What Matters Now

One of the reasons I joined MIT Sloan Management Review is because it is a publication with a purpose. It stands for something. Now more than ever, that matters.

Our purpose flows very naturally from our parent organizations — both MIT and the MIT Sloan School of Management. MIT’s motto is Mens et manus, meaning “mind and hand,” with applied knowledge as the institute’s educational goal. Knowledge and insight are the means to an ambitious end: to “make a better world through education, research, and innovation.” The MIT Sloan School, our mother ship, builds on this by advancing management practice and developing “principled, innovative leaders who improve the world.”

While MIT SMR functions as an independent media organization — the Sloan School doesn’t tell us who or what to publish or how to operate — we share this sense of purpose. We expose our audience of leaders and managers to new ideas, and we help them act on those ideas — particularly when it comes to innovation and change at the intersection of technology and management. We favor ideas and advice that are evidence-based, innovative, and principled. The Sloan motto, “Ideas made to matter,” is inspiring, and we take it to heart.

So, what matters now? As a publication, we have defined three editorial pillars that inform our article acquisitions and the submissions we accept:

Strategic leadership. We focus our leadership coverage in a few vital areas: strategy building and alignment for a changing world; creating a culture that works in today’s dynamic environment; building the skills to navigate uncertain times; and leading diverse and hybrid teams.

Digital innovation. The impact that technology has on strategy, operations, customers, and the workforce matters profoundly to us and our audience. We look for new approaches to innovation and bring our readers ideas for applying AI, data and analytics, and other significant technologies effectively and responsibly. We do the same for the future of work.

Sustainable business. Part of our mission is to help our readers build sustainable businesses — both “capital S” sustainable (managing an organization’s impact on the environment and society) and the more expansive application of the term — for example, improving cybersecurity and building resilience into supply chains.

New ideas often come from new voices. In addition to working with leading thinkers, our editors actively seek out authors beyond the most elite institutions and the borders of the United States. We provide platforms to amplify and extend a more diverse mix of ideas.

Beyond having a shared purpose to build a better world, MIT describes its community as “fun and quirky, elite but not elitist, inventive and artistic, obsessed with numbers, and welcoming to talented people regardless of where they come from.” That sounds like a winning combination to me. We at MIT SMR are on board with that.