"Engineering Management Thought of the Week" Jeff Glass

After I received my doctorate and began working as a post-doc for a well-known professor in my area of study, he would regularly mention that all the successful people he knew had a sense of urgency about their work.  I had a difficult time understanding this at first.  The research we were doing was long-term and I could not see what drove this sense of urgency.  If you are working on a project which will not reach a commercial product for many years, how do a few hours here and there make a difference?  Fortunately, I was always a rather hyperactive researcher anyway so although I did not understand his philosophy or discussion about urgency, I always enjoyed multitasking and working as quickly as possible so I fit in well with his approach.  I worked hard and, in some cases frantically, because I loved the work and was very passionate about it rather than because it was required by my supervisor’s sense of urgency.

But now I understand.  This sense of urgency is not related to the deadlines or the final outcomes.  Rather, it exemplifies the importance, the priority, and even the passion, you have for your work. Even if you are ahead of schedule for all of your activities, this sense of urgency will still be evident if you expect to be very successful in your career.  The important point to note is that a sense of urgency does not just mean that every time you save a few minutes here or there the project moves a few minutes ahead.  On the contrary, a sense of urgency has an exponential effect on any project or activity.  It not only saves the time that would be lost if one were approaching the project casually, but it also multiplies on itself over and over again to move the project along, breaking through barriers and finding solutions to problems which could derail the project entirely.  Thus, any time there is a few minutes to spare or a transition in your day from one activity to another (for example, lunch is coming up or you are about go to a meeting and only have a few minutes, etc.), do you try to squeeze out that last task or do you put your activities on hold and wait until you get back or return to work the next day.  If you tend to do the latter, I recommend that you reevaluate.  Try to instill in yourself the sense of urgency, the passion to complete your tasks, which I see in all of the highly successful people I have worked with. 

There are a couple of caveats to keep in mind when thinking about this sense of urgency.  First, do not confuse a sense of urgency with constant motion.  There are cultures (both corporate and national) which place too much value on activity, regardless of how productive the activity is.  The same advisor I had in my post-doc years had a poster in his office that said “Never confuse motion with action.”  This is wonderful advice – your “actions” should be focused and explicit rather than simply for show.

Another point of caution – quality should not be ignored for the sake of urgency.  On the other hand, many of us, especially in the engineering field, look for perfection rather than “good enough for the customer.”  This is clearly a balance but remember “perfection is the enemy of completion.”  It is better to try many activities quickly and fail at some, than to try one activity after you are sure that it cannot fail.  By the time you have this assurance, the moment will pass – the market window will close, your competitor will have solved the problem, etc.

Another caveat involves all of those intangible but absolutely critical areas which should never be compromised.  Put your urgency in check if you are concerned about safety, ethics, or any very high risk decision.  In these cases, those of us with a built-in sense of urgency need to take a step back and do more thinking than doing.

One last comment – know thyself!  That is, study yourself, compare yourself to other highly successful people, understand your inner clock.  If you don’t have a built-in sense of urgency, develop it.  Ask yourself at each point during the day when you make a decision on what to do next, “how do I maximize my output”.  If you already have this sense of urgency in your DNA, ask yourself if you need to put in check for certain tasks.  Unfortunately, we are not always as self aware as we would like to be but fortunately, there are plenty of people around us who will act as sounding boards, whether we like it or not!  And, of course, we should thank them for it.  Incidentally, don’t feel that you have to outwardly express a sense of urgency to operate with a sense of urgency.  Some of the most laid-back folks I know on the outside are actually churning to get things done on the inside.  Their sense of urgency may not be obvious upon first meeting but you can be sure it will come out the first time you work with them.

Now it’s time for me to get to a bunch of other things I was planning to do today which I’m sure are more urgent than anything I’ve already completed!