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A Sense of Urgency |  | Author: John P. Kotter
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
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New (44) Used (32) Collectible (1) from $7.93
Seller: gdwil
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 7497
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 128
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1422179710
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.406
EAN: 9781422179710
ASIN: 1422179710
Publication Date: September 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide.
Now, in Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.
Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises.
In this exciting new book, Kotter explains:
How to go beyond "the business case" for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgencyWays to ensure that your actions and behaviors -- not just your words -- communicate the need for changeHow to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes
Written in Kotter's signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
 Changing the idea of change management November 17, 2008
M. McDonald (Chicago, IL United States)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
A Sense of Urgency is a book that is sorely needed in today's times as the difference between urgency and change will make the difference between survival and liquidation in today's economy. Executives need to recognize the difference between the two. Urgency creates a motivating force on results and teaming. Change is imposed from above, the subject of skepticism and Dilbert cartoons.
Every organization needs to change, that is commonly understood and the subject of endless books, including those by John Kotter. We have become complacent in our approaches to change management as every one of those books deals with change as a process, an event something that happens and then happens again at a latter date. This gives executives the belief that there is a change management recipe, based on principles like the burning platform, communication, and executive sponsorship. That recipe has lost its meaning and its time for use to change the approach to change management.
I recommend this book to any executive, manager, team leader, and concerned professional as a way for them to lead and create results in a powerful way. The book is easily read over a weekend, a couple of airplane rides, etc. The charts and tools are clearly presented and actionable. Overall a must read part of any management library.
Why? Because change has lost its potency. It's become routine and we have lost sight of its fundamental roots. Change and enterprises have become internally focused, concerned with themselves, their processes, their investments etc.
Kotter reminds us that the root of success involves sense of Urgency. Urgency is the highly positive and focused forces that give people the determination to move and win now. It's a simple definition but one that is powerful and well executed throughout the book.
A sense of urgency is a focused book concentrating on the actions and practices involved in creating and sustaining a sense of urgency. Kotter provides four core tactics for driving urgency into an organization. These tactics are supported by anecdotal stories and detailed tools which make the book actionable and practical. The tactics are:
Bring the outside in
Behave with urgency every day
Find opportunity in crisis
Deal with NoNo's
This can give the reader the sense that there is `a recipe for urgency' and I guess that is unavoidable, but internalizing the books message you can readily get a sense of how this all fits into your context.
The strengths of the book centered on its clear and focused organization of these ideas in a way that Executives can easily read on a plane ride or afternoon and apply these practices right away. Kotter accompanies each Urgency Tactic with the details that not only make it real, but also really applicable. Here is a detailed example for the first tactic:
Bring the outside in:
a. Recognize the pervasive problem of internal focus
b. Listen to customer-interfacing employees
c. Use the power of video
d. Don't always shield people from troubling data
e. Redecorate
f. Send people out
g. Bring people in
h. Bring data in, but in the right way
i. Watch out that you don't create a false sense of urgency
Each sub tactic contains a focused page and a half discussion of what they are and how leaders can implement the idea. This detail and its presentation is what really distinguishes the book and brings something new to the debate.
The book's primary weakness is that it is not specific in their examples. There are discussions of nondescript companies that dilute rather than support the messages. Most of the case stories do not have a conclusion - the results companies were able to achieve. This makes the examples more fables that case studies. It's really a shame as strong specific stories are the one thing that is missing that would make this a killer book.
Finally, there are some surprising gaps in the book that by themselves do not diminish the book, but in total they certainly take away from its power. First the book does not recognize that there are other approaches to change management and urgency. This denies the reader the ability to put A Sense of Urgency in the context of the broader literature. This is really unfortunate as this book should replace some ideas and enhance others - Kotter leaves that up to the reader rather than providing a recommendation. Second, the book has no index, which not only makes it tougher to use after the fact, but also is a silly omission.
How to solve "the number-one problem" with workforce performance September 16, 2008
Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)
23 out of 28 found this review helpful
Years ago, Stephen Covey suggested that many (most?) executives spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough on what is important. In Chapter 1 of this book, John Kotter suggests that, in fact, the problem is that many (most?) workers -- including executives -- do not have "a true sense of urgency [that is a] highly positive and highly focused force [and] the result of people, up and down the hierarchy, who provide the leadership needed to create and re-create this increasingly important asset. These sorts of people use a strategy that aims at the heart as well as the mind. They use four sets of tactics." Kotter devotes the balance of his book to explaining what the strategy and tactics are, why they are essential to the success of individuals as well as to the success of their organization, and how those who read his book can execute the strategy and tactics to achieve the given objectives, whatever they may be.
As I read this book, I was reminded of recent research conducted by the Gallup Organization indicating that 29% of the U.S. workforce is engaged (i.e. loyal, enthusiastic, and productive) whereas 55% is passively disengaged. That is, they are going through the motions, doing only what they must, "mailing it in," coasting, etc. What about the other 16%? They are "actively disengaged" in that they are doing whatever they can to undermine their employer's efforts to succeed. They have a toxic impact on their associates and, in many instances, on customer relations. These are stunning statistics. How to explain them? Reasons vary from one organization to the next. However, most experts agree that no more than 5% of any given workforce consists of "bad apples," troublemakers, chronic complainers, subversives, etc. How to get as many as possible among the other 50% to become positively engaged?
It is important to note that, for many years, Kotter has conducted rigorous and extensive research of his own on employee engagement and has a wide and deep range of hands-on experience with hundreds of major corporations that were either planning change initiatives or had only recently embarked on them. In three of his published works (Leading Change, The Heart of Change with Dan Cohen, and Our Iceberg Is Melting), he explains why more than 70% of change initiatives fail. "The number-one problem [organizations] have is all about creating a sense of urgency - and that's the first step in a series of actions needed to succeed in a changing world...Winners first make sure that a sufficient number of people feel a true sense of urgency to look for an organization's critical opportunities and hazards now." It is not that Kotter disagrees with Covey. On the contrary. If I understand what Kotter shares in this book, one of his key points is that workers must devote most of their time to what is most important...and do so by creating and recreating "a true sense of urgency" at all levels and in all areas.
In this context, I am reminded of a hospital emergency room. Its success requires adequate resources as well as a highly skilled staff with cross-functional capabilities. All of its members share "a true sense of urgency" when responding to all manner of health crises. More often than not, they are treating strangers about whom they know little (if anything) and sometimes must deal with a life-or-death situation. There is no time for complacency. Everyone must be fully engaged. For the ER team to be successful, its members must be both intellectually and emotionally committed to assist those entrusted to their care. There is no place on the team for anyone who is unwilling and/or unable to accept these responsibilities. Kotter's point (and I wholeheartedly agree) is that no team can succeed unless and until each of its members feels as well as understands "a true sense of urgency" and that is as true of executives and those on the shop floor as it is of ERs. "Get that right and you are off to a great start. Get that right and you can produce results that you very much want, and the world very much needs."
The other three tactics are best revealed within Kotter's narrative, in context. Now I wish to shift my attention to some material in Chapter 6 as Kotter discusses two perspectives on the nature of crises. "The first group, by far the larger, sees crises as horrid events, and for obvious reasons." Therefore, every effort is to avoid them or at least to prepare for them with comprehensive plans for crisis management and damage control. "A very different perspective on the nature of crises is described with the metaphor of a `burning platform.' In this view, crises are not necessarily bad and may, under certain conditions, actually be required to succeed in an increasingly changing world." Which perspective is correct? "Neither," Kotter responds, and then he explains various downside risks of a damage control mind-set or when using a crisis to reduce complacency and create. Again, what he recommends is best revealed within the narrative. However, I want to reassure those who read this brief commentary that Kotter fully appreciates the potential value of that contingency planning and crisis management. (He is a world-renowned expert on both.) He also clearly aware of problems that could occur when crying "Wolf!" in the absence of such a threat. In this context, his objective is to help his reader to understand how and why there are times when judicious use of created crisis can be appropriate. That said, "any naiveté about the downside risks can cause disaster" and for that reason, he identifies and briefly discusses four "Big Mistakes" (Pages 136-141) and then suggests that crises can be used to create true urgency if eight principles he recommends are followed. (Please see Pages 142-143.) In a world in which change is the only constant and seems to be occurring at an every-increasing velocity, Kotter notes that "finding opportunities in crises probably reduces your overall risk." It seems to me that in this chapter, Kotter explores a previously neglected dimension of crisis of management, and once again, he indicates still other applications of the eight-step pattern introduced in the aforementioned earlier books, Leading Change, The Heart of Change with Dan Cohen, and Our Iceberg Is Melting.
