Sense of urgency

According to Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus John P. Kotter, one of today's most renowned experts on change and leadership, what companies lack for success is a true sense of urgency—a distinctive attitude and instinctive feeling that leads people to seize opportunities and avoid risks. Today, when arriving at work, most people are faced with many tasks to complete in a very short space of time: numerous emails to respond to, meetings, and informal get-togethers outside the office. For Professor Kotter, it's essential to always work with a sense of urgency, that is, establishing daily priorities that can bring about small changes in the short term but fundamental in the long term. These changes are often pushed to the back burner in daily routines, and professionals end up getting lost in actions that don't generate results. For these changes to be sustained, a sense of urgency must be an essential practice, sustained by everyone in a company. It's an almost instinctive feeling. By establishing and implementing priorities, frequently eliminating activities that result in short-lived results, it's possible to move forward and progress faster and more intelligently. The author warns that it's important to know how to differentiate a false sense of urgency from a true one. False urgency causes a stressful, frantic, and paralyzing sensation, while true urgency, even if it requires quick action, is stable, persevering, and pursues a goal. According to Kotter, "it's essential to act daily with a sense of urgency, but with a realistic view of time. This means recognizing that it might take five years to achieve a major goal, and going to work every day convinced that you'll find every opportunity to transform progress into that goal." John Kotter also warns about the importance of looking for opportunities that are obscured by the emergence of crises: "Fear can paralyze negotiations, and preventing it is a necessary action. A sense of urgency can get you through a crisis successfully." In this book, professor and consultant John P. Kotter explains simply and clearly what a sense of urgency really is in an organization, why it is becoming an exceptional advantage, and how it can be created and sustained within institutions. A sense of urgency guides professionals in any company to avoid habits that lead to stagnation.