Knowing Isn’t Doing: Five Strategies to Overcome Procrastination and Inaction

“The greatest gap in the world is the gap between knowing and doing.” – John Maxwell

The gap between what you know you should do and what you actually do is a barrier to your personal growth and to your company’s growth.

I’ve been coaching Phil (not his real name)–a senior leader in a $200+ million business who’s been grappling with a problem that’s cost his team dearly for months. One of his direct reports, Ted (not his real name)–a long-tenured employee with impressive domain knowledge, is failing as a manager. Ted micromanages relentlessly, communicates selectively, and treats people poorly.

My client knows what needs to happen. Yet months have elapsed and he’s yet to take action to remove Ted from his manager role.

But why? In this case, Phil is emotionally entangled with Ted due to their long history together at the firm and he fears the potential fallout from making a change. Meanwhile, an entire team continues to suffer under Ted’s poor leadership and Phil is far more in the details of the day-to-day than he should be as a senior leader, limiting his ability to be more strategic and future-focused.

Sound at least vaguely familiar? If not this exact scenario, then perhaps some of the elements have played out in your own experience.

The Knowing-Doing Gap Defined

Phil’s situation illustrates what organizational behavior experts call the Knowing-Doing Gap: the space between what we know we should do and what we actually do. And for the record, there’s no doubt Phil knows exactly what he should do–he’s told me himself!

I’ve observed this phenomenon repeatedly in my work with CEOs and executive teams. They’ll read the books, attend the conferences, hire coaches, engage consultants, and can articulate exactly what needs to happen—yet they don’t act on what they know.

But why? If we already know what to do, why don’t we just do it?

Three Hidden Growth Killers

Through my coaching practice and research, I’ve identified three Hidden Growth Killers that operate invisibly to create our Knowing-Doing Gap. Consider how each of these could be contributing to yours:

1. Motivators – particularly fear. My client Phil knows the right move, but fear is overriding his inspiration to act. Your fears might be about confrontation, disruption, potential loss, missed opportunity, or your reputation.

2. Habits – status-quo, comfortable patterns that become barriers to necessary change. Perhaps you’ve fallen into a pattern of avoiding difficult conversations, you’ve established a routine of waiting for the right time that never comes, or you’ve come to tolerate / accept someone’s poor performance or inappropriate behaviors.

3. Beliefs – limiting thoughts that stifle right action. Do you believe any of the following: domain expertise is irreplaceable, tough people decisions tend to end badly, it’s easier to deal with who I know than to hire someone new or if I confront someone on my team things will only get worse? These are all examples of unproductive beliefs for managers and leaders that unconsciously influence your behavior.

Your Motivators, Habits, and Beliefs interact as the unseen mechanisms preventing you from doing things you know you should. If you’re curious to assess how severely these Hidden Growth Killers are affecting your leadership, invest 5 minutes and complete the Hidden Growth Killer Self-Assessment (it’s free and won’t require you to enter any contact details).

The Cost of Inaction

The price you pay for your Knowing-Doing Gap is steep:

For the business: Growth is a struggle. Opportunities vanish. Competitors gain ground. In my client Phil’s case, an entire business unit is underperforming.

For the team: Trust in leadership diminishes as people wonder, “Don’t they see the obvious problem like we do?” Morale erodes. Top performers leave. Those who stay become increasingly disengaged.

For you as a leader: Your credibility suffers. Your stress increases. Your confidence diminishes as you repeatedly fail to act on what you know is right.

I’ve never observed a business where the sustained growth rate of the company exceeded the personal growth rate of the people running it. Here’s the bottom line: when you don’t act on what you know, both personal and organizational growth grind to a halt.

Five Strategies to Close the Gap

After years of helping leaders overcome the Knowing-Doing Gap, I’ve developed several strategies to break through:

1. Recognize Your Inner Voice

That stream of thoughts telling you why action is risky or why “now isn’t the right time?” That’s not you—it’s just the voice in your head. Start by observing this narrative without identifying with it. Notice when fear-based thinking arises: “If I replace this manager, I might lose critical institutional knowledge” or “What if the team reacts badly?”

Simply recognizing these thoughts as separate from yourself creates space to choose a more productive path.

2. Elevate Inspiration Over Fear

Research shows that fear carries approximately twice the psychological weight of inspiration. This means that to overcome fear-based inaction, your inspiration (I) needs to be at least twice the magnitude of your fear (F). Keep this simple formula in mind when you find yourself hesitating to act: 2I > F.

To increase your inspiration, ask yourself: “What would motivate me to act despite my fear?” For my client Phil, inspiration might come from envisioning a high-performing team or happier staff, or from fulfilling his responsibility to the organization’s overall success, or from accelerating the careers of those on Ted’s team who won’t progress while he’s still managing.

To reduce your fear, which is another effective way to make the formula work, use this research-based Fear Reduction Tool.

3. Challenge Your Existing Habits

We often don’t act because we’re stuck in comfortable patterns. Breaking these patterns requires effort and deliberate disruption.

For example, if you habitually delay difficult decisions, try making smaller decisions more quickly and create artificial deadlines for yourself with accountability partners. You can also physically change your environment to help break a habit: literally go to a different space to signal to your brain that this is not business as usual.

For deeper work on habit change, use this research-based Habit Change Tool.

4. Reset Your Locus of Control

One of the most significant determinants of action is your locus of control—whether you believe outcomes are determined by your own agency and behavior or by external forces.

Ask yourself: “Am I waiting for permission? Validation? Perfect conditions?” Take ownership of your decisions and your agency to act rather than allowing circumstances, other people, and/or external forces to dictate your moves. Remember, not deciding is itself a decision, and it’s usually the wrong one.

5. Be Your Way Into Thinking

Sometimes the path through delay or inaction is to simply start moving. Even small forward steps create momentum to tip the scales and overcome inertia. Don’t wait until you feel 100% confident or have eliminated all uncertainty, but rather set your default to act.

If your Knowing-Doing Gap is like Phil’s, you might take small steps by documenting performance issues or having preliminary conversations with HR. These moves create forward motion to build toward the necessary action.

Conclusion

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” – Peter Drucker

Your Knowing-Doing Gap won’t close through knowledge (i.e., more knowing) alone. In fact, seeking more information often becomes a crutch and a justification for further procrastination—yet another way to avoid acting on what you already know!

It’s time for you to act.

Identify one area where you’ve been stuck in knowing without doing. What’s one concrete step you could take this week to begin to close the gap? It doesn’t need to be the complete solution—just enough movement to begin building momentum. Pro tip: use one or more of the tools I’ve shared as an initial, small step!

The things you know you should do but aren’t doing keep you up at night, slow your firm’s growth, and diminish the odds you’ll achieve your own personal aspirations.

On the other hand, and with the benefit of clear hindsight, I’ve never had a client regret making a hard, right decision and then acting to see it through. If anything, they look back and wish they’d acted sooner!

For a deeper exploration of the hidden mechanisms that limit growth and success, and even more tools to overcome them, check out my book Activators: A CEO’s Guide to Clearer Thinking and Getting Things Done.

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