As the lead Consultant on hundreds of Business Acumen learning engagements, I have often heard 
the following request from our Senior Leader and Executive clients – “I don’t think our company has a strong sense of urgency…what can you throw into that Business Acumen program to get our people to move quicker and develop a sense of urgency?”
Although I agree a sense of urgency is missing in many organizations and it is a behavior that seems to be going away generation by generation, urgency alone doesn’t solve the problem the leaders in my client organization is looking for.
In my opinion, just developing a sense of urgency – getting people to do things faster – isn’t a goal and it isn’t directly correlated to delivering a value proposition to your customers. The client I was working with on this topic shared more when I asked him to elaborate, “I need people to have a sense of urgency when it comes to new product development. They are taking too long to develop new products and our competitors are more nimble and agile than we are. We need to step it up.”
As I started interviewing subject matter experts to customize the Business Acumen program, it became apparent to me that the push of a “sense of urgency” was solely focused being faster but not focused on being smarter. As a result, any organization just trying to become faster will inevitably experience:
Sloppy mistakes – In the rush to just be faster, people will make sloppy mistakes
Cuts in time to be innovative – If everyone is focused on just getting faster, there is less time to be innovative and make adjustments if new ideas or creative thoughts come into play
Lack of communication – In the effort to get faster, there is a misperception that there isn’t the need for communication; it just gets in the way.
Lack of trust – When the only focus is speed, the metric of evaluation is speed and as a result, leaders will start to question how fast people are actually really moving.
Hard to maintain momentum – There is usually a small immediate bump in speed in the beginning but that fades quickly as it’s hard to maintain momentum.
Linking to the Value Proposition to Customers
I propose that the solution to the problem of successfully creating a more urgent organization is to link urgency to the value proposition your company offers to your customers. In other words, the value proposition it the guiding force that creates alignment and is the catalyst for urgency and speed.
Your value proposition to customers - either Product Leadership, Customer Intimacy, or Operational Excellence – provides the understanding to your employees for the reasons behind the efforts to invest time and resources into the business. For example, if you’ve ever checked into a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, you’ve experience an integrated and aligned speed for delivering the value proposition from the limousine driver who meets you at the airport, to the in-room check-in service, to your own personal concierge.
The alignment to the value proposition enables the organization to go faster and smarter to deliver something that customers will pay for. It’s about the use of good judgement, business acumen, strategic thinking, financial acumen for the short run and the long run.
Results are only truly achieved when everyone in your organization sees potential customer challenges and then moves quickly to solve those needs with your value propositions. Here are three quick business acumen tip s to link urgency and the value proposition to achieve results:
Communicate Your Value Proposition Over and Over
Employees can’t hear your value proposition enough. Share it, discuss it, reinforce it, and make sure that everyone knows it.
Provide Training and Development
Employees need skills to understand and implement your value proposition with a sense of urgency. Investing in listening to customers and developing new products is not going to be achieved quickly without the skills and tools to do it well.
Share the Results and Reinforce the Success
Nothing is more demoting to a workforce than to move quickly and smartly to deliver a value proposition without recognition and reinforcement for the success.
