Mark McDonald

Mark McDonald
VP Analyst
12 years at Gartner
33 years IT Industry

Mark McDonald, Ph.D., is a Vice President and Fellow Emeritus in Gartner for General Managers Program. Read Full Bio

Bounce Forward or Bounce Back – a time to choose

by Mark P. McDonald | July 22, 2020

It has been more than 120 days into the COVID-19 crisis represents a time to take stock of what has happened and how to move forward. The idea that COVID-19 would pass and the economy will come back in the shape of a ‘V.’ Rather than playing alphabet recovery, it is time to seriously consider […]

Fearless Innovation, a book review

by Mark P. McDonald | July 21, 2020

Fearless Innovation by Alex Goryachev purports itself to be a ‘no non-sense guide’ without buzzwords and the normal stuff that clutters books on innovation. In my opinion the book does not meet the aspirations of its cover. A guide is one that helps people to think through their innovation challenges, provides tools to help people see […]

Data driven leaders unite! – the opportunity missed to date with COVID-19.

by Mark P. McDonald | July 17, 2020

COVID-19 data presentations should anger fans of data and data driven decisions. Media and politicians resenting this simplistic and incomplete data squander perhaps the best opportunity to show the public what it means to manage based on information. The time to address this is now. Covid-19 data is an excellent opportunity to illustrate managing with […]

What is next, and what we do about it.

by Mark P. McDonald | May 18, 2020

Who knows, but every executive is looking for an angle to get in the right position for the recovery. It is too soon to speculate on when and how the economy will come back. There is just too much uncertainty right now – May 2020. As evidence, business leaders unwilling to provide forward guidance. Governments […]

Opening business activity is not the same as the recovery

by Mark P. McDonald | April 30, 2020

This Georgia, Texas and several other states opened for business by relaxing public health restrictions on non-essential industries and stay at home. The move is both positive and unfortunately a little political. It is a first step, but it is not a recovery, nor probably the real beginning of a recovery. In the strictest sense […]

Getting my hair cut, how it describes the nature of the recovery from the health crisis

by Mark P. McDonald | April 29, 2020

As our attention expands to include thoughts of recovering economic conditions, here is a simple way to think about it. We need a simple way as discussions of stimulus, monetary easing, essential industries, quarantines etc. makes it seem too complex. In a way our move toward recover is as simple as this. I need a […]

A to-do list for every company as it recovers from the health crisis.

by Mark P. McDonald | April 8, 2020

Everyone wants to know when public health restrictions will lift, and we can begin to resume economic activities. No one knows for certain, but we all have the same basic list of things to do to move toward recovery. The Wall Street Journal had a good article today about the public health aspects of the […]

Gartner Releases a New Magic Quadrant

by Mark P. McDonald | April 1, 2020

April 1, 2020, Stamford CT. Today Gartner (IT), a research and advisory company announced publication of a new magic quadrant. “We are pleased to be able to announce, with this magic quadrant, that Gartner is bringing its cutting edge and deep market analysis to new areas,” announced a senior executive. The new magic quadrant has […]

Five ways you can waste a crisis

by Mark P. McDonald | March 27, 2020

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” The quote is most often attributed to Rahm Emanuel, former Congressman and Mayor of Chicago. What do we mean by waste in the climate of […]

“Listen to me” — advice for building empathy, understanding and confidence

by Mark P. McDonald | March 19, 2020

A long time ago in a career far far away, I received a piece of advice that makes a difference, particularly in times of stress. Here are those words. A simple reminder of how you can make people live up to their best selves. Listen to me When I ask you to listen to me, […]