Change is uncomfortable and hard to achieve, revealing why most organizational transformations are unsuccessful. In his famous book “A Sense of Urgency,” John Kotter, a renowned scholar, provides eight actionable steps to lead and implement long-lasting organizational change effectively. According to Kotter, the first stage is creating urgency to trigger people to realize the need for transformation (Kotter, 2008). Several questions arise as to why urgency is Kotter’s main focus item. Urgency is vital in organizational change as it leads to action and pushes individuals out of their comfort zones, leading to business success.
Inaction is a severe challenge in a business that can result in financial loss. Effective managers understand that creating a sense of urgency is the best way to fight inaction. Teams and individuals tend to act whenever they see a need or urgent reason to do so. Sometimes, people fail to perform due to fear, past mistakes, or lack of conviction. However, a sense of urgency compels one to overcome all these limitations. In addition, Kotter focuses on urgency as a way to push people to fight against complacency (Kotter, 2008). Given that change is uncomfortable, most people tend to stay a little longer in their comfort zones, even when a transformation is necessary. Therefore, a sense of urgency is the much-needed extra push for people to work hard. Hence, managers and leaders of organizations establish a sense of urgency to deal with complacency in their businesses.
Overall, Kotter provides crucial information on how to lead change in an organization. His eight steps offer a framework that business leaders can utilize to implement transformations. Kotter’s first step is creating a sense of urgency to compel people to act and fight complacency. Therefore, leaders can avoid common organizational change failures by creating a sense of urgency that makes their employees work and leave their comfort zones.
References
Kotter, J. P. (2008). A sense of urgency. Harvard Business Press.