“Urgency” is the biggest managerial lie of them all

You hear about a ‘sense of urgency’ often in the business world. Here’s a Wharton interview with the CFO of Price Waterhouse, for example; the title is about living with a sense of urgency. John Kotter of Harvard Business School wrote a book literally entitled A Sense of Urgency.

I’m of two minds on this book, but generally I think any discussions about a sense of urgency are straight-up managerial tricks. Let’s explore.

A sense of urgency and first-mover advantage

I’d assume most executives and senior decision-makers, when preaching a sense or urgency to their lieutenants on any topic or project, will probably talk in some form or fashion about the first-mover advantage. Essentially, they’re telling their people “We gotta get there first. We gotta capture that market share.” This is logical, because business tends to deify war, and in war planning, “getting there first” makes a lot of sense. The problem is, it’s not really true in business planning.

Here’s a recent Adam Grant TED Talk that’s been making some rounds: