Oftentimes, we hear that managers are advised to create urgency around the situation they face for the purpose of tackling it more effectively.
Is this conception of urgency a fallacy or is there some truth in it?
My experience shows that:
(a) when you have longer times to contemplate a problem:
- Vision tends to become vague as if diluted in the comfort of time.
- Precision and detail become more dominant taking away some of the spirit and enthusiasm of the endeavour
(b) Contrary when the situation is urgent:
- Vision comes closer to us exercising a formidable attraction power toward it, and
- In our speedy route to the goal, we worry more about the motion and direction than the niceties of the journey
Thus, faced with an urgency, it seems that we experience a different connection of thought: The closer vision activates the right hemisphere of the brain, and thought on the avenues of the right brain travels faster ignoring details in the quest for pictures, building blocks, and functional linkages. The logical part of the brain is, in some way, demotivated, and creativity appears in a more evident and controlling role.
Can we then say that urgency is an ally we must see as a resource to exploit?
Faster and more creative are attributes very much sought after, and any frame of mind that can help give rise to them cannot but be a welcome ally!
About the author: Panikos Sardos is the Managing Director of P&E Sardos Business Solutions Int., a management consulting firm that offers advisory services, coaching and training. You are welcome to communicate with us by email: psardos@sardossolutions.com or telephone: +357 99640912, +357 24400884, and to visit us at www.sardossolutions.com
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