In Chapter 9, he shares his thoughts about how to sustain a high sense of urgency in an organization. That is indeed a major challenge, especially when thinking in terms of doing so throughout an entire enterprise. Obviously, leadership is needed at all levels and in all areas. "The ultimate solution to the problem of urgency dropping after successes is to create the right culture. This is especially true as we move from a world in which change is most episodic to a world in which change is continuous." Completing that transition is never easy but is far easier in what Kotter characterizes as "the right culture." Although significantly different in most ways, all high-performance companies seem to have a culture in which a majority of those involved take pride in what they achieve but are convinced that there is always room for improvement, that they can always do better. They are never satisfied. They view mistakes, errors, detours, dry wells, blind alleys, etc. as valuable learning opportunities. Their change initiatives to sustain improvement tend to be customer-driven and with, you guessed it, "a true sense of urgency."
Is this also true of your culture? If not, I urge you to read this book first and then each of the other three (Leading Change, The Heart of Change with Dan Cohen, and then Our Iceberg Is Melting) to prepare yourself to attract and engage others in urgently needed change initiatives. If not now, when? If not you, who?
Meanwhile, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock....
Leading Change? Get this book now! Urgent! May 22, 2009
Steven Sonsino (London, UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2QU33S7XPEQT3 You know what you've got to do. You've just got to lead the change programme.
But leading change is fraught with difficulties. Why? Well, how about this.
Over 70% of all change projects fail.
So what's the secret? How do you DO change? How do you implement change successfully?
Professor John Kotter of Harvard Business School has identified the single most important aspect of successful change programmes. The leaders who drive successful change identify and communicate a real sense of urgency.
Watch this review now. Then get the book. Before it's too late.
Note: Amazon has limited this review so to get the full review visit www.boss.tv
A Sense of Urgency
What 's important in our lives? October 11, 2008
Joseph S. Maresca (Bronxville, New York USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Organizations tend to acclimate people to do lists
of things. Sometimes, there is a difficulty in
distinguishing between the material versus immaterial
tasks in everyday life.
The author tries to instill in the reader a sense of
urgency. This sense is in contradistinction to the
myriad of things in our lives that can be postponed
now or indefinitely. Urgency provides us with an
incentive to act in the here and now. In addition,
a notion of urgency will help us to identify and
exploit current opportunities that would otherwise
be ignored due to "greater priorities in the bureaucracy".
We must transcend the status quo, deal with distractions
and embrace the right change. Ultimately, we must choice a course
of action, anticipate problems, choose a strategy and
employ the right tactics.
The author spurs us to choose to do the right things
rather than producing work aimlessly.
The book forces us to think more carefully about our daily regimen
and how our efforts fit within an overall pattern of progress
forward.
Change For Survival October 28, 2008
Michael Gooch (Texas, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Back in the 70's I received a minor promotion on the job. My boss stated that the promotion was in large part due to my "sense of urgency". At the time, I really didn't fully understand what he meant but grew to love this attribute in others as the years and decades went by.
As a corporate human resources director, I find this trait is needed more today than ever in the past. Amid the continual chaos in our markets, Kotter has written a timely book that every manager should have on their desk or night stand. In his book, Kotter explains the hurdles that pop-up preventing a sense of urgency mindset. He speaks the truth when writing about making the "business case" and the limited value of such for most people. More importantly, he details how to remove these roadblocks. One of the most helpful sections speaks to the actions we must take to maintain the urgency after the initial sell.
I found this to be a very helpful book that I will be sharing with management. I hope you find this review helpful. Michael L. Gooch, Wingtips with Spurs: Cowboy Wisdom for Today's Business Leaders.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 44
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