Home Faculty Directory Deborah Ancona

Deborah Ancona

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(617) 605-4397

ancona@mit.edu

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Seley Distinguished Professor of Management; Professor

Organization Studies

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Ieva Paulauskaite

(617) 324-7368

ieva@mit.edu

Deborah Ancona

Faculty Bio

Deborah Ancona is the Seley Distinguished Professor of Management, a Professor of Organization Studies, and the Founder of the MIT Leadership Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management.


Her pioneering research into how successful teams operate has highlighted the critical importance of managing outside, as well as inside, the team’s boundary. This research directly led to the concept of X-Teams as a vehicle for driving innovation within large organizations. Ancona’s work also focuses on the concept of distributed leadership and on the development of research-based tools, practices, and teaching/coaching models that enable organizations to foster creative leadership at every level.


She is the author of the book, X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed (Harvard Business School Press) and the related article, “In Praise of the Incomplete Leader” (Harvard Business Review). In addition to X-Teams, her studies of team performance have also been published in the Administrative Science Quarterly, the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and the MIT Sloan Management Review.  Her previous book, Managing for the Future: Organizational Behavior and Processes (South-Western College Publishing), centers on the skills and processes needed in today’s diverse and changing organization. Ancona has served as a consultant on leadership and innovation to companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bose, Takeda, Li & Fung, OCP, Accenture, ASA, and has served on the Board of the Penn Graduate School of Education and the working group of the Canadian Council of Academies.


Ancona holds a BA and an MS in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in management from Columbia University.  

Courses

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Digital Business & IT

Organizations & Leadership

Strategy & Innovation

EARN 2.0 EEUs
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Self-Paced Online

STARTING

Sep 10–Oct 29, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

STARTING

Sep 10–Oct 29, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

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Organizations & Leadership

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EARN 2.0 EEUs
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Self-Paced Online

STARTING

Jul 16–Aug 27, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

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Jul 16–Aug 27, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

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$3,250

Oct 8–Nov 19, 2025

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6 weeks

6–8 hours/week

$3,250

STARTING

Oct 8–Nov 19, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

6–8 hours/week

TUITION

$3,250

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EARN 2.0 EEUs
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Self-Paced Online

STARTING

Aug 21–Oct 9, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

4–6 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

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Aug 21–Oct 9, 2025

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

4–6 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

Nov 13, 2025–Jan 8, 2026

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6 weeks

4–6 hours/week

$2,900

STARTING

Nov 13, 2025–Jan 8, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

4–6 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

Feb 18–Apr 8, 2026

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6 weeks

4–6 hours/week

$2,900

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Feb 18–Apr 8, 2026

LOCATION

Online

DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

4–6 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

May 20–Jul 8, 2026

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4–6 hours/week

$2,900

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May 20–Jul 8, 2026

LOCATION

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DURATION

6 weeks

COMMITMENT

4–6 hours/week

TUITION

$2,900

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Oct 5–10, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

6 days

COMMITMENT

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TUITION

$13,900

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Oct 5–10, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

6 days

COMMITMENT

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$13,900

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8 hours/day

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Apr 19–24, 2026

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Cambridge, MA

DURATION

6 days

COMMITMENT

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$13,900

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Cambridge, MA

DURATION

6 days

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Upon completion of this course, you will earn an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation

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EARN 8.0 EEUs
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Dec 2–11, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

8 days

COMMITMENT

8–10 hours/day

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$19,500

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Dec 2–11, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

8 days

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EARN 2.0 EEUs
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Oct 28–29, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

2 days + coaching

COMMITMENT

8 hours/day

TUITION

$5,300

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Oct 28–29, 2025

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

DURATION

2 days + coaching

COMMITMENT

8 hours/day

TUITION

$5,300

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