is nevertheless clear that power changes
in the international system are important. Thus, even though the Peloponnesian War occurred over 2,400
years ago, it is still a relevant case study because it allows us to say something useful about how the world
works. 8
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As in life, the case will not provide all the information. Cases require you to discern the important
evidence from numerous facts, ignoring irrelevant material and applying assumptions to arrive at relevant,
feasible, and acceptable conclusions. Often students want the irrelevant information removed from the
case to provide clarity and provide a solution to know what “right looks like.” That is not the real world
and is not the point of using cases. To garner maximum benefit from a case, you must read actively and
construct your own meaning of the case because the meaning or the concept is often not intuitively
obvious. 9 Constructing meaning from cases, stimulating thinking, and deliberate dialogue are all essential
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elements of experiential learning.

Although there are multiple categories of experiential case studies, in the CGSOC we use primarily
two types of cases to facilitate learning: retrospective and prospective cases. In a retrospective case, the
reader views the situation as an impartial observer with the knowledge of hindsight, knowing the details
of the situation, and the resulting decision in the case. These types of cases are particularly suitable for a
history case and often provide the conclusion to the story. Conversely, the prospective case is
significantly different because the reader becomes a protagonist assuming the role of the decision maker,
looking forward in time to discuss the ramifications of decisions they might make. 10 9F

For the leadership curriculum in the CGSOC, case method presents a realistic experience-based
learning opportunity to examine the challenges, uncertainties, and complexities inherent in organizational
level leadership. The cases present ideas, issues, and problem-solving dilemmas you could face in your
career. The intent is not to condone or condemn the leaders in the case, but to get you emotionally
engaged in the story and use your analytical and interpersonal skills in the classroom. We use cases
because they involve you in the human element of leadership. An effective teacher employing case

L101 Reading A 2 August 2024

method places you in situations that elicit emotional responses and engages you in decision-making. The
objective of examining cases is not to second-guess decisions from the past, but to explore concepts or
theories of organizational leadership that can provide a cognitive framework for solving problems in the
future. In leadership classes, we challenge you to assume the role of a protagonist in the case to gain the
maximum benefit from this analysis. To obtain maximum benefit from case method, a framework is
useful to help organize the analysis and determine the problem from the protagonist’s perspective.

A systematic approach to understanding: Framing the Case Study

Since case studies present a complex situation or problem, a methodical approach is required to
understand the situation, discern the problem, and decide on a viable solution. We problem frame because
the skills developed through problem framing reinforce skills needed as a successful organizational level
leader, i.e. critical thinking, framing the operational environment with Army design methodology, and
commander’s visualization. This systematic approach involves formally framing the case using a
methodical reasoning process to gain understanding of the context of the case. There are two separate but
related elements of the formal framing process, framing and analysis. Framing is typically accomplished
first to set the conditions to understand the problem for the analysis. Framing consists of several
interrelated steps; identification of key players and their interests, determining the facts and assumptions
in the case, and determining the paradigms of the players. Analysis consists of identification of the
problem, determining an end state, deciding on a solution, and considering the ramifications. These steps
correspond to principles and standards of critical thinking discussed earlier in the course, are a foundation
for the environmental framing in Army Design Methodology and akin to determining the current state and
end state that is an integral part of commander’s visualization.

The first step in framing is to determine who the key players are in the case and what their interests
include. Interests encompass needs, wants, desires, concerns, and fears of the individual. Often there will
be numerous characters in the case. It is important to discern the key actors, usually focusing on the main
three to four due to time constraints in the class. After determining the key players and their interests, it is
important to determine the facts and assumptions of the case. The facts of the case are those relevant
details explicitly in the case. When discerning facts, focus on the most critical information essential to
defining problems.

The next step in framing includes determining the assumptions in the case study. An assumption is a
supposition or presupposition about the current or future situation that is assumed true in the absence of
facts. Once verified assumptions become facts, but this new information may necessitate further
assumptions. 11 For framing the case, we expect you to make assumptions in the absence of facts as you
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analyze the situation.

In framing a case, the next step is determining the paradigms in the case. Paradigms are generally
accepted models or patterns of thinking that have had repeated validation within the group and become
conventional wisdom (a collective construct). Paradigms often guide behaviors because they are rooted in
doctrine or tradition and are frequently reinforced by ideology and dogmatic belief systems. Many
paradigms are rooted in cultural background and are not apparent to the person in the group without
reflection. While facts may be explicit in the case, discerning paradigms requires critical thinking and
reflective analysis of the key players’ actions. The actions of players in a case study often reveal
paradigms that might be guiding behavior.

After framing the case to understand the situation, the detailed analysis begins by determining the
problems within the case study. By examining decision making within the case, one can begin to examine
the implications and consequences of the decision-making. This will often include how you might apply
the concept in the lesson to a future situation. In analyzing possible applications, you will begin to see
how the concept or theory will have utility in the future. One of the advantages to case method over

L101 Reading A 3 August 2024

traditional pedagogical approaches is there is no right answer, but multiple perspectives informed by the
evidence in the case. In class, each student provides a perspective discussed among peers. This requires
you to develop your position and argue persuasively using sound logic. This dialogue provides feedback
and alternate perspectives from which to make meaning and learn.

The Role of Teachers and Students in Case Method

Although a case study serves as the vehicle for learning in case method, the teacher must facilitate an
active dialogue to generate knowledge and encourage learning. An informed and robust dialogue is an
essential element of education in a seminar based experiential learning environment. Even though the
teacher may be the expert, or at least know more about the subject than the students know, the teacher’s
knowledge is not absolute. As the information in class flows from teacher to student, student to teacher,
and student to student, each individual provides insights and understanding that contributes to the
seminar’s learning. As the comfort level with case method increases, the goal is for you to facilitate your
own discussion by asking each other questions and generating even more knowledge and understanding.

Student responsibilities significantly increase using case method compared to traditional lecture-
based classes. Since the case method requires active engagement by both teachers and students, student
preparation is essential. Preparing to participate in a case method class routinely takes more time and
effort than the traditional lecture method. Preparation involves study that enables contributing to the
dialogue in class with sound analysis, ideas and relative experiences, not just relaying facts of the case.
Case method also requires actively collaborating with peers. This involves listening actively, thinking
critically, presenting ideas candidly, and commenting on and debating alternate points of view
professionally. The skills you develop during class are the skills necessary to be successful as a field
grade officer.

Conclusion:
Case method is a proven technique for improving analytical, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills
that are essential to success as an organizational level leader. Capitalizing on the potential of case method
learning requires a change in thinking about learning, increased preparation for class, and a dedication to
active engagement in the classroom. Case method does not deliver a packaged, single answer to complex
questions, nor allow for passive listening while the expert fills the room with his intellect. This method
requires student preparation, critical thinking, listening, and interpersonal skills. Organizational level
leadership is inherently uncertain and ambiguous, and so is case method teaching. In case method
teaching, you may leave class puzzled, confused, or upset at not achieving closure, an answer, or the
approved solution. That is okay. You may also leave class thinking about the case and subject or
reflecting with others about ways to solve problems with the concepts discussed in class, or how you will
use the ideas in the future. That is better. You may actually change your assumptions and paradigms and
through learning, become a better leader. That is best.

1
David A. Gavin, “Making the Case,” Harvard Magazine 106, no. 1 (October 2003): 56-57.
2
Randall W. Hill Jr, Andrew S. Gordon and Julia M. Kim, “Learning the Lesson of Leadership
Experience: Tools for Interactive Case Method Analysis,” Institute of Creative Technologies, University
of Southern California, not dated.
3
John Boehrer, “How to Teach a Case,” The Electronic Hallway (1996): 1,
https://hallway.evans.washington.edu/case-teaching/resources/welcome-case-method
4
William Ellet, The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases,
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007,), 12.
5
John Boehrer, “How to Teach a Case,” The Electronic Hallway (1996): 2,
https://hallway.evans.washington.edu/case-teaching/resources/welcome-case-method.

L101 Reading A 4 August 2024

6
Laurence E. Lynn, “Welcome to the Case Method,” The Electronic Hallway (1996): 4,
https://hallway.evans.washington.edu/case-teaching/resources/welcome-case-method.
7
William Ellet, The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases,
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007), 13.
8
Conversation between one of the lesson authors and Mr. Trent Lythgoe, April 9, 2021.
9
William Ellet, The Case Study Handbook: How to Read, Discuss, and Write Persuasively About Cases,
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007), 13-14.
10
The Case Method In Military Professional Education,
http://casemethodusmc.blogspot.com/2017/05/welcome-to-case-
method.html?view=classic#!/2017/05/welcome-to-case-method.html
11
Army Field Manuel 6-0 Commander and Staff Organization and Operations, (Washington D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, March 2014), 4-2..

L101 Reading A 5 August 2024