The case method is one of the most ubiquitous forms of learning found in MBA programs around the globe. Many business schools use this tool to put their students into the perspective of managers and to set their thought processes on a path of engagement and (to use the physical metaphor) exercise. We’ve all heard the cliché that “the brain is like a muscle and must be exercised.” While certainly an oversimplification, the old adage is also certainly true; the brain does need exercise. For students of business, the case study is the next best option to actually being in the real situation. Some of the benefits of a good case study are:

Situational Expansion

One way that case studies exercise the brain is by expanding the range of situations that most students are able to achieve in their present jobs and life situations. Yes, some non-traditional students may come to business school with a lifetime of experience behind them but most do not. The case study allows the student mind to engage and simulate a relatively infinite range of situations and possibilities.

Learning to Focus on the Central Problem

An important skill that the case method helps students to exercise and develop is that of learning to get to the root of a problem. Learning to ask the right questions and to be able to push past symptoms to identify central problems is an important business, as well as life, skill and is the first step in moving toward concrete and utilitarian results in difficult situations.

Connecting to One’s Own Situation

Part of the work in analyzing a case study is in finding relation to one’s own life and situations. As long as human beings are involved there is probably some sort of overlap from one case or situation to another; it is just a matter of finding it. With the mental work and insight required to make that connection of relation, the brain and the business mind are made stronger.

Process is Key

In the case study, as with many things in life, the destination is not the point. The thought process and the mind’s journey that it took to arrive at that destination is the point. The practice and the tuning of the mind that comes with the analytical processes, the communicating one’s ideas to a group, the arriving at and defending logical conclusions is key to getting the most out of a case study.

In short, the case method, if engaged by the mind and wrestled with is an efficacious form of learning by doing without taking on the risks of being in the real situation (those will come later for most MBA students).