Alumni
Highlights from the First-Ever MIT Sloan Virtual Reunion
On a Tuesday afternoon in late May, John C Head III Dean David Schmittlein kicked off the first-ever MIT Sloan Virtual Reunion with his annual “State of the School” address. “It’s an extraordinary time for all of us,” he said. Yet despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the significant effects it has had—and will continue to have—on MIT Sloan, the dean remained optimistic.
From the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force’s recommendations and leadership appointments, to the recent Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) designation for undergraduate and master’s degree programs, MIT Sloan is leading the charge among the top business schools in the world. “We are in a sound place today for the year ahead,” said Dean Schmittlein, and though there remains “an unprecedented amount of uncertainty,” he credited the school’s continued success to the generosity and involvement of the alumni community.
“You’ve been resilient. You’ve had your own challenges—personal and professional—to work through. I’m proud of you. I only know some of the stories, but I would love to hear more of them. We are a very strong community, we are a resilient community, and you see it during this time.”
Associate Dean for Innovation and Inclusion Fiona Murray and Senior Lecturer Phil Budden followed Dean Schmittlein with a presentation on “innovation ecosystems” and how they drive innovation economies. When leveraged appropriately, these ecosystems are capable of overcoming significant financial crises—like the 2008 recession and, potentially, the current pandemic. Hence the title of Murray and Budden’s talk: “Crisis Innovation.”
In order to employ the full power of innovation ecosystems, all relevant stakeholders must be brought together. This grouping has long included governments, corporations, and—more recently—academic institutions. As Budden explained, however, “our MIT approach in this current wave of twenty-first century innovation-driven entrepreneurship [includes] two other stakeholders”: the entrepreneurs who innovate to meet critical challenges and the risk capital providers who foster these innovations.
“As we move together from this period of crisis innovation towards the recovery and a more resilient and inclusive innovation ecosystem,” said Murray, “I think it’s really important to remember that we need to bring everybody to the table.”
The following day, Bryn Panee Burkhart, Senior Associate Director, Alumni Career Development, conducted her “Navigating Your Career at Any Age and Stage” workshop. While acknowledging how unique the present situation is, Burkhart noted “there are elements of your career strategy that you can control, so rather than letting that fear and panic take the wheel, we’re going to ground ourselves today.”
This means recognizing that most individuals manage their careers passively or reactively. And though either method can produce positive results, those seeking to advance their careers should adopt what Burkhart called “true career management.” So instead of “leading with fear,” you intentionally own your career trajectory. “It’s about being honest with yourself, and being willing to reflect upon your entire work history,” she said. “The self-awareness that comes from that is going to help you clarify your next steps.”
To accomplish this, you must first determine your needs and preferences and assess your strengths and skills. Combined with opportunities in the market, this newfound knowledge allows you to be more confident. It can also provide you with enough material to produce a “career narrative,” an extremely powerful organizational tool that Burkhart and the MIT Sloan Career Development Office are perfectly poised to assist alumni with.
On Thursday, popular Reunion presenters Jason Jay, PhD ’10, Senior Lecturer, Sustainability, and Director, Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan, and Roberto Rigobon, PhD ’97, Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management, and Professor of Applied Economics, took center stage with “The PROMISE of a Sustainable Future.” After a brief review of the Sustainability Initiative’s most recent metrics, the pair discussed the PROMISE framework and their current avenues of research—especially those pertaining to the crisis.
“COVID-19 has highlighted, very clearly, how important measurement is,” said Rigobon. “Measurement is a first-order issue. It’s impossible for us to make good decisions without having some form of proper measurement [to know] all the possible consequences of what we do.” This is where the PROMISE framework—personal well-being, relationships, organizations, markets and economy, institutions and culture, society and politics, environment—comes into play.
“You need to embrace that complexity, of how many different kinds of institutions need to be engaged with such a variety of different strategies,” Jay said of the framework and the kinds of big problems—climate change, inequality, global pandemics—it can be used to address. “You want to find those simple answers, but unfortunately this is not a simple territory.”
Though Jay and Rigobon’s presentation helped to close out the main cluster of MIT Sloan Virtual Reunion programming, Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship Simon Johnson, PhD ’89, held an exclusive Dean’s Circle webinar on Friday. Titled “Surviving the Second Wave,” the session detailed his ongoing efforts with the COVID-19 Policy Alliance.
“In the first part of the crisis, we tried to understand what was going on and get to the core of the issues. In the second part of the crisis, we found people around whom to rally,” said Johnson. “But now we want to end it, and the way you end any problem like this is by going very big.” Hence why the alliance, which Johnson co-created with Retsef Levi, J. Spencer Standish (1945) Professor of Management, and many other MIT Sloan faculty, continues its work today.
“There are some really nice words in the entryway of the main building about principled leaders and our role in the world. I’ve always believed in those words. I’ve always thought that is what we are,” observed Johnson. “But I have to tell you, I have never seen them in operation as intensely as I have—in and around MIT Sloan—over the past few months.”
Kathryn Hawkes, Associate Dean, External Relations and Global Programs, thanked attendees for making the MIT Sloan Virtual Reunion a resounding success. “From webinars featuring our remarkable faculty, to class reunions reconnecting alumni from across the globe, it was amazing to see over 800 of you come together to continue learning,” she said. “As always, your dedication to the school and each other serves as a powerful reminder of how wonderful this community is.”