I’m a recovering procrastinator.

I used to find multiple things to do to avoid my most important work. I do better these days, but the tendencies are still in me.

When I heard Adam Grant say that you should wait until the last responsible moment to do your best work or make your best decisions, it resonated with me.

But there’s a difference between procrastination and strategic delay. Procrastination avoids decisions out of fear or perfectionism. Strategic delay gathers information and keeps options open.

Grant’s principle recognizes that most decisions improve with time—not because we become smarter, but because situations become clearer.

The key word is “responsible.” You’re not waiting indefinitely—you’re waiting until waiting longer would create problems.

Why do I share this? Because anxious leaders often rush to decide just to relieve their discomfort. But premature decisions are often poor decisions.

By deferring a final call until the deadline at which action becomes urgent, you:

• Give yourself space to collect fresh data
• Stay open to new ideas or changing circumstances
• Avoid locking yourself into suboptimal paths

It’s a mindset that blends intellectual humility (“I might be missing something”) with pragmatic urgency (“I can’t wait forever”).

The key word is “responsible.” You’re not avoiding the decision; you’re optimizing it.

The next time you feel pressure to decide something immediately, ask yourself: “What’s the last responsible moment for this choice?”

Sometimes the most courageous thing you can do is wait.