One of the executives I worked for had a twist on the saying, “better late than never.” His version was, “better never than late.”

Being on time for some things was so critical that it was on time or not at all. Considering that he sometimes met with top executives or the board of directors, it made some sense. If you were going to be late, it better be impossible for you to get there at all.

In many situations, late seems like the better choice. With guests staying at our house, I did not publish this blog in time for it to go in the daily email. What’s the harm in it going out late? Would I be better off skipping the day?

Some of my old CrossFit gyms punished athletes that were late for class. Great if avoiding the punishment caused people to always be on time. For some of us, it had a different effect. If you were going to be a few minutes late, you skipped class that day. Did that help the gym achieve their goal of helping clients?

Which do you think is better, late or never?