by Mark P. McDonald | June 30, 2010 | 4 Comments
Generational differences get everyone’s attention. People like to think about generational differences because they easily explain the differences we all face. They make headlines because the enable one group – generally the older one to paint the other generation with over simplifications. Clay Shirky in his new book Cognitive Surplus evaluates the social context of [...]
Category: Leadership Personal Observation Strategic planning Strategy web 2.0 Tags:
by Mark P. McDonald | June 29, 2010 | 2 Comments
Clay Shirky captured the ethos of social media with his book “Here comes everybody.” He follows this up that book with one that concentrates on the fundamentals of turning our cognitive surplus into value. Cognitive Surplus provides a compelling and clear description of the fundamentals of social media and collaboration as well providing recommendations for [...]
Category: Book Review Strategy Technology web 2.0 Tags: Book Review, IT strategy, Social Computing, Strategy, web 2.0
by Mark P. McDonald | June 27, 2010 | 5 Comments
Understanding IT’s role in the enterprise is complex and incomplete. IT is the subject of great debate as some see it as the source of competitive advantage and others see it as an enabling function. CIOs and IT professionals themselves have a tough time answering the question about IT’s role. Why? because I believe we [...]
Category: Leadership Strategic planning Strategy Technology Tags: Business Strategy, IT strategy, IT Value, Value of IT
by Mark P. McDonald | June 25, 2010 | 4 Comments
In the late 1990’s, CIOs asked about the shape of the IT organization in the face of increased use of outsourcing, business process change and what was called-user development. The response to those forces was called a ‘lite model of IS’ which became known as IS-Lite. (Gartner LinkSubscription Required) (CIO Magazine Link) Today, CIOs are [...]
Category: CIO IT Governance Lean Thinking Strategic planning Technology Tags: 2011 Planning, CIO strategy, IT organization
by Mark P. McDonald | June 23, 2010 | 2 Comments
A while ago I wrote about a conundrum I faced on a flight with a passenger in seat 19A who decided that it was ok to drive the back of his seat into my knee. I posed the question, what you would do about it. Now I pose another question. In this case it’s a [...]
Category: Personal Observation Tags:
by Mark P. McDonald | June 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
There is a spate of books about the brain, the internet and the impact of the internet on your brain. They all point to the detrimental impacts of working in an interrupt driven, attention demanding and always-on world. It is true that people are more harried as they try to stay and keep connected with [...]
Category: Personal Observation Technology Tags: Book Review, personal, Technology
by Mark P. McDonald | June 19, 2010 | 6 Comments
Nicholas Carr has just published another book and given his prior focus on “Does IT Matter” and discussions about Cloud Computing “The Big Switch” I am sure that many IT professionls will be interested in this new book “The Shallows: what the internet is doing to our brain.” This will probably be the best known [...]
Category: Book Review Personal Observation Technology Tags: Book Review, Internet, Technology, web 2.0
by Mark P. McDonald | June 18, 2010 | 8 Comments
The issue of demonstrating the business value of IT is at the top of mind for both CIO’s and other executives as they look to allocate cash and other resources across the enterprise. The short answer is that right now there is no one metric and the most prevalent one IT budget as a percent [...]
Category: budgets CFO CIO Leadership Tags: 2011 Planning, Business Management, CFO, IT and Business, IT management, IT Value, Metrics
by Mark P. McDonald | June 16, 2010 | 1 Comment
It was inevitable, the backlash. Every revolution has a counter-revolution. Even the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution, if you watch Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network you know what I mean – Dance Dance Counter Revolution. The summer of 2010 is shaping up to be the summer of ‘the web is melting my brain’ and that [...]
Category: Economy Personal Observation Technology Tags: Personal Observation, public policy, society, Strategy, Technology
by Mark P. McDonald | June 15, 2010 | 1 Comment
Dan Arliey’s first book Predictably Irrational introduced business leaders to issues of behavior economics when it was released in 2008. His latest the Upside of Irrationality drops the other shoe in behavioral economics concentrating more on how economic behavior influences issues the context of business and everyday life. This book is a worthy compliment to [...]
Category: Book Review Economy Strategy Tags:
