The Misfortunes of Uninformed Urgency

Issue 159, May 9, 2024

We write often and passionately about the sense of urgency organizations should feel as they manage disruptive marketplaces, unpredictable consumer trends, and geopolitical instability. Coupled with urgency are our mantras about market orientation, shared purpose, and critical thinking.  We could stop right there but we’re not going to! We don’t want our advocation about modern leadership and organizational strategies to become platitudes and buzzwords. In that spirit, we’re taking a fresh look at urgency and the nuanced meaning of “informed” urgency.

It may sound like a contradiction, but informed urgency is critical to adapting and transforming in today’s dynamic marketplace. First off, let’s not confuse urgency with speed. Urgency is necessity, immediacy, and insistence. And informed urgency, therefore, is a knowledge-based necessity.  We have written about the value of reflective decision-making and strategic re-think, both as foundational practices and as the…