A sense of urgency by John P Kotter

I being an avid follower of Kotter's principle will appreciate this book even if it leaves the reader High and Dry. Kotter tends to reiterate the point about how the company's operational strategy makes it big or bad.

If you take the example of any company; its strategy to win is Volatile in the fast changing technologies and Competition. But how much volatility a company can sustain, is a question. If you can survive, it's because there is a sense of urgency to achieve big and Achieve faster. Though at times , a sense of urgency can go wrong. It might create a panic situation in the teams. There are confusions and anger and frustrations. And then the whole system collapses. You might not notice, because the fall is very slow. It might be a day like GM or a year or so like Yahoo. But surely, people at the bottom never appreciated as to why company was rushing through and what was that strategy or the reason for blood rush.

In any case it's not only important to have a strategy, but also create good will at the bottom of the ladder. Because, if they are not happy working on it, you will have a free fall. And that fall will be very dangerous in volatile situations like IT businesses. Remember, neither will you notice that nor will anybody else. It's gradual. And you are busy executing a strategy with a false sense of urgency .

And keep an eye on your company! Is it happening? Is there frustration and anger mixed with Urgency? Then I guess it's time we re-look at why the strategy is causing this.

Kotter also mentions, a true sense of urgency is something which is a feel good factor for most of the people inside the company . No doubt we may not understand everything that has been said by the CEO but there is a sense of belonging to that strategy though it makes little sense. He terms such a kind of act as "Heart - Mind" strategy.

Frankly I did not enjoy this book as much as his other book "Our IceBerg Is Melting". But Kotter has a point to prove and it's common sense that we all agree. "Unless our heart does not sense it, we will not "accomplish" the strategy but "Complete" it '...

Overall, a good read if you can relate the points to the cases that have happened in the industry.