Concepts

A real sense of urgency.

Look back at last week. Your diary was full, you got up at seven o’clock, and you went to bed tired. Now name, out loud, one decision from that week that has been assigned an owner, a date and a figure. Can you do that within ten seconds? And if you can’t: where have all those hours gone?

Look back at last week. Updating the board deck, two pipeline reviews, a call with your lead investor, still in your CRM at half ten. Now name one decision from that week with an owner, a date and an amount in ARR. Can you do it in ten seconds? And if you can't: where did that week of your runway go?

Look back at last week. The first driver called in sick at half five, the plan kept shifting until lunch, and your biggest shipper's tender still sat on your desk. Now name one decision from that week with an owner, a date and an amount, such as the new rate on your busiest lane. Can you do it in ten seconds? If not, where did those hours go?

Look back at last week. Stand-up at nine, sprint review, capacity planning, two calls with your largest account. Now name one decision from that week with an owner, a date and an amount, say which senior developer moves to which project. Can you do it within ten seconds? If not, which project are those hours booked to?

Look back at last week. Project meeting on Monday, an engineering review that overran, the order book session on Friday. Now name one decision from that week with an owner, a date and an amount, say on the milestone payment that has been open for three weeks. Can you do it in ten seconds? If not, where did those hours go?

I’d like my Week 1 timetable and three external contacts

Ninety minutes · working session · no introductory meeting

The three conditions and the price

The three states

In *A Sense of Urgency* (2008), Kotter identifies three states. Complacency feels content and is invisible from within. False urgency feels frantic, angry and frustrated, and results in one meeting after another. Genuine urgency is the drive to succeed now in what really matters.

The problem is that, from a distance, false urgency and genuine urgency appear identical. Both are full of energy. The only difference is that one leads to decisions, whilst the other leads to exhaustion.

An empty conference table with chairs in a bright meeting room

The price, in your own figures

Now for the figure, in your own terms. The ‘indecisive meeting’ ratio is the number of internal meeting hours per week during which no decision is reached, divided by the total number of internal meeting hours in that same week. A high figure is bad.

Now the price, in your own numbers. The decisionless-meeting ratio is the internal meeting hours per week that end without a decision, from the Monday kick-off to the pricing debate, divided by all internal meeting hours that week. High is bad.

Now the price, in your own numbers. Count the morning briefings, the weekly planning and sales meeting and the rates meeting. The decisionless-meeting ratio is the hours without a decision, divided by all internal meeting hours that week. High is bad.

Now the price, in your own numbers. The decisionless-meeting ratio is your internal meeting hours per week without a decision, divided by all internal meeting hours. Stand-ups, reviews and planning count, hours no client ever sees on an invoice. High is bad.

Now the price, in your own numbers. The decisionless-meeting ratio: internal meeting hours per week without a decision, divided by all internal meeting hours that week. Count project meetings, engineering reviews and the planning session. High is bad.

A decision stating the owner, date and amount counts as one. A decision stating the owner and date but without an amount counts as half. Without the owner or without the date, it does not count.

The three conditions listed above remain diagnostic and are not included in this classification.

0,67

The calculation example

Let’s take a company of twelve people as an example. On average, everyone spends six hours a week in internal meetings. That’s 72 meeting hours, and that’s the denominator. Eighteen of those hours result in a decision specifying the person responsible, the date and the amount. Twelve hours result in a decision with a decision-maker and a date but no amount, so those count as half: six hours. That makes a total of 24 hours with a decision, so the denominator is 72 minus 24, or 48 hours. The ratio is 48 divided by 72, rounded to 0.67. Multiply those 48 hours by your internal hourly rate. At 75 euros per hour, that’s 3,600 euros per week and just over 165,000 euros over 46 working weeks.

