Years later I started hearing it in business too, as if management circles thought it would be useful in increasing production rates. Not accounting for the fact that levels of urgency similar to military training may not be sustainable in peacetime, and result in workforce burnout and other problems.

A better alternative I’ve seen in high-impact academic research groups is “focus”, rather than urgency. Focused effort produces research results, and can even be energizing rather than draining and burnout inducing. I would hope business circles would adopt that academic approach rather than the military one.