Nobody loves urgencies, but a sense of urgency is a blessing.

It protects you from overthinking and underdoing, from contemplating when you should be building, and from getting lost in discussions when you should be making calls.

Timeboxing and having a sense of urgency are inextricably linked. On the one hand, without a sense of urgency, timeboxing is like drawing a line in the sand: clear for a moment, then gone with the first breeze. On the other hand, you can't have a sense of urgency if you don't consider time a precious and very finite resource. 

The problem is that companies can’t have a sense of urgency; people do. And you can’t induce it, just like you can’t induce agency or autonomy. It is an internal trait. In fact, exogenous urgencies are the bad ones.

Creative work without a sense of urgency tends to expand, wasting energy on things that don't matter, polishing the unnecessary, and chasing tangents. A sense of urgency makes you focus on the essentials. Furthermore, it builds momentum. When everyone feels that time matters, decisions happen quickly and progress becomes visible. A sense of urgency is contagious.

Think of the alternative. Would you like to work in an environment that lacked a sense of urgency?

Me neither.