Creating a Sense of Urgency

For many years business strategists suggested that cultures benefited from what they called “Positive Urgency.”  Experimentation and research had shown that a sense of urgency caused otherwise complacent workers to rally around a cause and produce higher levels of action toward goals.  To accomplish this end, leaders were urged to create artificial emergencies to challenge workers.  These were called “burning platforms” and were designed to produce stress and a sense of crisis.  

Slowly leaders and their experts realized that what people really do on burning platforms is to escape, not solve problems.  They also do not continue their emergency behaviors after the emergency is over.  A sense of urgency only creates a culture change if it is sustained over time and does not kill the members with stress before they change.  The experts are now calling for more lasting and important and less urgent and artificial stimuli to create the desired sense of urgency.

In safety, it has historically been tragic accidents or bad trends in accident frequency that have caused us to become positively urgent.  We react to disasters in safety as we do in business, by rallying and taking significant action.  However, just like in business, when the severity and/or frequency goes away so does the increased action.  The challenge in safety is to find these long-lasting reasons for significant action even when accidents are not providing them.  This is the way to proactive excellence.

In business, they have turned to building a sense of identity, not just action.  What will the organization be remembered for and is it important?  Safety must find its own identity also.  What does this safety culture seek to become and does that identity inspire significant action toward excellence?  The answer may be different for different organizations, but the right answers will not be found unless the right questions are asked.

-Terry L. Mathis

Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.