The Time Lie
What it sounds like
“This isn’t the right moment.”
“We’re in the middle of a critical delivery phase.”
“Once we get through this quarter.”
“We’ll address it after the integration.”
“We can’t afford the distraction right now.”
Sometimes that’s exactly the right call. The problem is when not now quietly becomes not yet, again and again.
Why it makes sense
Timing matters.
There are moments when adding another piece of work would be irresponsible. The first weeks of a major acquisition. A CEO transition. A critical product launch. A financing round. A regulatory deadline that simply has to be met.
Good leaders protect their organisations from unnecessary distraction.
So when somebody suggests stepping away from immediate delivery to examine why the organisation is struggling, the answer can be entirely reasonable:
Not now. We need to get through this first.
And they probably do.
The trouble starts when getting through this is supposed to create the conditions to address the underlying problem, but somehow never does.
There is always another this.
What it hides
Overloaded organisations generate urgency.
Projects slip, so they require intervention. Decisions are late, so they need escalation. People are overloaded, so priorities have to be renegotiated. Work isn’t finishing, so more senior attention gets pulled into delivery.
All of it is real.
Which means there is always a completely legitimate reason why this week, this month or this quarter is a terrible time to stop and look at what’s creating it. The organisation waits for things to calm down.
But what if the reason things aren’t calming down is the thing you’re waiting to investigate?
The organisation can create the urgency that prevents you from examining what’s making everything so urgent.
That’s the Time Lie.
The organisation isn’t necessarily avoiding the problem, it may sincerely intend to deal with it.
Just after the quarter. After the integration. After the restructure. After the launch. After the new CEO settles in. After the transformation gets through its difficult phase.
Each deferral makes sense on its own. Collectively, they can amount to years.
The uncomfortable possibility
Waiting isn’t always neutral.
If the underlying problem is accumulating drag, time changes the calculation.
Another workaround becomes permanent. Another initiative starts before the previous one finishes. Another unresolved decision gets carried forward. Another capable person compensates for something the system should be doing. Another temporary process becomes simply how things work around here.
The organisation becomes busier dealing with the consequences of its current condition, which makes finding time to examine that condition even harder.
And the argument for waiting becomes stronger.
The better moment you’re waiting for may never arrive while you’re working this way.
That doesn’t mean you should launch a major intervention in the middle of every crisis.
It means distinguishing between good timing judgement and permanent deferral dressed as good timing judgement.
One says:
This matters, but there is a specific reason we should do it in six weeks rather than today.
The other says:
This matters, but first we need things to become less difficult.
If what you’re postponing is part of what’s making today so difficult, waiting for things to calm down won’t solve it.
TEST IT
Look at something important that your organisation has repeatedly decided to address later.
Then ask:
What exactly are we waiting to become different?
Be specific. More capacity? Less pressure? Fewer urgent problems? A major programme completed? A quieter quarter?
Then ask the harder question:
Is the thing we’re postponing contributing to the reason we’re postponing it?
If it is, waiting isn’t solving the timing problem.
It may be compounding it.
You still might decide that today genuinely isn’t the right moment.
But give later a condition, not just a promise.
Because sometimes the right moment really is later.
The Time Lie is assuming later will somehow make itself easier.
Last updated October 2026
