Michael Schrage on Leading with Purpose in the Digital Economy

Michael Schrage, a research fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management’s Initiative on the Digital Economy and visiting fellow at Imperial College London, explores the evolving nature of leadership in the digital economy in his research, "The Future of Leadership in the Digital Economy." In the 2021 report titled "Leadership’s Digital Transformation: Leading Purposefully in an Era of Context Collapse," co-authored with Benjamin Pring, David Kiron, and Desmond Dickerson, Schrage emphasizes that effective digital transformation requires leaders to undergo personal transformation. This involves aligning leadership practices with the values and expectations of a digitally savvy workforce, focusing on purpose, engagement, and fairness alongside agility and productivity. The research highlights that digital workforces expect transformations that reflect their concerns and values, not just enhanced business capabilities. Leaders are encouraged to develop "affective" digital dashboards to increase self-awareness and to make purpose a central organizing principle for engaging stakeholders. Michael’s work explores how models, prototypes, and metrics shape innovation strategies, with a strong focus on the behavioral economics behind managing risk and opportunity. An award-winning author, Michael has written several influential books, including The Innovator’s Hypothesis, Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? and Serious Play. His book, Recommendation Engines is part of the Essential Knowledge series. Michael Schrage, a research fellow at MIT, has led global executive programs on innovation, experimentation, and strategic measurement. His recent work explores "selvesware" - digital tools that enhance personal productivity and expertise - examining how human agency and advice evolve as technology grows smarter. A former Merrill Lynch Forum Innovation Fellow, he directed the firm's global innovation grants for doctoral research. Michael is also an angel investor in digital media and machine learning startups, and his influential commentary has appeared in HBR, MIT SMR, Fortune, WSJ, and more. Since 2017, Michael has served as a guest editor for MIT Sloan Management Review’s Big Ideas initiatives, contributing to topics such as Future of Leadership, Future of the Workforce (2019-2020), Performance Management (2018-2019), and Strategic Measurement (2017-2018). This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. For more information, please visit www.globalmanagementconsultancy.com. Disclaimer: A. The background music used in this video is the property of its respective developer and is protected by Copyright. Although it is a free version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy and Deepak Bhatt do not hold the rights to this music. B. Michael Schrage generously shared profound insights from his research, "The Future of Leadership in the Digital Economy," during his appearance on the Business Talk podcast channel. The uploaded video contains copyrighted material; therefore, any modifications to graphics, music, or the presence of the author or host are strictly prohibited. All content is © 2025. All rights reserved.