The Missing Ingredient In Your Execution

Greetings Operators!

Here is a short form on the one of 3 crucial mindsets required for Great Execution.

Every great company embodies people that exude:

• Urgency

• Agency

• Excellence

But how do you instill urgency? Here’s my playbook 👇️ 

SHORT ISSUE
The Missing Ingredient In Your Execution:

Urgency!

Every business faces two relentless enemies:

• the daily whirlwind of urgent fires

• the silent killer of procrastination.

When your assets and time directly produce revenue, these enemies cost you dearly—most companies unconsciously waste hundreds of minutes every single day!

The missing ingredient? A culture of immediate action.

Urgency isn't just a mindset; it's the fire that propels great businesses forward, transforming "someday" into "right now."

The Tactical Execution Framework

Creating a culture of urgency requires specific, intentional actions built into your daily operations:

1. Embrace immediate execution - When something can be done now, it must be done now. No exceptions.

2. Implement rapid feedback loops - Check in at shorter intervals (hours, not days) to review progress and remove obstacles.

3. Compress all timelines - Ruthlessly challenge assumptions about how long things take. Convert weeks to days, days to hours.

4. Recognize and reward fast movers - Publicly acknowledge those who embody urgency and deliver results quickly.

5. Make urgency part of your language - Discuss the power of immediate action in all-hands meetings and team communications.

Power of the Daily Huddle

The daily huddle becomes your urgency engine when structured correctly:

1. Keep it strictly timeboxed - 15 minutes maximum, standing if possible

2. Focus on immediate action items only - What will be COMPLETED today, not just worked on

3. Implement public commitments - Each team member declares one thing they'll finish before day's end

4. Create real-time accountability - Yesterday's commitments are reviewed first thing

5. Document visibly - Track completion rates on a visible dashboard to create healthy competition

When someone misses a commitment, don't accept explanations—immediately reschedule completion for later that same day, not tomorrow. This breaks the procrastination cycle and establishes that deadlines matter.

The "Do It Now" Meeting Protocol

Transform meetings from discussion venues to action centers:

1. Laptops open, not closed - When a small task is identified, do it immediately in the meeting

2. Five-minute execution windows - "We've identified this needs doing, let's take five minutes right now and complete it"

3. Celebrate immediate closure - "That's one more thing that won't be on our list tomorrow"

4. Normalize starting over scheduling - Reward the person who pulls out their laptop and completes something while others are still talking about when they'll do it

Example: During your product meeting, someone mentions needing updated copy for a landing page section. Instead of scheduling it for later, the copywriter opens their laptop, writes the three sentences needed, and shares them for approval before the meeting ends. What would have been a week-long cycle collapses to five minutes.

Getting Started

This week, implement "Start Now" moments in every meeting.

When action items are identified, allocate the final five minutes for everyone to START their first task right there. Watch how many items get fully completed rather than lingering on to-do lists.

💡 Quick Win for Next Week

If you're looking for a fast way to implement urgency in your team this week, try the "Power Hour" technique:

1. Block one hour on your calendar with your team

2. Pick ONE small but meaningful task that's been lingering on your list

3. During that hour, focus exclusively on completing it from start to finish

4. No interruptions, no excuses, no delays

The psychological boost from rapidly completing something that's been stagnating will create momentum that carries into other projects. Plus, it trains your team to understand that many tasks don't actually require the days or weeks we allocate to them.

🔥 Hot Take of the Week 

Traditional accountability tools like project management software and status meetings are just procrastination enablers in disguise. They create the illusion of progress while allowing teams to hide behind "in progress" statuses for days or weeks.

What's Working for You?

Hit reply and let me know: Which of your current projects would benefit most from injecting urgency, and what's your biggest obstacle to implementing immediate action in your team?