Unfortunately, in the 20-plus years since we began that venture, I have learned that there seems to be an inverse relationship between a company\u2019s size and the sense of urgency embedded in the culture.<\/p>\n
More often than not, small companies have a sense of urgency. Why? Because their very survival is at stake. If they don\u2019t move quickly, they get squashed by larger, more established competitors.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, it is rare to find large companies that truly have a sense of urgency. Their circumstances rarely demand it. They can continue with business-as-usual and do pretty well. Nothing has to be done today or even this week. Nothing is really at stake\u2014or so they think. Often, by the time they wake up, it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n
But in today\u2019s environment, no one can afford to drift along with the status quo<\/em>. Growth is not a foregone conclusion. Even survival cannot be taken for granted.<\/p>\n The companies that thrive in today\u2019s economy will be those that can shift their cultures from the slower pace of business-as-usual to urgency. Because of this, I have made \u201cUrgency\u201d our annual theme for Thomas Nelson. I want this attribute to permeate every aspect of our culture. I know we have a long way to go.<\/p>\n But first, we have to understand it. To create a sense of urgency, we must do four things well:<\/p>\n As the old adage goes, \u201cit is easier to steer a moving object.\u201d If you\u2019ve made the wrong decision, you can adjust. But if you wait too long, you miss the opportunity entirely.<\/p>\n More than ever, people want fast decisions. Speed can be a competitive advantage. But this requires leaders who are willing to activate and get themselves, their teams, and their projects into motion.<\/li>\n It is the nature of bureaucracies to become self-serving. When they do, the process<\/em> becomes an end in itself. As a leader, you have to fight this. You have to identify obstacles and remove them. You must keep the pedal to the metal and keep things moving. If you don\u2019t, inertia will take over and your project will die.<\/li>\n My goal at Thomas Nelson is to create a culture that is outcome-focused rather than task-focused. I don\u2019t care how we produce the results (within the appropriate ethical boundaries), so long as we produce them. We need to stay focused on the what<\/em> and give our people room to decide the how<\/em>.<\/li>\n The only antidote is to this is to eliminate everything that does not facilitate the desired outcome. Our job as leaders\u2014as opposed to bureaucrats\u2014is to remove the obstacles and give our people the best chance of achieving their goals and ours.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n What specifically can you do to create more urgency? Try these:<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see a lack of urgency in others, but can you see it in yourself? What else can you do, beginning now, to create a sense of urgency in yourself, your department, and with your projects?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twenty years ago, Robert Wolgemuth and I started a publishing company. We had a dream to publish books that truly made a difference, in people\u2019s lives and in the overall culture. The only problem was that we didn\u2019t have much money. Our competitors had seemingly every advantage, including piles of working capital (or so we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/mh.fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/the-urgency-wheel.036.jpg\" "\\"The")
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