{"id":1567,"date":"2009-11-22T13:15:42","date_gmt":"2009-11-22T20:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/?p=1567"},"modified":"2017-03-18T15:26:08","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T20:26:08","slug":"complacency-true-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency-and-organizational-change-and-transformation-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/complacency-true-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency-and-organizational-change-and-transformation-turnaround\/1567\/","title":{"rendered":"When Leading Change Management Initiatives, Watch Out for Complacency"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a296a24fa2fc69ef5487857f02f111e8\" data-index=\"9\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Single Post readerboard -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8207522353004717\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1144967431\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>John Kotter makes a good case that <a title=\"sense of urgency is needed for transformations\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/turnaround-and-change-management-do-not-waste-a-good-crisis\/1466\/\" target=\"_blank\">urgency is the key ingredient in any organizational transformation<\/a>.\u00a0 Conversely, the lower the urgency, the higher the likelihood that the firm will collapse or fail or not transform in a way that will enable it to win in a changing marketplace.\u00a0 Kotter does something else that is interesting: he defines True Sense of Urgency, <a title=\"complacency will make your effort fail\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/why-transformation-efforts-fail\/1510\/\" target=\"_blank\">Complacency<\/a>, and False Sense of Urgency.\u00a0 This was very instructive.<\/p>\n<p>While the Venn Diagram below is not his rendering but mine, the content and idea is from his book:<\/p>\n<p>So, Kotter, argues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A True Sense of Urgency<\/strong> is &#8220;Urgent activity, action which is alert, fast moving, focused on the important issues, relentless, and continuously purging irrelevant activities, and leading other by example &#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Complacency <\/strong>is &#8220;Unchanging activity, action which ignores an organization&#8217;s new opportunities or hazards, focuses inward (navel gazing &#8211; not Kotter&#8217;s term, but mine), does whatever has been the norm in the past, supports and defends the status quo, asleep-at-the-wheel quality to it &#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>A False Sense of Urgency<\/strong> is &#8220;Frenetic activity, meeting-meeting, writing-writing, going-going, projects-projects &#8211; and none of it is purposeful &#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter wp-image-4417 size-full\" title=\"complacency in transformation efforts\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/shmula-complacency-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency.jpg\" alt=\"lack of urgency, complacency in change management\" width=\"855\" height=\"649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/shmula-complacency-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency.jpg 855w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/shmula-complacency-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency-600x455.jpg 600w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/shmula-complacency-urgency-false-sense-of-urgency-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The mistake most companies make is confusing False Sense of Urgency with True Sense of Urgency.\u00a0 I completely agree with Kotter on this point.\u00a0 To deconfuse this point, I created the Venn Diagram above and found it helpful in delineating between True and False Sense of Urgency &#8211; in which ways are they similar and in which ways are they different.\u00a0 The same goes for Complacency.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what is interesting.\u00a0 Complacency and False Sense of Urgency are closer than we think, but Complacency and True Sense of Urgency share no attributes at all.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A True Sense of Urgency is required for ANY turnaround &#8211; a project, a division, a family, or a company.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A True Sense of Urgency is required for ANY turnaround &#8211; a project, a division, a family, or a company.\u00a0 Knowing the behavioral difference between True and False Sense of Urgency and Complacency is helpful for any change agent and leader who is in the service of mobilizing people to win together.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/john-kotters-8-step-process-for-leading-change\/22482\/\">Learn more about John Kotter&#8217;s 8-Step Process for Leading Change &gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Kotter makes a good case that urgency is the key ingredient in any organizational transformation.\u00a0 Conversely, the lower the urgency, the higher the likelihood that the firm will collapse or fail or not transform in a way that will enable it to win in a changing marketplace.\u00a0 Kotter does something else that is interesting: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[175,1014,1012,638,1013],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Change Management Initiatives, Watch Out for Complacency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the behavioral difference between complacency, false sense of urgency, and true sense of urgency and how change leaders\" \/>\n<meta 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