Guilty Of Complacency? Create A Sense Of Urgency

Author: Christian Bamber
Posted: Thursday 27th October, 2011. 12:16:44

The chances are that complacency lurks somewhere in your organisation or at least within one you know. What do we mean by complacency? In the business context it is the failure to accept the need to develop a strategy and to recognise the need for change based on a foundation of perceived or actual success. What’s more, complacency can continue its grip on an organisation long after the successful period has passed and can instil an enduring belief of infallibility and immortality.

This is the last article in this series of “Outside In” and I wanted to leave readers with a “call to action” to examine their own strategy in the light that change is inevitable and that a good strategy will get you prepared and guide you successfully through such periods of change.

Over the last few months, we have discussed strategy and how it relates equally to the veterinary context, with some sobering lessons learned from the exploits and misadventures of organisations in other industries. But have we taken note and applied these learnings from history to our own industry? I’m not so sure we have; the veterinary world is rife with overt examples of complacency, a manifestation of the hitherto protected competitive environment it has operated in. The warning signs are out there however, both within our industry and external to it.

The trouble is, the complacent organisation never realises its own complacency. It is generally happy with the status quo, lives off the success of the past and is afraid of change. It cannot recognise the need for change or innovation, particularly when times are good. But it is exactly when times are good that an organisation needs to be looking outward and focusing on the need for change as, after all, change is the only certainty in an uncertain world.

So what can you do if you find yourself forever battling the inertia of a practice that is resting on its laurels? Unfortunately, research has shown that no matter how well people accept the logic behind an argument for change, they rarely act upon it. The reason is that no matter how conditioned we may have become to look at facts objectively and discount the influence of feelings, people are at heart irrational and emotional.

And this is exactly where we can apply some tactics; we need to not just tackle the minds of people but must make even greater efforts to win their hearts. John Kotter (2008), Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, describes four such tactics to win both the hearts and minds of groups and individuals by creating what he describes as “a sense of urgency”:

1. Bring the outside in

Introduce external opportunities and hazards to those too inwardly focussed. Don’t just dump masses of factual information upon people. Instead, put facts into context and create emotionally compelling experiences. Use a variety of media (i.e. not the standard PowerPoint presentation) to communicate and make a connection.

2. Behave with urgency every day

This doesn’t mean creating mass panic but rather acting in a way that reduces complacency and contentment with the status quo through demonstrating your own sense of urgency to innovate and embrace change.

3. Find opportunity in crises

Be alert to the opportunities a crisis may offer instead of considering it always as a threat. A degree of destabilisation can affect people emotionally for the better by reducing complacency especially if it is framed as an opportunity for beneficial change.

4. Deal with the “No-Nos”

Be effective in confronting the problem of the “no-nos”, the people who will always act as a barrier to change. Do not accept as inevitable that an organisation must put up with those who kill urgency, people whose reaction to change is “No, no, we can’t do that because…”

All of these tactics can have an effect that is “visceral” in addition to being factual and, when used well, can influence attitudes, thoughts, feelings and behaviours for the better. In addition, such tactics can be employed by people at any level of the organisation to win over hearts and minds of staff and management alike.

So, if you are someone who has the foresight to recognise the need for change, to strategise, to learn from other industries and never accept the status quo, then I hope these tactics may help you. If you read this article and find yourself perhaps just a little bit guilty of being complacent, then maybe this will help you to recognise that you can, and should, do something about it.

I hope you have enjoyed “Outside In” and that it has at least stimulated some discussion or even debate within your own practice or organisation. Perhaps you’ve even begun to implement some of the ideas in which case I’d be pleased to hear about your success stories! Here’s wishing you sustainability and success in all your business ventures.


KOTTER, J. P., 2008. A Sense of Urgency. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Christian Bamber is Principal Consultant and Director of Approach Strategy, a consulting firm specialising in strategy services to service industries and not-for-profit organisations. For more information, please contact Approach Strategy at christian@approachstrategy.co.uk. Tel: 01225 722 654 or visit their website www.approachstrategy.co.uk

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