Let's Reflect on 2020

We are at the end of January. I don’t know about you, but at McDonald’s, we are already running with our projects and initiatives for 2021. Global Technology has a lot to deliver for McDonald’s this year including, but not limited to, the technology and platforms to support the 3Ds (Digital, Delivery and Drive-Thru).

However, I want to take a minute to reflect. Today’s world is go, go, go, and the energy at McDonald’s is no different. Before we get too far into 2021, let’s stop and think about 2020.

2020 was a year none of us will soon forget. We faced unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing us to physically distance, but work together more closely than ever before. 2020 was not a normal year.

As CIO, I think about technology all day long, but in 2020, technology enabled something unexpected: empathy.

Our department has the ability to work from home, and I know that many, including our McDonald’s restaurant crews, can’t. For those who are on the front lines, whether working in our Drive-Thrus, delivering packages, salting the roads in a snowstorm, or caring for the sick at a hospital … I would be remiss not to start by saying thank you.

For those of us who spent most of 2020 working at home: through our screens, we saw our colleagues at their most vulnerable. Our coworkers were (and likely still are) juggling childcare, home school, elder care. Or maybe they were isolated, doing their part to slow the spread of Covid, but at the expense of seeing friends and family. The stress and uncertainty of the year 2020 is a weight that I don’t think any of us will lose anytime soon.

However, the silver lining is that during all this, we had each other’s backs.

In Global Technology, we operated as one team, despite the unpredictable hurdles that came our way. Markets around the world were all in different stages of the pandemic at any given time, and we rallied as a team to come together and support our restaurants. We lived our value, Family: we get better together.

We were good neighbors to each other, offering the flexibility and understanding when things at home got crazy. We also showed up in our local communities. Our employees raised and donated money to RMHC, signed up for virtual volunteer events, and sent thank you notes to our restaurant crews for Founder’s Day. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I’m proud of our team, and I hope they’re proud of themselves too. I want the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic to end, but I hope the empathy and one team mentality continues well into 2021 and beyond.  

I’ll write more about what’s to come this year for Global Technology soon, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to reflect. I hope you do the same.