Mark McDonald

Two Stars – A laudable goal, but its execution sends the wrong message to business professionals
It is hard to criticize a book dedicated to looking at the challenges facing IT leaders on a personal and professional level. The goal of Adventures of an IT Leader are admirable, present IT in a human light using a combination [...]

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IT is necessary but not sufficient for enterprise success.  The level of mutual understanding and respect required for success demands that the business understands the dynamics of IT.  That was the subject of several blog entries on the 12 things every business leader should know about IT.
It is more important that IT understand the business.  [...]

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The real reason that business leaders need to know about IT is that IT is an important part of any effective business.  While that sounds like a claim that is more often opinion than observation, it is something that we have been studying at Gartner Executive Programs for some time.  The good news is that [...]

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Technologists are quick to point out that if automobiles improved as much or as fast as computers they would run a million miles on the gallon of fuel, have more features than a driver could ever use, be able to carry an unlimited number of passengers – you get the picture.  
About this time, a [...]

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“Everything I need to know about a company I can tell from its financials.”  This statement is foundational to modern management.  While we can debate the efficacy of financials as a way of knowing what is really going on in a company, financial is the language most people use to understand the business, its contribution [...]

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Overhearing executives talk about IT and it quickly becomes apparent that they believe that all IT is pretty much the same.  Your IT is the same as my IT, should be funded the same, managed the same, thought of as the same.  With one exception – the IT that they use or the IT that [...]

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Executives often do not consider the differing evolutionary pace of technology and management thinking.  Executives over invest in technology and more importantly under invest in management capability because of this gap.  The result is the incomplete business cases and benefits realization rates that are endemic in IT. 
Executives need to recognize that IT evolves faster than [...]

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Strategy drives executive thinking and forms the context for executive decision-making.  Over the last ten years new strategy tools and techniques have come into the market based to clarify and increase the executability of corporate strategy.  The strategy maps and balanced scorecards authored by Kaplan and Norton are examples.
Strategists are concerned with issues of gaining [...]

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“If only the business understood IT, then the company would get move value out of IT.” This statement is a common belief among IT professionals. Understanding begins with the basics, framed in a language that is acceptable to the audience rather than the teacher.
Talking about IT using the language of organization, its role, what [...]

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“If only the business understood IT, then the company would get move value out of IT.”  This statement is a common belief among IT professionals.  Understanding begins with the basics, framed in a language that is acceptable to the audience rather than the teacher. 
Talking about IT using the language of organization, its role, what it [...]

[Read more →]