Why Don’t Quit Is Bad Advice.
Quitting may sometimes be the only way to move forward.
You must have heard the phrase “Don’t Quit” on multiple occasions. The phrase comes in different flavors; some may use words like ‘never give up,’ ‘failure is for losers,’ ‘winners don’t quit,’ ‘keep pushing on,’ and many more. While I agree that we must always put in our best and persevere to get the result in whatever we do, I also know that there are times when quitting is the best option forward. There are times when we must assess our situation and plans and decide whether changing our course will be the more productive course of action.
We have all been sold the mantra of ‘winners don’t quit,’ that we tend to persistently pursue ideas that will only end up in failure. We have associated quitting with failing, and we will feel like we have failed when we have to abandon a plan that we no longer want to pursue. Winners don’t quit is an illusion, and ‘don’t quit’ is a bad idea because successful people quit when they know it is time to chart a new path. Quitting an idea or a plan when we know it is not heading anywhere, or when we are sure we have something better should not be seen as a failure, and people should not be stigmatized for changing their plans.
We all quit sometimes:
We quit using the rotary dial home phone.
The advent of cloud storage led us to quit using floppies and CD drives for data storage.
We embrace the use of our smartphones for navigational purposes, and we are discarding our standalone GPS devices.
We quit buying newspapers, and instead, we subscribe to the digital editions to stay up to date with information.
When was the last time you saw someone carrying a Personal digital assistant (PDA) around? Smartphones have made them obsolete.
None of us has any crystal ball to show us the future. Things change. Conditions can become different, and we have the right to change, as well. So quitting something for another thing does not mean you have failed.
People who dare to quit
Jeff Bezos of Amazon quit his high-paying wall street job to start Amazon.
Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber, quit UCLA to go work on his first business, “Scour,” with some of his classmates.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook quit Harvard after his sophomore year to focus on building Facebook.
It takes courage to quit because quitting may sometimes mean leaving certainty for uncertainty.
Businesses that quit
Businesses, from time to time, make strategic decisions by killing certain brands or products to remain profitable.
For example, Microsoft had to quit the Vista Operating System.
General Motors ended the production of Chevrolet Volt, Cruze, and Impala.
According to an article published in Harvard business review, “Unilever had 1,600 brands in its portfolio in 1999, when it did business in some 150 countries. More than 90% of its profits came from 400 brands. Most of the other 1,200 brands made losses or, at best, marginal profits.”
Businesses that failed to quit.
Businesses that do not know when to quit will eventually be forced to quit. Innovating and embracing, and adapting to change will help sustain a business.
Blockbuster was forced to declare bankruptcy as more people quit the idea of renting physical videos and embraced streaming movies online.
The need to protect the environment from carbon emission and access to reliable renewable energy sources is driving coal-fired power plants out of business.
Once the leading phone manufacturer, Blackberry was not quick enough to innovate, and they got disrupted by iPhones.
People who fail to quit
Failure to quit is why some people.
Remain stagnant at a job with no clear path for progression
Spend all their entire savings on a business that is bound to fail.
Perpetuate in an unhealthy and toxic relationship
Sometimes limit what they can accomplish, and they are underutilizing their potentials. If you don’t quit when you are supposed to, you will find yourself falling behind because of a lack of progress.
The purpose of this piece is not to use it as a get out of jail card; it is not a license to quit when you confront the slightest challenges with your plans. So,
Don’t quit because:
- things are tough and more challenging than you expected.
- you are not getting an immediate result as you thought.
Quit because:
- there are better alternatives to get to your goals.
- there is no longer any path forward that will help you accomplish your goals.
The big idea
When should you quit?
Knowing when to quit will set you free and ensure you are pursuing things that align with your goals. Quitting may sometimes be the only way to move forward. So, to the question, when should you quit something? I’d say you should quit when you have done your best, including consulting with others, and you feel there is no path forward.
Or when you are sure of a better alternative.
Robert Herjavec of shark tank said it best.
“The way I see it, quitting isn’t losing; it’s simply changing direction.” And in the world we live today, change is all but sure. We can change, things around us can change, and our situation can become different.”
