Why Urgency is the Secret Ingredient for Entrepreneurial Success 📢❗🚨

In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, urgency is a crucial driver of success. Yet, too often, individuals, teams, and entire organizations lose their sense of urgency. This isn't a minor slip-up—it's a fundamental error that can erode competitiveness, stifle innovation, and allow complacency to creep in.

I am thinking about it this week, because I was speaking to an entrepreneur I admire and her whole working thesis was imploding due to her organization loosing its edge. On exploring more it became evident that her organization was loosing its sense of urgency, not purpose. Let’s explore the pitfalls of losing urgency, how to recognize it, an actionable framework to restore it, and lessons from thought leaders who stress the importance of urgency.

The Pitfalls of Losing Urgency

When urgency fades, so does momentum. A lack of urgency can manifest in several ways: deadlines are missed, priorities shift without purpose, and complacency sets in. This can have devastating consequences for a business. As John Kotter highlights in his book A Sense of Urgency, complacency is a silent killer of innovation and competitiveness. Without a consistent push toward action, opportunities slip by unnoticed, and crises, when they arrive, seem insurmountable​(HBS Working Knowledge).

Consider the challenges faced by organizations that once dominated their industries but failed to maintain urgency. Companies like Blockbuster, Kodak, and Blackberry serve as cautionary tales. They were slow to adapt to changing markets and technologies, largely because they didn’t act with urgency when the signs of change were clear. As a result, they lost relevance, market share, and eventually, their businesses.

Recognizing the Signs of Lost Urgency

The first step to solving any problem is recognizing it. Here are the key indicators that urgency may be slipping away in your organization:

1. Routine Over Innovation: Teams are content with the status quo, showing reluctance to question existing practices or explore new ideas.

2. Declining Productivity: Projects drag on longer than necessary, and deadlines become flexible suggestions rather than firm goals.

3. Lack of Proactive Problem-Solving: Employees wait for problems to emerge before addressing them, instead of anticipating challenges and acting preemptively.

4. Complacency in Leadership: Leaders assume past success will continue without the need for immediate action, allowing market dynamics to shift unfavorably around them.

Restoring Urgency: A Proven Framework

To reignite a sense of urgency in your business, consider applying a structured approach based on leadership principles:

1. Create a Crisis (Without a Real Crisis): While it may sound counterintuitive, Kotter suggests manufacturing a sense of crisis in controlled ways. This means highlighting real business challenges or missed opportunities to wake people from complacency​(HBS Working Knowledge). However, be careful not to create false urgency based on fear, as this can backfire and cause panic.

2. Focus on Meaningful Metrics: Urgency must be tied to clear, measurable outcomes. Randy Grieser of The Ordinary Leader stresses the importance of focused urgency. This involves driving action based on thoughtful intention—encouraging teams to act now but with clarity and purpose​(The Ordinary Leader by Randy Grieser).

3. Leverage Opportunities, Not Just Threats: Urgency doesn’t need to come from threats alone. By framing opportunities as fleeting, you can inspire action. For example, communicate that a new market opportunity won’t last forever, and taking immediate steps could yield long-term rewards​(Thought Leaders LLC).

4. Model Urgency from the Top: Leadership must exemplify urgency. Teams are more likely to embrace urgency when they see their leaders consistently pushing forward with energy and purpose. Tom Pandola, in his work on building corporate culture, emphasizes that urgency should be ingrained in how leaders operate daily, not just during crises​(Thought Leaders LLC).

Your outcomes are dependent on you. The sooner you realize it, the further you will go, the later you realize it, the less control you will have on your outcomes.

This week I came across a great post about a boy who at 16 years old, his father’s wealth-empire was destroyed and his family barely survived a village massacre. But he turned $60 and a job as a phone operator into $2.3 BILLION. This is the story of Aristotle Onassis…

One of the reasons Target Canada failed was because some items wouldn't fit on the shelves properly. This was due to item dimensions being entered into their system in inches, rather than centimeters. Outcomes in one region seldom translate elsewhere, without context. Context is key to better outcomes.

Another major issue was the assumption that standard US metrics could translate into Canadian metrics without any conversion or translation. For example, stores like Target look at things like the square feet of retail space per capita in a city or region, and use that to gauge how saturated the market is. Using US standards, they assumed that Canadian retail was incredibly under-served and that they could launch a massive, 120+ location expansion at once because there was so much latent demand. Well, that's a mistake - there are different spending patterns in countries, and different retail productivity, and so on, and there wasn't the latent demand they were expecting.

Even when Wal-Mart tried to enter the Canadian market, they started off by taking over Woolco. Target didn't take over Zellers, they just assumed their leases - they needed new staff, new supply chains, and so on. When Wal-Mart took over Woolco, at first it was just changing the sign on the door and the branding of the stores - the full takeover took years. Meanwhile, Target didn't even bother to buy Zeller's retail data from their locations - they were offered and turned it down.

The full story here.

Small Indulgences…predict outcomes.

TODAY I LEARNED ABOUT THE LIPSTICK INDEX. Apparently, economic studies show that during a recession, women purchase more lipstick/makeup over purses and dresses. The "Lipstick Index" is real, and it stems from a theory proposed by Leonard Lauder, the chairman of Estée Lauder, during the early 2000s recession. According to this theory, during economic downturns, consumers tend to shift away from purchasing more expensive luxury goods such as dresses or handbags and instead spend money on smaller, more affordable luxuries like lipstick.

Why Does This Happen?

The logic behind the Lipstick Index lies in behavioral economics. When people feel the financial pressure of a recession, they still seek comfort and small indulgences to maintain a sense of normalcy and well-being. Lipstick, being a relatively inexpensive item, provides a small luxury that can lift spirits without breaking the bank

It's also tied to the income effect—during economic downturns, consumers' disposable income declines, and they forego larger luxury purchases but substitute them with smaller treats that still feel special, such as cosmetics​.

Interestingly, this phenomenon has evolved over time. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks led to a rise in purchases of eye makeup rather than lipstick, showing how consumer behavior can shift with societal trends​

Kodak, a well-known brand with billion-dollar revenues that in 2005 filed for bankruptcy: what went so wrong? Corporate Secrets: Lessons from the boardroom, interview of the people directly involved. The decisions and mistakes that led to the collapse of this iconic company are uncovered. A story of platforms and standards, that stood the test of time for a 120 years, but then did not. Their outcomes changed when they missed the promise of digital by sticking to what they knew best, Film. Plot twist. Apple Won…

By building for the wealthy..

Many businesses are not what they appear:

Airlines are credit card companies (not transportation)

Calm is a sleep app (not meditation)

Starbucks sells cold sweet drinks (not hot bitter coffee)

Colleges sell their brand stamp (not education)

What are other examples, that you can leverage to enhance your outcomes as you think about building some thing new?

Bonus! Thought of the week

How to make a 100$/Hour . TODAY

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