Run the numbers with the leadership team of a scale-up at 4 million ARR: twelve people, from VP Sales to Head of Customer Success. Pipeline review, roadmap sync, forecast call: six hours per person per week on average. That makes 72 meeting hours, the denominator. Eighteen hours end in a decision with owner, date and amount. Twelve hours produce an owner and a date but no amount, so they count half: six hours. Together 24 hours with a decision, so the numerator is 72 minus 24, or 48 hours. The ratio is 48 divided by 72, rounded 0.67. Multiply 48 hours by your internal hourly cost. At 90 euros as a placeholder, that is 4,320 euros a week and almost 199,000 euros over 46 working weeks, straight off your runway.

Work it through with a haulier running sixty trucks and twelve people in the office: planners, sales, finance and the workshop manager. Each spends six hours a week in morning briefings, weekly meetings and rate meetings. That is 72 hours, the denominator. Eighteen end in a decision with owner, date and amount. Twelve give owner and date but no amount and count half: six. Together 24 hours with a decision, so the numerator is 72 minus 24: 48. The ratio is 48 divided by 72, rounded 0.67. At 75 euros internal cost per hour as a placeholder, that is 3,600 euros a week and over 165,000 euros across 46 working weeks.

Work it through with a software house of sixteen people. Between stand-ups, sprint reviews, resource planning and account meetings, everyone spends six hours a week in internal meetings. That is 96 meeting hours, the denominator. 24 of those hours end in a decision with an owner, a date and an amount. Another 24 produce an owner and a date but no amount; they count half, so twelve. Together 36 hours with a decision, so the numerator is 96 minus 36, which is 60 hours. The ratio is 60 divided by 96, rounded 0.63. Multiply those 60 hours by your internal hourly cost. With 85 euros as a placeholder that is 5,100 euros a week and over 234,000 euros across 46 working weeks, in hours that appear on no invoice.

Work it through for a machine builder with 180 people. Ten managers, from engineering to service, each spend nine hours a week in project meetings, reviews and planning rounds. That is 90 meeting hours: the denominator. Thirty hours end in a decision with an owner, a date and an amount. Twenty hours produce an owner and a date but no amount, so they count half: ten hours. Together 40 hours with a decision, so the numerator is 90 minus 40, which is 50 hours. The ratio is 50 divided by 90, rounded 0.56. At 95 euros internal hourly cost as a placeholder, that is 4,750 euros a week and over 218,000 euros across 46 working weeks.

0,50

Our border

Our threshold is 0.50: if you go above that, we call it false urgency. We consider anything below 0.30 to be healthy. Both are rules of thumb based on our own experience, not a measured standard. If you fall below 0.50, then this isn’t your sticking point. Close this page, don’t book anything, and use that time to work on your strategy or your choice of market.

Our estimate; not a measured standard.

Second-order costs

Second-order costs are less obvious. Attention spent on internal noise is not directed towards customers. In our own projects, we then see the gap between actual and estimated costs widening, because those hours are recorded but do not lead to any decisions. We haven’t measured this, but we have observed it.

The second-order cost is quieter. Attention that goes to internal noise does not go to your customers. Your Head of CS sits in the third OKR meeting while a large account quietly downgrades, and you only see it in next quarter's NRR. Nobody has measured that link precisely. You recognise it by the renewal you did not see coming.

The second-order costs are quieter. Attention spent on internal noise is not spent on your shippers. In our own assignments we then see the actual cost per trip drift away from the rate: the ADR surcharge is years old, a tail-lift delivery is billed as a standard drop and Saturday runs go at the weekday rate. We have not measured that, but we have seen it.

The second-order cost is quieter. A lead developer who spends three afternoons in internal meetings reviews no code that week and speaks to no client. In our own engagements we then see the gap between budgeted and booked hours on fixed-price projects widen, because those hours get logged but produce no decision. We have not measured it; we have seen it.

The second-order cost is quieter. Hours lost to internal noise do not go to the customer whose line is standing still. In our own assignments we then see engineering hours overrun, because an open change survives three meetings without anyone pricing the extra work. We have not measured that, but we have seen it.

