Accelerated Urgency

Pleasures lull us.

Routines engulf us.

Crises consume us.

Sufferings suppress us.

Whether in comfort or in chaos, life of individuals and organizations run on an 'autopilot system' based of a series of HIDDEN assumptions (like characters in the movie - The Matrix).

Is there anything worse?

Well, yes! And, that is - Running on an 'autopilot system' based on a series of assumptions that you clearly KNOW to be false, BUT you do not have the time to TAKE NECESSARY ACTION.

You are so busy driving your car that you do not have time to stop for fuel. How long will that car run?

In the movie (The Matrix), the protagonist takes a RED PILL to know the truth (and abruptly wakes up in a pod, with his body connected by wires to a tower...).

You do not have that option.

So, how to break your zombie-like (self-)hypnotized state (in whichever aspect your life or work, you are stuck in undesirable patterns)?

The classic Time Management Grid tells us that we spend our time in four ways:

1. Firefighting (Crisis Management)
   
2. Creating Quality (Creation)
   
3. Getting Distracted (Interruptions)
   
4. Wasting (Trivia)
   

Most of the time is spent in Quadrants 1,3 & 4, which takes us away from our vision and mission.

Quadrant 2 times are rare. Where is the time for creating Quality of life?

How to break free from this bounded entity (which thrives in Quadrants 1,3 & 4 due to fear and short-sightedness)?

Heidegger says "any ontological interpretation which sets itself the goal of EXHIBITING the phenomena in their primordiality should CAPTURE the being of of this entity".

So, the BEING needs to be transformed.

How?

Heidegger continues "by doing violence [Gewaltsamkeit], whether to the claims of the everyday interpretation, or to its complacency and its tranquilized obviousness".

And, how do we continuously CAUSE this violence?

There are many ways, depending on what has lulled or suppressed or engulfed or consumed you.

One way is to bring in "Accelerated Urgency" every day.

John Kotter says:

The real solution to the complacency problem is a true sense of urgency. This set of thoughts, feelings, and actions is never associated with an endless list of exhausting activities. It has nothing to do with anxious running from meeting to meeting. It's not supported by an adrenalin rush that cannot be sustained over time.

True urgency focuses on critical issues, not agendas overstuffed with the important and the trivial. True urgency is driven by a deep determination to win, not anxiety about losing. With an attitude of true urgency, you try to accomplish something important each day, never leaving yourself with a heart-attack-producing task of running one thousand miles in the last week of the race.

He recommends:

• Use crises as potential opportunities
• Crises do not automatically reduce complacency
  
• To use a crisis to reduce complacency, make sure it is visible, unambiguous, related to real business problems... be exceptionally proactive in assessing how people will react, in developing specific plans for action, and in implementing the plans swiftly.
• Plans and actions should always focus on others' hearts as much or more than their minds. Behaving with passion, conviction, optimism, urgency, and a steely determination will trump an analytically brilliant memo every time.
• If urgency is low, never patiently wait for a crisis (which may never come) to solve your problems. Bring the outside in. Act with urgency every day.

This is very different from REACTING to urgent situations everyday. Take a simple quiz here to determine your "reactive" Urgency Index.

"Accelerated Urgency" expands your Quadrant 2 - Important but not urgent ACTIVITIES: Self-Development, Relationship building, Envisioning your future, Preparation/Planning/Organizing, Exercise/Recreation.

Ready to press the accelerator?