As I explore how to make progress on scaling innovation in sustainability (SIS), and in the context of shaping a program of study, I am looking at different problem solving frameworks as points of reference.

The Alliance for Decision Education has a K-12 focus, a stellar advisory council and a cogent strategy. Their “What is Decision Education” is where I would start for an orientation to their Four Learning Domains. Thinking Probabilistically, Valuing and Applying Rationality, Structuring Decisions, and Recognizing and Resisting Cognitive Biases embody both behavioral and practice-oriented perspectives.

Steve Blank’s Lean is the prevailing market-centered model on innovation and startups. It’s also a model for how universities are organizing tech transfer investments. There are other authors in this space, and different elaborations, but Blank appears to me to be the fount.

Richard Rumelt on strategy. The book is “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy”. His McKinsey article is a concise summary. A way to think about Rumelt’s strategy is as not just figuring what goes into what market, but as a framework for how organizations solve problems.

The Inner Development Goals initiative is intended to accelerate work toward sustainability. The IDG’s is aspirationally a social movement. It is supported by an extensive self-study curriculum designed for small community groups. The toolkit is new to me but the values resonate. There’s also a report on its development. I’m learning more about it.

I’ve omitted deeper references to Decision Analysis practice only out of laziness. The Society of Decision Professionals collateral on Decision Quality is just one source.

Where does “my stuff” fit? It needs to be consistent with Blank, which captures how “business” thinks; complement and extend the Alliance’s well-centered and foundational Learning Domains; be as concrete as Rumelt but be more explicit about causal understanding (like Deming); and be informed by the humanism of the IDG.