In my second semester teaching, I noticed students struggled to think like creative strategists. Therefore, I invented the “Culture Map” assignment. I gave each student a San Francisco neighborhood, instructions to go absorb and observe the culture and build a map. Students often wanted more direction and I would say, “Do you know what culture is?” Yep. “Do you know what a map is?” Yep. “There you go.” The assignment required them to create layered thinking based on POV, intuition, and observation. It got them away from screens, thinking beyond shopping, and how people are much more interesting than brands.