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students are placed into 12 teams, each with four depart- ment heads. "Then we basically give them a 350-page manual and say, 'Now teach each other,'" says Nelson, with a laugh. "We want them to know that they do indeed have some- thing of value they can impart to other people." Why not require students to take the team course before IBE? "The faculty here agree that we have the courses in the right order," says Nelson. "Sure, IBE would run more smoothly if they took XB first, but IBE gives them a shared series of mistakes. When they get to XB, they can discuss those mistakes and try to run their groups differently." He has no set grading system for the course—each semes- ter, students determine the standards by which they will all be graded, so the criteria for success in the course change each time Nelson delivers it. During each meeting, different students lead the discussion—they decide among themselves who will teach which topics. And they receive harsh criticism if those presentations aren't helpful for the group, Nelson says. XB is a "messy, messy course," Nelson admits. It's designed to replicate the work environment, where students are judged by their output, not by a grade, says Nelson. "In XB, they experience situations that don't have clear out- comes, and that can be difficult," he says. "If students have never been measured in ways other than grades on tests and papers, it can be hard for them to understand what they'll need to do." Learning from Failure For each of Harmon College's experiential courses, faculty are there to provide guidance, but they also must let the students fail so they can learn from their mistakes, emphasizes Mary McCord, a professor of management and entrepreneurship who teaches in the IBE program. McCord points to the IBE team that sold bobbleheads—it was barely able to repay its loan because it failed to take into account the $3,000 air shipment of its product from China. "They didn't make much money, but they learned a huge lesson," says McCord. "When I first taught IBE, I wouldn't sleep well because I was worried about the decisions my stu- dents were making. Now I sleep like a baby because I know that even when they make mistakes, they'll overcome them. As faculty, we start to trust our students more and help them realize their untapped potential." When courses are student-driven, however, it can be dif- ficult for faculty trained in traditional teaching techniques to accept that failure is part of the innovation equation, says McCord. "It's difficult to ask faculty to shut up and let their Students in Eric Nelson's experience-based leadership course at the University of Central Missouri participate in an egg drop to learn lessons of leadership, teamwork, and product development. students do the learning," she says. "Most professors think that if they're not talking, they're not teaching. But students learn by trying to do something. Yes, they'll flail around at first, and it's not going to be efficient. You're going to want to step in and fix it. But you need to let them do it. When students fail, they learn." Embracing Mistakes When faculty are given opportunities to experiment, they're bound to suffer some missteps themselves. Nelson is quick to admit he's no exception. For instance, Nelson also teaches a post-IBE leadership course, in which students teach leader- ship topics not to each other, but to client organizations. Their audiences range from corporate executives to a class of eighth-graders. Students meet with representatives from the organizations beforehand to discuss their biggest leadership problems. Then, the students design workshop presentations BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 51