The Unconventional Approach of Deferring Decisions in Business during Uncertain Times

Do you remember the best forehand you have seen in a tennis game or a perfect cover drive in cricket? Or watching a defender in a soccer game delaying the moment to ensure that the pursuit of a goal turns offside?

If you have, then you know that timing has the most significant impact on the potency of such perfection. A millisecond earlier or later can make a massive difference in the results. The beauty lies in making the move just at the right moment, neither a pulse earlier nor a pulse later.

Business uncertainties often force many leaders to make decisions regarding employee and customer safety, business strategy, and other critical issues at a pace and risk level they have never experienced. These decisions create stress for executives, as they make difficult trade-offs where there is typically no win-win scenario or clear precedent available.

Leaders know that making good and fast decisions is challenging even under the best circumstances.

A strategy that includes not making a premature decision, delaying commitment and keeping essential and irreversible decisions open until the cost of not making a decision becomes higher than the cost of making a decision could be your trump card.

Deferring decisions can be an effective way of dealing with the inevitable uncertainty that comes with the current situation.

But the question is, when should you exactly commit to these decisions?

I reckon that there is an ‘optimal’ point for decision-making that is referred to as the ‘last responsible moment’.

The idea behind the strategy is simple. Rather than doing everything you need to do early or late; you do something either at a point where you need it or at a point where it would be irresponsible not to do it. This can be carried out by any organization and at any phase of the project.