John P. Kotter, *A Sense of Urgency*, 2008

[ Four questions ]

Step one of the consultation, as outlined here

This is the first step in a consultation, and I’m sharing it here. Answer the four questions using your own figures from last week.

besluitloze-overlegquote = overleguren zonder besluit / totale interne overleguren

  1. How many internal consultation sessions did your company hold last week, and how many of those resulted in a decision that included a decision-maker, a date and a figure?

  2. When was the last time you spoke candidly with a customer who had just left your premises, and how many days ago was that?

    When did you last speak yourself, without your CS lead in the room, to an account that cancelled its contract last month, and how many days ago was that?

    When did you last speak, without your salesperson present, to the logistics manager of a shipper who moved volume to another carrier, and how many days ago?

    When did you last speak, unfiltered, with a client who cancelled their retainer or managed-services contract, and how many days ago was that?

    When did you last speak, unfiltered, to a customer who had just cancelled their service contract, and how many days ago was that?

  3. Which three ongoing projects have not made any progress over the past two months, and what does the formal owner himself say when you put those three to him before drawing any conclusions?

  4. What objection to your strategy do you hear most often, and have you ever responded to that objection in writing, using figures?

From urgency to action

Urgency is step 1, not a chat

Kotter places urgency at step 1 of an eight-step model: urgency, leadership team, vision and strategy, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, never standing still, embedding change.

The quality of step 1 determines whether steps 2 to 8 yield any results. Urgency is therefore not just motivational talk, but a prerequisite.

Kotter has given the mechanism described below four names, and I shall retain those names:

First of all, this applies to all four

One rule to start with, because this is about people. The distinction between a sceptic and NoNo is a judgement about a specific individual, even if you use roles rather than names. That is why you must never make such a judgement without consulting the person concerned: the person in question should hear it from you and be given the chance to respond first. Frontline feedback works on the same principle; it belongs to the employee themselves.

Above all four of these is a rule that most directors overlook: you either win people’s hearts and minds, or you win nothing. An analytical memo does not change behaviour, but a story that people can relate to does.

Bring the outdoors indoors

Bring the outside world in. An internal focus breeds complacency, so you bridge the gap with what is actually happening out there.

Bring the outside in. Your board deck shows your own numbers. The Hamburg prospect who chose your competitor tells you what is happening out there.

Bring the outside in. The warehouse manager in Duisburg already knows which carrier quotes lower. Internal focus breeds complacency. Call him.

Bring the outside world in. Call the senior developer who left last year and ask why. Internal focus feeds complacency.

Bring the outside in. Your service engineers hear on site what goes wrong. Read their reports, or you only ever hear your own design office.

Act with a sense of urgency every day

Act with a sense of urgency every day. Lead by example through your actions, and constantly eliminate activities that have no value.

Find opportunity in crises

Find opportunity in the crisis. Be careful, though, as if done badly, this can actually create a false sense of urgency.

Dealing with the NoNos

Deal with the NoNos. A NoNo is not a sceptic. A sceptic wants data and is open to changing their mind; a NoNo just wants it to stop.

The sea behind a glass wall, the horizon sharply divided into two

Week one as the person with final responsibility

What do you do in week one as the person with final responsibility? Three things. You work out your ‘indecisive meeting’ rate and share that figure, unfiltered, with your management team.

You schedule three meetings with people outside the organisation in your own diary, not in someone else’s. And you ask anyone who has an objection to your approach to write down that objection themselves, after which you respond with figures.

You book three conversations in your own calendar: a customer who churned, a German prospect who said no, an investor who passed on your last round. And anyone who objects to your new pricing writes that objection down themselves. You answer with cohort data.

You book three conversations in your own diary: a shipper who left last year, a German subcontractor and your bank about your DSO. Anyone objecting to your course, your head of planning for instance, writes it down. You answer with numbers.

You book three contacts in your own diary: the CTO of your largest account, a prospect who turned down your proposal, a freelancer who knows what the market pays. And anyone who objects to your course writes that objection down. You answer with figures.

