The opposite of having a sense of urgency in an organization, is complacency.  At a time when change and the need to anticipate and adapt is a constant, complacency quickly becomes the enemy.   If we were to see complacency on the playing field, the team would become win-less and the players useless.  Why would we allow that to happen in our own organizations and businesses?

John P. Kotter, the author of 'Leading Change and Our Iceberg is Melting,' defines true urgency as "a gut level determination to move and win now."   In his last book, 'A Sense Of Urgency,' Kotter, when asked "what is the single biggest error people make when they try to change?" answers that "the organization did not create a high enough sense of urgency among enough people to set the stage for making a challenging leap into some new direction."

Some key questions for you, as a leader to ask...

•  How high is the urgency among relevant people around you?  
• How do you know this assessment is accurate? 
• What specific actions are you taking? 
• How successful or unsuccessful are your actions? 
• What are the consequences to your organization?  To you? 
• If you are succeeding, what are you doing?

It's important to understand the context of urgency as it is the first and most important step in introducing change in organizations.

"A sense of urgency - winners first make sure that a sufficient number of people feel a true sense of urgency to look for an organization's critical opportunities and hazards now."

 

Interesting enough, historical success tends to produce stable and inwardly focused organizations, and they, in turn reinforce a feeling of contentment and complacency. Recent failures to produce short-term results or to adapt to change can produce a great deal of activity, but it's often unproductive activity driven by anxiety about one's future. 

Some tactics to increase a sense of urgency...

• Instead of creating power points with data and goals, create compelling stories that people can emotionally relate to.  Bring in the external opportunities and hazards so people can see and feel a sense of urgency.  Listen very carefully to employees that interface with customers, ask questions about customers and customer reactions.  Send out scouts to bring in new information from the outside world. Bring people in to tell their stories.

• Behave with urgency yourself every day by being visible and not accepting of status quo and complacency. Attitudes, feelings and actions are contagious. Demonstrate through words and deeds every day through frequent interactions by teaching, encouraging, pushing and rewarding. Be aware of clutter on calendars and agendas as detractors from true urgency. Look for fatigue when the clutter overtakes everyone.

• Don't view crisis as a threat but as a potential opportunity. Be selective with the opportunities presented.  Crises may actually be required in order for an organization to survive and succeed. Those satisfied with status quo may need a "fire under their feet."  Be aware that damage control, while addressing the immediate threat, may actually reinforce complacency and miss opportunities. Take careful, considered action to convert initial anxiety and anger into a determination to act now and win.

 

• Confront the "no nos" that are stated for why new ideas and activities can't work.  Show determination to move.  Be aware that NoNos will often do anything to discredit people who are trying to create a sense of urgency. They will derail processes for change.  Don't ignore this person. They identify weak spots to not to make better decisions to delay or stop action.  Actively distract them, or push them out, or expose their behavior perhaps by even identifying them as no nos within the organization.

The tactics above help us to create a sense of urgency but successes can actually cause us to fall back into satisfaction with success and possible complacency.

We should aspire to a culture within our organizations that value the capacity to grab new opportunities, avoid the hazards that introduce continuous risk, and find ways to win on the playing field of change.

 Reflections....

• Are you asking the right questions to gauge the sense of urgency within your team or organization?
• What ways do you use to create a culture of urgency?
• How have you used a sense of urgency with your teams to identify opportunities?
• Have you experienced the irony of successes leading to complacency?