|
Home |
|||
|
Hotel & Travel |
|||
|
Agenda & Programs |
|||
|
Mastermind Keynotes |
|||
|
One-on-Ones |
|||
|
ITxpo |
|||
|
ITxpo Marketplaces |
|||
|
Partners |
|||
|
Brochure (PDF) |
|||
|
Documentation |
|||
Past Symposium/ITxpo
|
|
||||||||
|
Gartner CEO Fleisher: Stop Wishing for Good Times and Take Action Tuesday, 8 October 2002 View the Webcast In his welcome address kicking off this week's Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Monday, Gartner CEO Michael Fleisher looked back at last year's conference, which took place less than a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks. "We all suddenly found ourselves being tested on two levels," Mr. Fleisher said. "First, our ability to react prudently but forcefully to the attacks, and second, the ability to rapidly adjust to the harsh reality of a deteriorating economy. "Even in the darkness of last autumn, it was impossible not to see and feel the energy of a great people roused to anger and action — fully committed to respond thoughtfully, purposefully, and productively to the dual challenges, of terrorism and recession." The question becomes, then, how has the United States and the rest of the world responded — socially, politically and economically? Mr. Fleisher said the results of the past year have been mixed, at best. While the world has responded, changed and rebuilt in many ways and on many levels since then, the threat of terrorism still exists every day, and the prospect of war seems as real as ever. Meanwhile, in terms of the much-anticipated economic recovery, economists and pundits and the people who report what they say continue to talk and spin month after month about a recovery that, in the end, seems visible only to themselves. "From my point of view, the 'return of the good economy' may be the lamest media story ever," Mr. Fleisher said. "It's an almost comic attempt to search for an economic indicator — any economic indicator — that will signal the return to good times. Every so often, when the numbers are just too awful to spin, we are then given such insane innovations as the 'jobless recovery.' " At the end of the day, said Mr. Fleisher, the media tells its audience only what it wants to hear. "And what we clearly want to hear is that the good times are just around the corner, that we will somehow be relieved of the burden of driving our companies to prosper in this difficult environment, that 'business as usual' will provide us with satisfactory results." That won't happen, he warned. Reality, and not wishful thinking, must drive the behavior of vendors who hope to prosper in this environment. The reality is this:
"Today, each of us faces a choice," Mr. Fleisher concluded. "Will we seize the initiative and help create our country's future, or will we sit on our hands and be victims of it? We face this critical choice every day, in the way we run our government, in the way we manage our businesses and in the way we do our jobs. "Yes, freedom can be our greatest asset, but only if we have the courage and faith to actually use it." John Allen Gartner Staff |
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
