15 Ways to Generate Urgency Now
Failure is the result of lack of urgency.
Comfortable rhythms set-in. People wander toward fuzzy goals. Focus becomes drifting.
Complacency drives real leaders crazy.
Goals without urgency are fantasies.
15 indicators urgency has left the building:
- Customers irritate and outsiders are marginalized.
- Teams justify poor performance.
- Comfort is job one.
- Everyone tip-toes around important issues.
- Minimizing problems.
- Maximizing history.
- Protecting the bosses feelings.
- Meetings without action.
- “It’s not my job,” is the team’s motto.
- Leaders and managers remain distant and hands off.
- Deadlines are suggestions.
- OK is good enough.
- “Our system doesn’t allow us to do that,” is acceptable.
- Infighting prevails.
- Office politics rules.
Success requires urgency. Complacent teams are dead before they start.
15 ways to generate urgency:
Urgency ignites with the feeling that you must solve this problem or seize this opportunity, now.
- Listen to outsiders. Insiders – who lack passion for customers – are complacent, already.
- Speak to their values. Generating urgency is about whats in them, not you.
- Ask, “What happens if we do nothing?”
- Point out current or future dangers.
- Burn the ships. Leaders who aren’t solving big problems are figureheads.
- Define next steps. Set someones hair on fire the next time a meeting ends without action items.
- Measure results. Ask for updates that have observable results.
- Keep asking about the same things.
- Shine the light on the boogeyman in the corner. Nothing gets done when leaders pretend everything’s OK.
- Celebrate a victory.
- Create a deadline.
- Set a goal.
- Visit a successful competitor.
- Honor young leaders who get things done.
- Transfer authority and responsibility from talkers to doers.
Bonus: Fire someone who drains the teams energy.
Creating urgency is leadership’s urgent priority.
What urgency building strategies DON’T work?
What can you do today to generate urgency today?
This is such an important post. I’m always amazed at the difference between teams (who have the same goals and metrics), some knock it out of the park… others have many of the issues you describe here. Real urgency matters. Great leaders inspire the right kind of urgency. Lacek of the good kind of urgency leads to frenetic fire drills, which mascarades as action and is just a waste of time.
Thanks Karin. This post reminded me that generating and fueling urgency is my daily responsibility.
I’m glad you added a warning about frenetic fire drills. Urgency is not just about activity. It’s about focused, useful activities. Things like vision and goals are necessary, too.
You need a fire drill after setting someones hair on fire. LOL love it.
all good points. I think accountability is important, and that when people have ownership they tend to be more inspired.
Thanks Billgncs. I’m glad you added accountability to this conversation. It’s not a dirty word.
Failure is not a lack of urgency. Jeez!
One can practice the same thing over and over with epic urgency and not get where they want to go, right? Right.
Only one way I create urgency. You may find this true too.
Create a compelling story in my head that tells me immediate action is necessary to avoid the most excruciating pain I could ever imagine.
This story I create in my head causes me to ACT NOW!
Simple as that.
Just for me two days shy of my 30th Sober and Clean birthday, life just keeps getting simpler and I AM more effective!!!
Imagine that!!! I AM!!
SP
EA
Congratulations on nearly 30 years of sobriety. Your comment, however, is inconsistent. First you put down the power of urgency and then explain how you create it.
You misunderstood Dan, that is cool.
Thanks for the congrats by the way. Thank God, his doing not mine.
Urgency by and of itself in not the cause of winning or loosing or being effective or not.
Urgency is just energy. That energy is important but energy in and of by itself is just energy.
Yes I know how to create it at an Epic Level and do, regularly.
It is how that energy is directed causes results.
Like if I wanted to go to lose weight. I can with all the energy I can create with compelling stories in my head, feel the urgency.
If the Plan I have is to feel this energy sitting on the couch eating Bon bons……what good is this energy Dan?
Zip, zero, nada.
It is this energy combined with an Effective Plan, eating more raw foods, MOVING more, drinking plenty of water.
The energy combined with Best Practices gives me the best chance at arriving to my predetermined goal.
Not just energy, by and of itself does anything but produce a feeling. That does not by itself determine success or failure, in my opinion.
Turns out I was not inconsistent after all.
Just my opinion, does not mean you are wrong if you see it 180% different.
Just means we COULD agree to disagree!
SP
EA
All great ideas Dan, but 2 and 3 are by far the most important and they go hand-in-hand. What are our values and what will be the consequences to those values if we fail to act. I know someone who can use this today.
Thanks Steven. Speaking to values is speaking to the heart. Many of us miss the point on this one. We talk facts and statistics and skip the heart.
I know someone who can use this today, too. 😉
Taking that one step further, though, our values are our identity. They define us. They are how we calibrate our moral compass and choose priorities. The prospect of compromising those values is what drives urgency, don’t you think?
I see what you mean. I get pretty fired up when I feel one of my values is being violated. You could look at it from the positive side, too. The opportunity to fulfill our values drives urgency, as well.
Absolutely, Dan. Absolutely.
This is such a good reminder. I like to have time to think through everything, weigh options, ponder…I always appreciate people who keep pushing and set deadlines when they see a fleeting opportunity. It is so much easier to mull. But my goal is to act. Act. Act. This is the year of Yes. So this is exactly what I needed today – thanks!
Thanks Katie. “Yes” is such a powerful word! Love it.
I find that people who press me to act can be irritating. But, its better to listen to the things that frustration us.
Dear Dan,
“Creating urgency is the leadership’s priority” is a powerful concept. Leaders need to find out option to create urgency. And to do this, the most important task is to create opportunity. Unless opportunity exists, urgency does not exist. To create opportunity, leaders need to analyze the market, key players, products and customer segment. Keeping in view, all these concept, opportunity can be created.
so, any urgency strategy that does not seek to create opportunity does not work. And to generate urgency, it is utmost important to create opportunity. But creating opportunity alone is not enough. Whom you are going to present about opportunity, they should believe it. They should believe that it is possible to achieve opportunity. Unless people believe, urgency can not be created. Therefore, important leadership task is to create a committed team who can make survey,analyze data and present to key people to make them believe in opportunity. Once they are successful in doing this, urgency is automatically created.
Thanks Dr. Gupta. I got the image of desperation as I thought about people who were all fired up but with no place to go. An opportunity is a place to go!
Love the connection between belief, opportunity, and urgency. KaPow!
Discernment is critical prior to getting into any action or inaction…with urgency 😉
Goals without urgency are fantasies. (Just tweeted this)
Fantastic insight. I never thought about the lack of urgency being a key factor to not achieving ones goals. If it is not important to you, it will not be important to the others involved. Time constraints create action as well as separate the talkers from the doers. Thanks Dan! -BEAST
Thanks Beast. We can’t minimize the power of example. It’s ridiculous to call people to full engagement when we are only 1/2 engaged, for example.
As I look around I notice many of us have taken on the mannerisms of zombies. It appears as though we have no direction. We must first have a destination before we have any hurry to get there.