Leading Through Chaos: A Crucial Model for Leaders and Change Professionals

As a leader or change expert dealing with organizational change, you know the winds of urgency whipping through organizations. In times of accelerated change, an unhealthy sense of urgency often burns out employees and slowly alters the cohesiveness and wellbeing of the workforce. But when you're ready to build a healthy organization, you begin to adapt to accelerated change and exponential markets with flexibility and resilience.

How can you change course as a change leader if no one cares about balancing people's needs with organizational urgency? The secret is to harness a Healthy Sense of Urgency, or HSU as we call it in Enterprise Agility.

When an organization is experiencing disruption, people often change their behaviors in unhealthy ways that undermine progress and colelctiveperformance. However, cultivating a Healthy Sense of Urgency (HSU) can help steer these actions more positively. HSU provides a framework in Enterprise Agility for driving change with focus, empowerment, and balance

We're all familiar with phrases such as “Faster, we need it tomorrow!”. Unhealthy urgency floods the veins with adrenaline and the brain with cortisol, leading to hasty decisions that exhaust people and cause them to burn out.

People get drained by this breathless pace. But as a SUSTAINABLE PLAYER, you should know that speed doesn't have to come at the expense of people's health.

A Sustainable Player is a key concept in Enteprise Agility. It embraces the Enterprise Agility Way of Thinking (EAWT) and prioritizes long-term resilience, adaptability, growth, and shared progress. It makes balanced decisions, considering factors such as the well-being of the workforce, customer expectations, and the company sustainability.

The proper urgency comes from clarity, not nervousness. It requires objectives with priorities that mobilize the workforce around what's most important.

When people are stressed, the number of perspectives they can evaluate drops. And that affects innovation and business value and increases the number of mistakes and bugs in digital products. But when the place is healthy, different perspectives flood the organization. When leaders understand their goal and the steps to get there, urgency takes on direction.

Communication is critical — you need to keep communicating and reinforcing clarity and goals in a sustainable way. While clarity directs urgency outward, awakening inner drive requires involvement. People need to help formulate their own sustainable plans so they take ownership of them.

As a Sustainable Player, you should seek the best opinions of those who know the work. Different perspectives lead to better solutions, and defined roles give teams a stake in success.

Even when the stage is set, you should care and sustain a healthy sense of urgency or HSU. Make sure that the workload and resources to support employees allow for sustainable progress — if you overburden your workforce, there is a risk that it'll become disengaged.

Use data and collective knowledge to make decisions. Have AI as a partner to bring in different perspectives during high uncertainty times to understand how stressed people are.

To sustain motivation over time and during accelerated change, celebrate quick wins and milestones that mark (real!) progress. Give people proof that their efforts are moving the needle forward. Without evidence of progress, urgency feels pointless. Provide psychological safety so employees can voice concerns without consequences — an open environment refines strategies.

A Healthy Sense of Urgency (HSU) also requires the mindset of a marathon runner. Help teams balance short-term demands with long-term vision. Don’t let urgency crowd out thinking, planning, and relationship building. Otherwise, it becomes a blind sprint—reactive and directionless.

A good way to build a sustainable and healthy momentum is by using the TriValue Company Model, a financial and value-creation framework for companies exposed to high uncertainty and exponential change (watch this video to know more about TVC!).

When balanced, urgency becomes a motivating ally rather than an exhausting burden — a trusting partner rather than a stern overseer.

Follow the previous recommendations to cultivate a Healthy Sense of Urgency (HSU) that moves organizations forward with care, empowerment, and focus. These are 3 crucial areas to cover in companies expose to constant change.

If you want to learn more about HSU (a critical Enterprise Agility component), check out my new book Enterprise Agility Fundamentals, pages 197 now(yards.

Join Us for This Great Workshop TODAY!

We'll meet with the Enterprise Agility World community folks to get an overview of the major enterprise agility models. Why don't you join us for a dynamic, interactive session that introduces key models? Whether you're currently reading my book Enterprise Agility Fundamentals or are new to these models, this event will provide valuable insights.

Prior experience in Enterprise Agility is not needed. >>>> Register here, and please pass this invitation on to colleagues who will benefit from gaining insight into the enormous potential of Enterprise Agility. <<<<

Ready, Set, Adapt: Essential Skills for Organizational Change

We are launching our Certified Enterprise Agility Consultant Training CEALC worldwide. If you want to accelerate your career in organizational change, now is the time to enroll. Our intensive course equips Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, and Change Consultants with the essential skills to guide organizations through today's turbulent landscape. Contact Greg Pitcher to know more about our CEAC:

----> Contact Greg Pitcher for more details at: 1entagility@gmail.com <---

Our CEAC  training is packed with the latest models and frameworks to go beyond SAFe and Business Agility and take your organization and your career to new heights.

If you are in Australia, you can also check the CEAC training with Sandip Rananavare!

Irena Pavlovska is also starting a new CEAC training in Europe. So if you are in that latitude, please contact her right now!

(Spanish) Estamos comenzando un nuevo entrenamiento de Enterprise Agility en Latino América, y puedes llevar tu carrera al próximo nivel con AgileWise. Click aquí para preguntarles más detalles!

Just 11 Seats Available for Saturday's FREE Event

Transform your leadership impact with the groundbreaking Lighthouse Model. This pioneering framework cultivates intellectual humility in leaders—an essential capability as volatility and uncertainty accelerate. Irena Pavlovska Krivosheeva is bringing this great session.

--> REGISTER HERE <--

Whatsapp Group for Change Professionals

We've launched an exciting new free initiative—a Whatsapp group for those reading Enterprise Agility Fundamentals and other change professionals from around the world who want to learn advanced techniques to deal with change.

This group brings together passionate leaders like you from around the world to share ideas for implementing enterprise agility and new approaches to organizational change and exponential markets. Here we can share ideas, give and receive advice, and support each other in impacting the enterprise in the new accelerated reality.

We would love for you to become part of this community. If you are interested, just click on this link, and you will be added to the WhatsApp group.

Navigate Exponential Change with the EA World Community Knowledgebase

Need help steering your organization through the ever-changing business landscape? The Enterprise Agility Community knowledge base has got you covered.

With markets evolving faster than ever, traditional frameworks often fall short. That's why our community of Enterprise Agility Experts has created workbooks, infographics, and videos drawing on the latest insights from behavioral science, neuroscience, and the latest models from Enterprise Agility.

VISIT OUR COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGEBASE

This knowledge base contains actionable resources to equip you with the advanced tools needed to thrive in exponential times. And the best part? We're making it accessible for everyone to access.

You'll also find an AI-powered video search engine to help you find what you need quickly. Access the full workbook library, infographic collection, and video knowledge base now to get cutting-edge frameworks that can empower your organization today.

If you need any help or have questions, our team of ambassadors and I are here to assist. Let's navigate this era of change together!

Best regards,

Erich R. Bühler

CEO, Enterprise Agility University