Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late. — Lee Iacocca

Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.

Author: Lee Iacocca

Insight: We've all had the experience of knowing exactly what we should do—yet waiting. Maybe it's ending a relationship that isn't working, or finally addressing a health concern, or admitting a mistake at work. The frustrating part isn't the decision itself; it's that by the time we act, the cost has already multiplied. The relationship has festered into resentment. The health problem has worsened. The mistake has compounded into a bigger crisis. Iacocca spent his career watching companies hesitate at critical moments, and he learned that timing isn't just about making the right call—it's about making it when it can actually matter. A correct decision arrived at too late often fixes nothing, because the damage has already spread beyond the original problem. You get no credit for being right if everyone has already moved on or given up. The real tension here is that we usually wait for perfect certainty before acting, but perfect certainty often only arrives after delay has made the decision irrelevant. Sometimes the smarter play is trusting yourself enough to move when you're 70 percent sure, rather than waiting for 100 percent confidence that never comes.