You book three contacts in your own diary: the buyer who turned down your last quote, a service engineer just back from a breakdown, your banker on working capital. Anyone who objects to your course writes the objection down. You answer with numbers.

Anyone who writes down their objections and lets themselves be swayed by figures is a sceptic. Anyone who, after two rounds, hasn’t put anything down on paper and continues to block progress is a ‘NoNo’. You lay the evidence on the table; the judgement remains yours.

A close-up of a chessboard, with a single square in sharp focus
[ By sector ]

The same four tactics, a different diagnosis

The same four tactics, but the diagnosis varies from sector to sector. The unit of measurement, the instrument and the timeframe are different.

SaaS scale-up

  1. 01 Bring the outside in. Unity is the sprint. The tools are the ticketing system and the ‘lost deal’ discussions. Have a support staff member read out two tickets themselves during the sprint review, in their own words.
  2. 02 Act with a sense of urgency every day. Cancel any recurring meetings that do not lead to a merge or a decision within a sprint. You should be the first to cancel your own meetings.
  3. 03 Find opportunity in crises. The crisis is churn at a top-ten account. Quantify the impact in terms of ARR, not just a gut feeling, and plan in advance how the team will respond.
  4. 04 Deal with the NoNos. The evidence here is the decision trail from the last two sprints: which option remained open, and where did it get stuck? First, lay out that trail for the person concerned, because they should hear it from you and should be the first to respond. Ask for a date by which a decision will be made.
See how this plays out in a SaaS scale-up at /sectors/saas-scale-up.

Logistics

  1. 01 Bring the outside in. The unit is the consignment and the journey time per trip. The tool is the deviation report from the TMS. Spend a day on the road yourself and stand on your customer’s loading bay.
  2. 02 Act with a sense of urgency every day. The day starts at six o’clock. One deviation, one person responsible, one date. No follow-up later in the day.
  3. 03 Find opportunity in crises. The crisis is a peak week with a shortage of drivers. Work out the waiting time involved in cross-docking in euros before asking someone for a solution.
  4. 04 Dealing with the NoNos. The evidence here is the non-conformity report, not an opinion. That report goes to the person concerned first, because they should hear about it from you and should be given the chance to respond first. Ask for a date by which the non-conformity will be rectified.
See how this affects logistics at /sectors/logistics.

Mechanical Engineering

  1. 01 Bring the outside in. Unity is the order of the day and the bill of materials variance. The tool is the service report from the field. Let the technician explain his own report to engineering, live.
  2. 02 Act with a sense of urgency every day. The clock is the project milestone, not the week. For each milestone, compare the actual figures with the forecast and discuss the discrepancy on the same day.
  3. 03 Find opportunities in crises. The crisis is a warranty claim or scope creep on an ongoing order. Ensure that the claim, in euros, is visible to the engineering team, not just the service team.
  4. 04 Deal with the NoNos. The evidence here is the post-calculation for the last three orders, alongside the pre-calculation. Those figures go to that person first, because the person concerned should hear it from you and should be the first to respond. Ask them to suggest a date themselves.
See how this affects the mechanical engineering sector at /sectors/mechanical-engineering.
Please bring

The brief for your own LLM

Before you use this

First, data hygiene, as this concerns your own business. Do not include customer names, employee names, rates or anything covered by an NDA. Work with roles: support, planner, technician, management team member. A business subscription with a data processing agreement keeps company data secure here, whereas a free consumer account does not.

Please paste these instructions into an LLM of your choice today.

Je bent analist. Ik geef je een lijst van mijn interne overleggen van vorige
week, uitsluitend in rollen, zonder namen.

Doe dit in vier stappen.

1. Classificeer elk overleg als complacentie, valse urgentie of echte urgentie,
   volgens Kotter, A Sense of Urgency, 2008. Geef per regel het bewijs uit mijn
   eigen tekst waarop je die keuze baseert.

2. Bereken de besluitloze-overlegquote. Gebruik daarvoor niet de labels uit
   stap 1: die blijven diagnose en zitten niet in deze breuk. De
   besluitloze-overlegquote is het aantal interne overleguren per week zonder
   besluit, gedeeld door het totale aantal interne overleguren in diezelfde
   week. Hoog is slecht. Een besluit met eigenaar, datum en bedrag telt
   heel. Een besluit met eigenaar en datum maar zonder bedrag telt half. Zonder
   eigenaar of zonder datum telt het niet. Toon de deling letterlijk: teller,
   noemer, uitkomst.

3. Stel mij vijf vragen waar ik het antwoord nog niet op heb, en die alleen
   iemand buiten mijn bedrijf kan beantwoorden. Elke vraag moet volgen uit een
   regel in mijn input: citeer die regel erbij. Koppel elke vraag aan een
   concreet buitencontact: een verloren klant, een leverancier, een monteur in
   het veld, een verloren offerte.

4. Schrijf een agenda voor week 1 met drie geblokte buitencontacten, elk met
   rol, doel en de ene vraag die ik daar stel. Citeer per contact de regel uit
   mijn input waarom juist dit contact nodig is. Geen aanbevelingen, geen
   samenvatting, geen algemene adviezen.

Formaat. Stap 1 als tabel, een regel per overleg: overleg, uren, label, bewijs. Het label hoort bij het overleg, nooit bij een persoon; deel de tabel met de deelnemers voordat je er iets mee doet, of laat de kolom label leeg. Stap 2 als drie regels:
teller, noemer, uitkomst. Stap 3 als genummerde lijst met citaat per vraag.
Stap 4 als tabel: dag, rol, doel, vraag, citaat.

Als mijn input te dun is om een stap te doen, zeg dat en vraag exact het
ontbrekende gegeven op. Kun je een stap niet aan mijn eigen tekst binden, laat
die regel dan leeg. Verzin niets.

This is an agentic pattern: a diagnostic agent with a deterministic calculation step and a mandatory quote per line. The model must not make any recommendations until it has classified and calculated. That quote allows you to see for yourself which lines are generic and which come from your own text. Our guarantee does not extend beyond this: this is a prompt, not proof. We use the same approach in /agentic/strategy-execution.

Where this ends

Kotter is explicit about his own limitations in *A Sense of Urgency* (2008). This is not a strategic framework: urgency applied to a poor strategy will only hasten your downfall. It is not crisis management, so it is of no use in the event of an acute liquidity crisis. It does not solve a talent problem: urgency utilises existing capacity; it does not replace anyone. And it is not permanent. Once the first visible gains have been made, the sense of urgency wanes, unless you truly embody step 7.

One more boundary, and that one’s ours. Kotter also describes what to do with a ‘NoNo’: distract them, remove them from the group, or socially neutralise them. These three approaches only work if the person concerned is unaware of them, and that conflicts with the rule that the person concerned should hear it from you. We therefore do not apply them. What remains is the formal route via a line manager, HR or the works council. That is slower, and that is the price you pay.

Read more

If you’re above 0.50, now’s the time.

Above 0.50 with a round ahead? This is the moment.

Above 0.50? Then act now, before the rate round.

Above 0.50? Then decide before the next sprint.

Above 0.50 and a thin order book? Then it is now.

In a 90-minute workshop, I’ll work with you to calculate your ‘indecisive meeting’ rate over four actual weeks. You’ll come away with:

In ninety minutes I work out your decisionless-meeting ratio with you over four real weeks, month-end close and board meeting included. You leave with:

In ninety minutes we calculate your decisionless-meeting ratio together over four real weeks, from morning briefing to rates meeting. You leave with:

In ninety minutes we calculate your decisionless-meeting ratio together over four real weeks, two sprints long. You leave with:

In ninety minutes we work out your ratio over four real weeks, from project meetings to month-end close. You leave with:

  • a completed Week 1 timetable
  • three planned outdoor meetings
  • the letter in which you ask your team to raise their own objections

No introduction, just get on with the work.

I’d like my Week 1 timetable and three external contacts

Ninety minutes · working session · no introductory meeting