Mark McDonald

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

You’re not steering a ship, your leading an organization

by Mark P. McDonald | September 30, 2019

The image is dramatic and clear. A ship is sailing into a horrendous storm. They can see it on the horizon, lightening illuminating the sky, the seas getting rougher and rougher. Attention turns to the captain, who is often behind the wheel and there is silence. … Such is the dramatic setting often followed by […]

Seeing Around Corners — a book review

by Mark P. McDonald | September 9, 2019

Digital transformation and its demands have stressed traditional strategic thinking and tools such as industry analysis, competitive differentiation, etc. While new digital techniques like design thinking provide support, there is a need for new ways of thinking about digital strategy. That is where this book comes into play. Seeing Around Corners represents a new approach […]

The Purpose of the Corporation – an update that reflects reality

by Mark P. McDonald | August 20, 2019

The Business Roundtable released its Statement on the Purpose of the Corporation yesterday. The updated statement is getting heavy media play and attention as it stresses a “fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders.” Their emphasis on “all”. The energy around this new statement of purpose is that shareholders – the owners of the company […]

The first are the last, its technology’s turn for digital transformation

by Mark P. McDonald | August 6, 2019

It’s a paradox that technology service providers are among the last companies going through digital transformation. The firms that gave us the technology to create the digital world are facing the need to transform themselves. Services companies are making the transition to the new, creating new offerings and applying digital technology to the way they […]

Welcome to the Digital Society

by Mark P. McDonald | August 4, 2019

We are entering the next age of digital, leaving behind the prior one with its application of digital technology to make resources more information intensive and connected. Those terms continue to describe what it means to be digital, but not how those characteristics are being applied to the world. Those implications and how they change […]

While you were away … what to look for now to get a focus on the future

by Mark P. McDonald | July 30, 2019

It’s August, the dog days of summer, when living is easy. Ok enough cliché’s. August is a good time to take stock. To think about what has happened so far this year, with one month to go to the end of the 3rd quarter. More importantly it’s a time to think about what we are […]

Happy Birthday America! Who would you nominate if we had to do it all over again?

by Mark P. McDonald | July 3, 2019

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were a diverse group of lawyers, business men, clergy, elected officials and other leading citizens of 13 colonies. They were all elected in one way or another. The signers include the normal who’s who of U.S. history, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hancock, etc. A number of notable people […]

Gartner 100 – Consumerization of Technology is complete

by Mark P. McDonald | June 27, 2019

Consumer revenue is a major component of large technology companies. The analysis, published in mid May 2019 names the top 100 IT services companies by revenue. The list top 5 in the list for 2018 were: Apple $262 billion Samsung […]

Walking wallets – objectifying customers in a digital world

by Mark P. McDonald | June 23, 2019

Customers are critical to digital success. They are not only the source of revenue but also the source of future insight and innovation. Yet many digital strategists view customers as little more than walking wallets. Objectifying the customer is nothing new, but surprising in the digital world with its fierce competition for customer voice, choice […]

Escaping the Build Trap: a book review

by Mark P. McDonald | May 30, 2019

Organizations are shifting their processes and practices for building new products and services. The introduction of agile, dev ops and other techniques change the practices we follow, but we can still cling onto old perspectives creating what Melissa Perri calls ‘the build trap.” Escaping the Build Trap: how effective product management creates real value, provides […]