In this Sloanies Talking with Sloanies podcast, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Nelson Repenning, PhD ’96, (School of Management Distinguished Professor of System Dynamics and Organization Studies) about his 2025 book There's Got to Be a Better Way, co-authored with Donald Kieffer (Senior Lecturer, System Dynamics). A system dynamics expert who started at MIT as a PhD candidate at 23 and now directs the MIT Leadership Center, Repenning's research probes why organizations ignore proven tools, from lean methods to safety protocols in industries like oil and gas. The book's thesis: static plans (strategies, budgets) clash with rapid change, spawning "firefighting" via ad-hoc fixes that stifles long-term productivity.

Repenning tackles buy-in hurdles for invisible wins, like safety where "nobody gets credit for defects that never happened," especially in high-risk sectors with delayed feedback. For middle managers, he champions "dynamic work design"—tackling small, quick experiments on pain points to yield fast results and organic spread, as seen in Harley-Davidson's backlog fixes and the Broad Institute's 2020 COVID pivot, favoring iterative problem-solving over rigid control.

He stresses cultural tools like the "human chain" for face-to-face ambiguity resolution amid email overload, linking it to return-to-office trends for mentorship. Reflecting on his 1990s spark questioning tool adoption, Repenning notes system dynamics' mainstream rise at Sloan amid AI's black boxes. Advice for students: embrace MIT's low-structure entrepreneurialism and diverse programs expanded his mindset beyond technical expertise to create meaningful societal impact.

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Dr. Sreenivas Koka, EMBA ’13, about how his multicultural upbringing and MIT Sloan experience transformed his approach to dentistry and leadership, emphasizing empathy and value-based care.

Starting his academic journey at 19 at the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry, Koka earned multiple degrees, held roles like Chair of Dental Specialties at the Mayo Clinic and Dean at the University of Mississippi’s School of Dentistry, and founded the Koka Dental Clinic.

After being let go from his deanship, he co-founded Executive Leadership Enterprises to focus on developing first- and second-time supervisors, while continuing to serve underserved communities, such as providing dental care to Mississippi prison inmates.

Koka defines success as living a purpose-driven life, a perspective shaped by Sloan’s courses on strategy and innovation, which expanded his mindset beyond technical expertise to create meaningful societal impact.

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Thanks for listening! Find more episodes on the Sloanies Talking with Sloanies website.

Learn more about MIT Sloan Alumni on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Threads.

To support this show, or if you have an idea for a topic or a guest you think we should feature, drop us a note at sloanalumni@mit.edu

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Yurui (Rui) Tong, MBAn ’21, a graduate of the MIT Sloan Master of Business Analytics program. Tong, reflects on her educational and professional journey through a personal lens of self-discovery and curiosity. Though passionate about logic and reasoning, she shares her early struggles with math, eventually realizing that her strengths lie in storytelling and narrative-based problem-solving. This realization shaped her approach to data science and analytics, emphasizing clarity and meaning in complex concepts. At MIT, a key lesson came from Professor Dimitris Bertsimas, SM ’87, PhD ’88, who advised her to confront difficult problems head-on—a mindset that continues to guide her career. Tong’s path includes diverse roles, from WHO to Deloitte to Remitly, where she now serves as a senior product manager working on fraud detection powered by AI.

Rui explains that while AI is not new to data science professionals, its current wave of popularity stems from its broadened interaction with the public. At Remitly, she sees AI as a layered system—data, models, and decision-making—where the quality of data is as crucial as the model itself. She highlights the challenge of aligning business goals with probabilistic AI outputs, particularly in fraud detection, where trade-offs between customer experience and risk management are constant. Her podcast, Floating Questions (Spotify and Apple), reflects her wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, covering topics from energy policy to personal identity. Rui’s time at Sloan fostered a deep appreciation for principled innovation and collaborative learning—values she continues to carry forward.

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Find more episodes on the Sloanies Talking with Sloanies website.

Learn more about MIT Sloan Alumni on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Threads.

To support this show, or if you have an idea for a topic or a guest you think we should feature, drop us a note at sloanalumni@mit.edu

© MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT