John P. Kotter's A Sense of Urgency discusses the critical importance of urgency in moving ahead in life. He further contrasts urgency with the alternative dangers: complacency and a false sense of urgency:
- Complacency deals with action that completely ignores opportunity and is not alert to potential hazards.
- False Sense of Urgency is defined by frantic action, running from meeting to meeting, writing a frenzy of emails, and the like without doing any productive or innovative work to move the company forward.
- True Urgency is defined by a fast past, gut-driven will and desire to advance ahead. The focus with true urgency is on important issues and overcoming obstacles.