The Danger of Normalizing Urgency

Normalizing urgency is dangerous.

When the team is always under pressure to produce more results faster, they look efficient.
Everyone thinks productivity has increased because of the constant pressure.
That means the team can move this fast, but they usually can't without being pushed. Right? Wrong.

The team moves faster and produces more results because they likely use shortcuts and skip processes designed to protect long-term quality. The problem doesn't get noticed at first, but eventually it becomes clear.

Quality starts to decline, and the system becomes hard to maintain. To produce more results, teams skip many proper processes that were in place.

Pressure → Shortcuts → Faster Delivery → Hidden Problems → Increased complexity → Slower Delivery.

The same behavior that makes the team look faster will eventually make them slower.