Data and the financial crisis

The current credit crisis presents an object lesson in data quality. This list of mishaps being reported is long, and ranges from incorrect mortgage and credit data to untrustworthy balance sheets. So how to separate the bad from the good?  Ask “Data Doc” Tom Redman of Navesink Consulting, also the author of Data Driven who has been commenting on the role that data played in the lead up to the crisis—and what companies can do to decrease liability and use data to gain a competitive edge.  See Redman’s recent column on TheStreet.com. 

Harvard Business Press to Publish A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter

It’s a challenge for all leaders: how to heighten the sense of urgency in a large group of people in order to move an organization, or a nation, forward. Some say it can’t be done. John Kotter disagrees.

First, why the need for such change? Is large-scale change–the shifting of strategies, implementation of new systems, significant revamping of structures and processes–necessary? It is if you want to meet the critically important challenges of the day: those that are central to success or survival and signify the difference between winning and losing. And today especially, in a turbulent era in which new challenges and crises emerge constantly; complacency becomes increasingly dangerous to task forces, entire companies, individuals, investors, and even nations.

For more than two decades, John Kotter has been regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change–a highly visible proponent of illustrating how the best organizations approach and execute change. Now, with A Sense of Urgency (Harvard Business Press; forthcoming: September 3, 2008; $22.00; GBP 10.99), Kotter digs deeper into the issue that is the most pressing for global managers and leaders today.

In the book’s Preface, Kotter explains:

It…occurred to me how often I was being asked, “What is the single biggest error people make when they try to change?” After reflection, I decided the answer was that they did not create a high enough sense of urgency among people to set the stage for making a challenging leap into some new direction.

From there, Kotter began a series of discussions with managers about the issue and unearthed a series of illuminating conclusions, including:

– It all starts with urgency–no matter the change effort, if a sense of urgency is low and complacency is high, everything else becomes more difficult.

– Complacency is more common than we think, and often is invisible to the people involved.

– Urgency has more than one opposite: a false or misguided sense of urgency is just as dangerous as complacency–and often more insidious, resulting in major failures.

– Urgency is more important than ever as change shifts from episodic to continuous; the implications of this, combined with the increasing challenges in a rapidly changing world, are critical.

A Sense of Urgency emerges from Kotter’s popular 8-step framework for successful organizational change. The first step, raising urgency, has garnered the most feedback in discussions with managers around the globe. Thus, the author was moved to dig much deeper than before into a topic he sees as much more important than ever before. Readers will learn the clear distinction between constructive true urgency and destructive false urgency and will emerge armed with tactics for creating the right kind of urgency within their organization.