Late at night, Lt. Col. Hal Moore pores over the military history of the French in Vietnam. Soon, he will lead the US Army's 7th Cavalry into battle there. In the movie We Were Soldiers, Moore (played by Mel Gibson) sits at a desk littered with open books. The camera zooms in on one particular book, opened to the battlefield pictures of a massacred French army unit. Moore is making terse, blunt notes as to the mistakes he believes the French made. The unspoken line of the moment is, “I will not make the same mistakes!” Later, we see Lt. Col. Moore training his men in battlefield simulations with as much noise, chaos, and the need for on-the-spot decisions as he can create – all to prepare them for what is to come.

Such is the intent of case method instruction, and in particular, case writing. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of case writing is the development and use of provocative scenarios that enable students to learn, using Harriet Hall's term, “secondhand.” Done well, some good cases are useful for several years, and some great cases for many years. Consequently, the questions that arise are: “Should I consider writing a case?” “Where can I find good cases?” “Where can I find promising case leads?” and “How do I craft effective, enduring cases?”