What is the single biggest mistake that organisations make when trying to undergo a change process? According to John P Kotter in his new book A Sense of Urgency, the biggest mistake is the failure to create a high enough sense of urgency among enough people to create sufficient momentum to bring about the change. The biggest enemies to creating a sense of urgency are complacency and false urgency, which happens when people act frenetically without being productive.
True urgency involves creating “action that is exceptionally alert, externally oriented, relentlessly aimed at winning, making some progress each and every day, and constantly purging low value-added activities.” To achieve true urgency, it is necessary to appeal to the hearts of people and not just to their minds. This can be done by bringing in emotionally compelling external data and influences, behaving with urgency by way of example, finding opportunities in crisis, and removing or neutralising opponents of change.
The book is quite short, but like Kotter’s earlier book Leading Change it addresses an exceptionally important aspect of organisational management in a concise and helpful way. Nearly all organisations suffer to some extent from the complacency bug, and this book provides excellent advice for overcoming it. I highly recommend the book for anyone – whether in a formal leadership position or not – who wants to be an agent of positive change within an organisation.
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