When an ambulance approaches, its imminent arrival immediately triggers a reaction from us. If we are driving, we promptly move our vehicle aside to let it pass. If we are pedestrians, we stay carefully at the edge of the crosswalk, even if the light is green for us. The ambulance’s shrill sirens and flashing lights awaken a sense of urgency in us, prompting us to instantly adjust our actions. This ability to quickly change our behavior in response to a critical situation illustrates our agility in reacting in emergencies. However, it is not always easy to create such a sense of urgency. In 1996, John Kotter, a professor at Harvard Business School, examined change management methods. He gathered the lessons from his studies of organizational transformation cases, both successful and failed, in his book Leading Change, where he proposed an eight-step model for managing change in companies. By following these steps in a specific order, he argues that organizations could significantly increase their chances of success in their transformation projects. These steps, which we can also apply in a non-professional setting, are as follows: create a sense of urgency, build a powerful coalition, develop a vision and strategy, communicate the vision for change, empower employees to act on the vision, generate short-term wins, consolidate improvements and produce even more change, and anchor new approaches in the company’s culture. Through this article, we will focus on the first step of change management: creating a sense of urgency.

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Why resistance to change projects?

You are about to begin a negotiation and want to put all the odds on your side to prepare for it. First, look at the stakeholders in the negotiation and ask yourself the right questions.If the first action to take in change management is creating a sense of urgency according to Kotter, it is because there is resistance from a large number of people when it comes to getting started and acting in favor of a change project. But then, why such inaction?

A fear of losing our habits

The main reason for our resistance to change lies in our attachment to our habits. Indeed, they offer us a sense of security and predictability, minimizing our potential mistakes. Breaking our routines means taking risks, venturing into the unknown, sometimes generating stress and anxiety. Faced with the consequences of global warming, we know that our habits must evolve, whether in the way we sort waste, use energy resources, consume food, choose transportation, or in our activities…. Because these changes require us to deconstruct our daily actions, rethink how we do things, and lose habits that were comfortable for us—in other words, because they require an investment in time, energy, and resources—we may feel apprehension and rejection toward recommended environmental actions.

Additional stress

Bringing a crisis to light can generate considerable stress. A striking example is the publication, by the World Nature Organization (WNO), of a press release on November 30, 2023, coinciding with the opening of COP2023 in Dubai. This release emphasized that 2023 had been the hottest year ever recorded. For some, this announcement may have been a source of anxiety, while others saw it as an urgent call to intensify their environmental efforts. In short, this information, although fact-based, may have sparked in some individuals a natural anguish about the current situation and the future, as well as a feeling of powerlessness, feeding the idea that they are not able to contribute significantly to improving the situation. The stress that a situation’s urgency can generate, as well as the fear of not knowing how to handle what is coming, can lead to a refusal to act in favor of change.

A current state that seems satisfactory to us

Changing something means accepting that what we are currently doing is not suitable or is no longer suitable; it means acknowledging that we can do better and, indirectly, that what we are doing right now is bad. Limiting carbon dioxide levels requires us to recognize some of our current actions as unhealthy for the planet; it therefore asks us to face reality (temperatures are rising and this is not going to improve) and to detach ourselves from an attitude of denial toward which we may tend. What if we were blinded by sources of self-satisfaction? John Kotter identifies nine factors of professional self-satisfaction:

• An absence of visible crisis
  An environment without immediate or visible threats will not motivate change.

• Abundant resources
  Signs of prosperity will reduce the perceived urgency to change.

• Undemanding goals
  Low performance standards will mask the need to improve.

• A focus on narrow functional goals
  An overly targeted vision will prevent seeing systemic problems.

• Poor performance indicators
  Goals that are too easy to achieve will give a false impression of success.

• A lack of external feedback
  The absence of criticism from customers or partners will create false security.

• An anti-messenger culture
  A corporate culture that does not value bearers of bad news will inhibit innovation.

• Work overload and constant stress
  Individuals who are already overloaded will perceive change as an additional burden.

• Overly optimistic leaders
  Excessively positive statements from people with authority status may mask less flattering realities.

What strategies can be used to establish a sense of urgency?

Recognizing the need to act is a crucial step in change management, but it is not the ultimate solution. The key element lies in awakening collective awareness. And to do that, it is necessary to emphasize the urgency of the situation. So let us look at the most effective strategies for making your target audience aware of the urgency of transforming the current reality.

Lead your audience to make a decision

The "burning platform" anecdote is a striking example. In 1988, a devastating explosion on an oil platform in the North Sea caused the death of more than 200 people. One of the survivors recounts that he had to choose between jumping into icy water, risking death by fall or hypothermia, or staying and certainly dying in the fire. Despite fear and uncertainty, he chose the first option because it offered him a slim chance of survival. This example illustrates how urgency, when clearly identified and proportionate to the necessary transformations, can push people to act and make choices they would not have made initially. In the context of change, it is not about pushing your audience toward a life-or-death choice, but rather presenting one or more engaging alternatives, encouraging them to prefer one option over another. Be careful: the alternatives must not be too numerous, otherwise you risk preventing them from choosing and becoming a victim of the “paradox of choice”.

Seek to understand what each person is experiencing and feeling

It is recommended to meet your target audience directly. A face-to-face interaction will often be more effective than communication by email or messages. Better still: speak individually with people to understand their daily reality. During your discussion with them, put yourself in their shoes, try to grasp what they feel, identify the facts that resonate strongly with them, identify the causes they defend, the values that matter to them, speak their language, and reach them emotionally—whether through fear, joy, sadness, or otherwise. If you want to convince people to stop using planes for travel, ask yourself for what reason(s) they are not in favor of it. Is it to save time? to benefit from comfort? for financial reasons? because they do not see better alternatives? Then talk to them about subjects that affect them. For some, it will be their children’s future; for others, the threat of losing valuable experiences such as skiing. The sense of urgency will not be triggered in the same way for everyone.

Highlight the consequences of inaction with concrete elements

To establish a sense of urgency and create the desire to contribute to change, you can highlight the risks associated with inaction. What would happen if no change took place? What consequences would this generate in the lives of those around you, both collectively and individually? Take the example of a company planning to move premises. It is essential that it communicate the reasons for this move and the consequences of inaction. The move may be explained by a workspace now insufficient to accommodate everyone. Without moving, hiring would have to stop and teams would become overloaded. Not moving can also lead to penalties for failure to comply with safety standards and send a poor brand image. Moreover, it may be unavoidable because of a threat of imminent building demolition, leading employees to work remotely more often or to juggle between different workspaces. To strengthen the argument, concrete and quantified evidence that no one can refute must support your message. The choice to change could be justified by a comparison between the maximum capacity of the current premises and the actual number of employees, by a list of potential penalties for non-compliance with standards, or by a start date for demolition work.

Eliminate illusions of satisfaction

Another approach to creating a sense of urgency is to deconstruct sources of false security. This may involve questioning current success indicators, reviewing goals to make them more ambitious, or changing internal performance criteria. Encouraging honest and transparent feedback from all stakeholders could reveal hidden problems and create motivation for change. Eliminating illusions of satisfaction can involve radical measures that shake up the status quo. It means being bold, accepting reality with full transparency, even when it is unpleasant. This is the lesson learned by Domino’s Pizza in 2009 with its "The Pizza Turnaround" campaign, which began with a surprising statement from its founder: "Domino’s pizzas are crap." Their strategy: highlight their failures, face criticism, own their mistakes, and start again on new foundations. Their transparency allowed them to bounce back strongly, rethink how their pizzas were made, and introduce new recipes.

Set deadlines

The more time we have to carry out an action, the more we tend to postpone the actions to be taken. This is the principle of Parkinson’s law. A goal without a deadline is a goal that will not be achieved (or only partially). As part of a change management project, it is important to fight procrastination and show that from a certain date onward, the current situation will become intolerable. If the premises you are in will be demolished in 3 months, it is important to emphasize the deadline. This may potentially lead employees to become aware of the need to act.

Recruit a collaborator with a fresh perspective and decision-making power

If you observe significant transformations carried out in companies, you will see that some begin with the arrival of new collaborators in key positions. Newly appointed leaders or managers have the advantage of arriving with a fresh perspective and being better able to identify new objectives. These individuals, because they are free from pre-established ties within the organization and do not (yet) fear internal judgments, generally have a better ability to spot areas for improvement and initiate bold reforms. Think of Steve Jobs when he returned to Apple in 1997. The company was then in difficulty. Because he had been away from the Apple universe since 1985, and had been involved in other large-scale projects, he returned in 1997 with a new vision and was able to transform Apple’s product strategy by launching revolutionary innovations such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Likewise, when Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he refocused the company on cloud computing and artificial intelligence. We can also mention Nooyi’s tenure as CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018, during which she reoriented the company toward healthier products, reduced environmental impact, and a more inclusive corporate culture.

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The success of a transformation project depends largely on establishing a sense of urgency among stakeholders. By nature, change encourages us to leave our comfort zone, look at the world differently, and confront difficult realities, which can trigger fear of losing habits, stress, or even denial. Often, we comfort ourselves with the illusion that the status quo is sufficient, ignoring warning signs of a need to act differently. To dispel these illusions, it is crucial to create a sense of urgency, as John Kotter encourages in Leading Change. Pointing out urgency—the first step in leading change according to Kotter—makes it possible to address each person’s fears, expectations, values, and personal projects, and to craft a message that resonates with them emotionally. At the same time, for collective awareness to emerge, emphasis must be placed on the tangible consequences of inaction, relying on factual data and alarming scenarios. To catalyze this process, setting clear deadlines, welcoming people with fresh perspectives, and launching transparent communication are key strategies. When you want to initiate change, whether in the professional or private sphere, all these approaches help create a climate conducive to novelty and lead to step two: building a powerful coalition.