Did you know? There’s something spooky right under your nose. It has been making its way through industry after industry for the past 100 years. It’s not picky on how big or small or young or old the company is. It simply won’t stop. Say hello to complacency, or as Merriam-Webster defines it—self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.
In 1996, John Kotter released a book called Leading Change, which documented an eight-step approach to drive meaningful change across an organization. Over time, Kotter heard from many of his clients and readers and learned that many struggled with the first step, creating a sense of urgency. In response, he released A Sense of Urgency in 2015 where he defined a strategy and four tactics to help kickstart an organization’s move towards greatness.
In this blog post, we’ll dive deeper into his strategy and arm you with the tools to combat this hidden threat.
Before we dive into the tactics, we wanted to share with you how Kotter defines complacency and a sense of urgency.
- Complacency is that warm and fuzzy feeling where you know what to do and you do it. It often comes after success. Folks are happy with the status quo and may not be aware of the changes in the market, which may lead the company to ruin.
- A false sense of urgency should remind you of the This is Fine meme. You and your teams may be aware that your company’s Q4 results did not meet expectations or that a competitor’s newest product was a success. However, things are frantic, and there’s a high sense of anxiety, frustration, and fear.
What we are aiming for is a true sense of urgency, where people move with purpose and are powered by the desire to win. Now, how do we get there? We start with developing a strategy that caters to the heart and mind.
When presenting your strategy to your teams, Kotter recommends that you aim for the heart. He starts the section speaking about a company that had a head of IT who knew that his company needed to update their systems or else, a competitor would take over their market share. The head put together a 150-page business case that documented every issue and recommendation and presented the facts to all necessary groups. What happened? The case was all logic. People knew the consequences, yet didn’t move with urgency. The project took an extra year to complete. It was 40% more than the target cost and only delivered 70% of the promised functionality.
Kotter says that yes, you must use logic just as the head of IT leveraged previously. And, you should communicate your goals in a way that arouses determination. Instead of showing a collection of slides, you can keep it simple. Tell a story about the company’s history and its impact on you. Use humor tastefully. Avoid lighting that would prevent you from seeing your audience. Your goal is to connect with them and give them that desire to win.
Although Kotter agrees with the use of logic and communication of goals, it must be delivered effectively. The head of IT could have kept it simple. Kotter shares these simple techniques: Tell a story about the company’s history and its impact on you; Use humor tastefully; Avoid lighting that would prevent you from seeing your audience. Your goal is to connect with them and give them that desire to win.
After setting the stage, Kotter dives into the four tactics to help you generate a sense of urgency. As an organization grows, there’s a tendency to draw inward. We may not see the challenges and opportunities in the market. We start to become satisfied with the status quo and slip into complacency. To combat this, Kotter states that you must bring “the outside in” aka tactic #1.
The easiest place to start is by listening to your teams that are already customer-facing. Kotter speaks of a district manager who visited his stores and got direct feedback from his cashiers. By doing this, he found out that the customers didn’t like the music in the stores— a data point that would have been missed if they sent out a paper survey.
Other methods include capturing videos of your customers using your product, decorating your office space with diagrams that depict the latest trends and news in the market, sending your teams out to conferences and events, and bringing external experts in.
Wherever this data comes from, Kotter urges you to not shield it from your teams. Remember to speak to your teams’ hearts and be honest with the information you have received.
With Kotter’s second tactic, you are in control. It is up to you to act with urgency in the way you speak, act, and move. He begins this section by introducing Ninan, a manager who runs three offices in Hyderabad. His firm was falling behind as new competitors entered the market. Ninan was determined to win and saw this challenge as an opportunity.
First, Ninan responded fast and moved “now”. When in meetings, he explicitly said what he was doing and by when. If someone reached out to him to chat, he immediately made time for them. How was he able to do this? He delegated and cut distractions ruthlessly. If something was not adding value and was deemed low priority, it was either removed from his slate or delegated to someone else.
In the end, Ninan led by example and cultivated a culture that led with urgent patience.
Kotter’s third tactic revolves around crises. When it comes to crises, companies either avoid and control them, use a crisis to generate urgency, or create one themselves. Each option comes with a cost. By controlling them, you may generate complacency since teams are shielded from reality. For the latter two, there’s a risk that fear and anxiety will dominate over the desire to win.
Kotter presents four mistakes that will prevent you from finding opportunity in a crisis. First, never assume that a crisis will create a sense of urgency. You must have a plan to actively address it. Secondly, don’t create problems for the sake of creating problems. A Midwestern manufacturing company manager created processes that intentionally slowed down progress. As a result, folks felt manipulated and focused their attention at the manager instead of course correcting their plant.
Thirdly, don’t wait for a crisis. Remember, tactic #1 and #2. Continue to listen to the market and act with urgency. Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of a crisis. It can quickly become a disaster if folks are unaware and act with a false sense of urgency. Instead, he urges you to be proactive on how your teams will react and develop a strategy to bring people together.
For the final tactic, Kotter opens this section by differentiating between a skeptic and a NoNo. A skeptic is actually open to new information and willing to have his or her perspective change. However, a NoNo is someone that says everything is fine and will have an excuse not to act on every challenge and opportunity that arises. They choose what information they want to hear and actively shut down any ideas, which may generate anxiety and frustration.
The two things that Kotter doesn’t recommend you doing is inviting your NoNos into your committees or leaving them out. Rather, there are three options you can leverage. First, you can distract them. Kotter shares how one company sent a NoNo to Shanghai instead of keeping them in London. The NoNo was the perfect fit. He knew how to impose discipline in order to bring Shanghai back on its feet. At the same time, the groups in London could push forward with their initiatives.
Second, you can let them go. Given your country’s employment laws, you can be direct by offering them a retirement package or firing them. Although this may be an uncomfortable method, Kotter reminds you to think about the bigger picture. Will this moment of discomfort bring greater success to your organization?
Thirdly, you can immobilize them through social pressure. At one company, after reading Kotter’s Our Iceberg is Melting, a book that talks about change by telling a story about penguins, an admin brought a stuffed penguin and hung a sign that said “NoNo is _____.” A manager’s name popped up on the sign, and then, he adjusted his behavior. Folks were able to bring the NoNos to the forefront in a lighthearted way.
By leveraging a strategy that speaks to your teams’ hearts & minds and implementing Kotter’s four tactics, your teams can move with urgency and reach success. However, the hard work doesn’t stop there. After celebrating and recognizing the success, one must anticipate that urgency will falter. You must continue to apply the four tactics to keep you and your company moving forward.
The goal is that acting with a sense of urgency becomes intertwined into you, your team, and your organization’s mindset. The journey will not be easy, and this is where all your tricks and treats will come. You might present facts about the industry in a different way or reuse a phrase that really resonated with your teams. Mix it up. Keep it light. Make one small change each day. Whatever you decide, never settle for the status quo.
In conclusion, this is the perfect day– Friday the 13th– to spend the night in and reflect on how the week has passed. Have you been frustrated by the lack of change? Do you sense anxiety among your teammates? Are people fluttering about in a state of business, but in reality, nothing is really getting done? Then, it may be time for you to arm yourself with Kotter’s tactics so that you’ll be ready to meet Jason at the door. Are you ready for it?
Don’t forget to check our review of Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning.