CHANGE MANAGEMENT

To Create Healthy Urgency,

Focus on a Big Opportunity
by John P. Kotter
FEBRUARY 21, 2014

There are two basic kinds of energy in organizations. One, triggered by a big opportunity, can
create momentum in the right direction and sustain it over time. The other, based on fear or
anxiety, might overcome complacency for a time, but it does not build any momentum or
maintain it. Instead it can create a panic, with all the obvious negative consequences stressing
people out and eventually draining an organization of the very energy leaders wanted to
generate.

Weve all seen both kinds of energy: opportunity-driven urgency versus anxiety-driven activity.
The weight of all my work and experience point overwhelmingly to the fact that in order to create
change of real signicance, to execute any new and dierent strategy, you need a sense of true
urgency among as many people as possible. I have found that with less than 50% of managers
and employees feeling that urgency, youre very vulnerable to failure.

Ive also found that people often mistake anxiety-driven activity for a true sense of urgency. But
the two are vastly dierent.

When a person has a true sense of urgency, sparked by a signicant opportunity, they are moved
by that thought and feeling literally every day. In addition to doing their daily jobs, they
proactively look for where they might be able to take action that moves them toward the
opportunity. In a faster and faster moving world, this dynamic is invaluable.

In contrast, when a person is motivated by anxiety-driven false urgency, they may be

exceptionally active conducting many meetings, generating reports and PowerPoints, and
burning up lots of hours. But that is activity, not productivity, and it also tends to be activity that
is self-protective not organizationally important. It is basically running in circles with great
energy.

Moreover, because of the way perception and information get ltered in our management-driven
hierarchies, it can be very dicult to distinguish false from true urgency. Both look very dierent
from complacency. Both display movement, activity, and initiative. A competent and well-
meaning executive may see a big opportunity and begin to act on it, assuming that others also see
it and will follow accordingly. But because of the tiered and siloed system he or she operates in,
the belief that all is well and that needed momentum rather than anxiety or panic is building,
may be completely untrue. And when truth becomes known, the damage is usually already done.

What to do? My colleagues and I at Kotter International have found again and again that a sense
of urgency around a big opportunity can create powerful and sustainable action. The
opportunity must be real and clear, of course. And it must be described and communicated about
in ways that people can relate to and that draws on peoples feelings, not just their intellects.
Remember: hearts and minds. Without this kind of positive energy at the core, no signicant
change eort can succeed.

Here are a couple of related pieces of advice:

Never assume that the people youre leading or working with seewhat you see, even if a
problem or opportunity seems obvious, blazing, impossible to miss. Peoples view of the world
is limited by silo walls and the ceilings and oors of their level in the hierarchy. A few emails or
town hall meetings will not change this.

Never forget that so-called burning platforms can create more problems than solutions. Think
of a crowded movie theater. Before yelling re! consider the risk of people being trampled to
death trying to exit the theater, or consider that even if they do make it out alive theyll
probably run frantically in ten dierent directions before collapsing, exhausted. No
organization needs that kind of negative energy.

Related to the second point, keep in mind what the psychologists have pretty much proven:
when it comes to sustained eort at a high level, positive feelings are innitely more successful
than negative. Fear and anxiety produce adrenaline which keeps people going for a limited
time before leading quickly to burnout.
For those who think their businesses have no opportunity that can create true urgency, all I can
say is that I have yet to nd a situation where one does not in fact exist. Put a group of smart
managers or executives in a room, facilitate the right kind of discussion for a day, and they will
come up with a clear and emotionally compelling opportunity statement every time. Ive seen it,
and Ive seen the power that can be generated when you get a group of excited employees nding
creative ways to use that idea to ignite passion in their colleagues, and make change happen.

John P. Kotter is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at Harvard Business School and the
Chief Innovation Ofcer at Kotter International, a rm that helps leaders accelerate strategy implementation in their
organizations. His newest book, Accelerate, was released in April 2014.

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11 COMMENTS

Ajay Kumar Handa 3 years ago

Some questions ...
a) How many work because they are inuenced by bosses viz. a viz. those who have urgency and energy in their
DNA?
b) How many are inuenced by performing team members and peers in a set up than by their seniors ?
c) How many learn because there is learning in the environment viz. a viz. those who have learning at their core as
deep seated value.