No Case Study, No Easy Answers: Learning leadership under real pressure

A/Prof Nathan Eva, 2026

Purpose

Associate Professor
Nathan Eva.

Nathan Eva wanted students to feel the real complexity of leadership – problems with multiple solutions, competing priorities and no single right answer – by bringing industry directly into the room.

Practice

A managing director from a global professional services firm presented a genuine leadership challenge to 240 undergraduate students. With no case study and no additional information provided, teams spent two hours questioning the industry partner directly before developing and presenting their recommendations.

Output

Students were highly engaged throughout, quickly recognising the importance of asking effective questions, probing assumptions and exploring problems from multiple perspectives.

Outcome

The exercise created an authentic assessment experience, exposing students to real ambiguity and complexity, while the industry partner gained fresh perspectives from emerging leaders.

Impact

Students left with sharper employability skills – problem diagnosis, stakeholder engagement, and the confidence to work with incomplete information.