Winter
- Dates
- Jan 8 – Mar 13, 2024
- Meets
- Mondays & Wednesdays, 3:30–5:20pm, d.school Studio 1
- Teaching team
- Kursat Ozenc, Martin Gonzalez, Jeung Lee (TA)
Aimed at purpose-driven and climate startups, which have to chase social or environmental impact and financial success at once. After funding, most startups that fail do so for people reasons rather than technical ones — passion and pace outrunning the organizational acumen needed to align mission with action and keep people. The class ritual project asked how you might prevent burnout.
Arc
- 01
Module 1: Fundamentals of Culture Design
Weeks 1–2
Human-centered culture design, invisible drivers of behavior, and designing team rituals — with DP1 framed as: how might we prevent burnout?
- 02
Module 2: Designing a Culture Program for a Partner Organization
Weeks 3–10
Participatory research, culture champions and employee pathways, the sustainability landscape, problem framing, idea books, prototyping, and evaluating a new team ritual.
Partners
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Shape the culture, identity, and collaborative norms of Stanford's first new school in 70 years — across interdisciplinary research, daily operations, student and postdoc belonging, and translating research outward.
Blue Ocean Barns
Keep a decentralized climate-tech team mission-driven and trusting while managing high-stakes execution timelines.
