Urgency part 2
As I continue to reflect on the WS characteristic, sense of urgency, the point below kept sticking out to me.
- makes it harder for us to distinguish what is really urgent from what feels urgent; after a while everything takes on the same sense of urgency, leading to mental, physical, intellectual, and spiritual burnout and exhaustion;
It made me think of the quote from Patrick Lencioni, “If everything is important, then nothing is.” It feel the same for everything being urgent. It often feels like an extension of the WS characteristic either/or. People seem to always take things to extremes and view things in black and white terms. Addressing white characteristics is not about taking things to extremes. It’s about nuance. Not everything is urgent and important. Just like one’s behavior can be racist one moment and anti-racist the next.
With this sense of urgency, I started to think that the Eisenhower matrix could be a useful tool to help sort through prioritization. While thinking about the intersection of urgent and important, it’ also helpful to think through the impact of your decision of placing certain tasks in particular categories. It’s easy to only think of your intent and ignore your bias when filling out the matrix. When you are able to collaborate and seek out different perspectives, especially those perspectives of the people impacted by your tasks, you will be able to ensure that you aren’t pushing something as urgent that may actually do more harm than good.
I know that I am often feeling exhausted from this constant push of everything for being urgent. The ability to think through true and equitable prioritization feels sustainable. To be free from the constant state of urgency feels like the fight for justice can be accomplished without self-sacrifice. I look forward to the day when this can be the norm.
