When to Quit
Persistence is noble until it’s stupid.
Don’t quit because something is difficult. Everything meaningful is difficult.
Quit because it’s no longer worthwhile.
5 Signs It’s Time to Quit
#1. The goal no longer serves the purpose.
Goals are tools, not gods.
Reaching the summit isn’t success if you die on the way down. Never sacrifice meaning to complete a lesser goal.
Ask, “What are we trying to accomplish?”
#2. New information changes the decision.
Change direction when realities change.
You had incomplete information. Now you know more.
Ask, “Would you do this today, knowing what we know now?”
#3. You’re protecting past investments.
You’ve invested time, money, energy, and reputation. You don’t recover past investments by wasting current resources.
Past investment explains your reluctance. It doesn’t justify foolish grit.
#4. You’re manufacturing false progress.
Easy work can disguise avoidance.
Instead of quitting, people often…
- Redesign presentations.
- Schedule meetings.
- Write reports.
- Initiate a reorganization.
Busy isn’t progress.
#5. Better opportunities are being neglected.
Every yes is a thousand noes.
Low-value work squanders resources. Promising opportunities slip away.
Sometimes quitting is the only way to pursue what matters.
Establish Kill Criteria
Annie Duke, author of Quit, recommends deciding in advance what conditions trigger walking away.
Use “states and dates”:
“If we haven’t achieved ______ by ______, we will stop, adapt, or redirect.”
Make tough choices while thinking is clear. Emotion takes over when reputation, money, and identity are on the line.
Quit when the path no longer takes you where you want to go.
What are you continuing simply because you started?
4 Things You Need to Quit Now – Leadership Freak
Inspired by: Annie Duke’s Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.
The 5 signs apply to investing also. #1, when why you invested originally no longer makes sense, sell. This investment is not meeting its purpose. Sell. #2 more information may mean I sell or buy more. Now I know more, and if I believe this investment won’t pan out the way I thought. Sell.
Sunk costs are just that. Don’t keep holding an investment hoping to break even. Sell and move on. #3 and #5 go hand-in-hand. Sell the poor performer to invest in a far better opportunity. I’m asked sometimes when to sell. I say where there is a better use for the money or why you first invested no longer holds true. #4 if the investment is simply treading water, might be time to sell.
What a delightful take on this topic. It’s fun when someone applies an idea in an unexpected way. Thanks Pete.
We have three required status update meetings (beginning, middle, and end of the audit work). One of the standard agenda item for the middle meeting is “stop or go”. Meaning we force the team to formally discuss and document that the audit is worth continuing and whether to make any changes from the initial plan.
Nothing like a systematic way to evaluate decisions. Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.
Wonderful food for thought! Thank you.
My pleasure, Bonnie. Cheers