Education
The latest installment in MIT Sloan's G-Lab podcast series illustrates the critical importance of team being on the scene and in the thick of things before it can add maximum value to a project. Prior to leaving for Tanzania, the five-person student team was presented with what seemed on the surface a health care initiative for those afflicted with AIDS. Once one the ground in Africa, however, they were confronted with some sobering realities and a diverse slew of issues. Through meeting with AIDS patients and their caregivers and working with the MAdeA organization to properly assess its goals, the team realized that what was truly needed was economic empowerment for the patients and a new strategic direction for MAdeA. Ted Chan, MBA '09, and Krishna Venugopalan, SF' 09, discuss the importance of not jumping to conclusions, understanding the cultural motivation for decisions, and orders of magnitude.