Quit : the power of knowing when to walk away

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Title:

Quit : the power of knowing when to walk away

Author:

Duke, Annie, 1965- author.

ISBN:

9780593422991

Physical Description:

xxvi, 308 pages ; 22 cm.

Contents:

Section I. The case for quitting. The opposite of a great virtue is also a great virtue ; Quitting on time usually feels like quitting too early ; Should I stay, or should I go? -- Interlude I. Quitting while the world is watching -- Section II. In the losses. Escalating commitment ; Sunk cost and the fear of waste ; Monkeys and pedestals -- Interlude II. Gold or nothing -- Section III. Identity and other impediments. You own what you've bought and what you've thought: Endowment and the status quo bias ; The hardest thing to quit is who you are: Identity and dissonance ; Find someone who loves you but doesn't care about hurt feelings -- Interlude III. The ants go marching ... mostly -- Section IV. Lessons from forced quitting ; The myopia of goals.

Subject Term:

Summary:

"From the bestselling author of Thinking in Bets comes a toolkit for mastering the skill of quitting to achieve greater success Business leaders, with millions of dollars down the drain, struggle to abandon a new app or product that just isn't working. Governments, caught in a hopeless conflict, believe that the next tactic will finally be the one that wins the war. And in our own lives, we persist in relationships or careers that no longer serve us. Why? According to Annie Duke, in the face of tough decisions, we're terrible quitters. And that is significantly holding us back. In Quit, Duke teaches you how to get good at quitting. Drawing on stories from elite athletes like Mount Everest climbers, founders of leading companies like Stewart Butterfield, the CEO of Slack, and top entertainers like Dave Chappelle, Duke explains why quitting is integral to success, as well as strategies for determining when to hold em, and when to fold em, that will save you time, energy, and money. You'll learn: How the paradox of quitting influences decision making: If you quit on time, you will feel you quit early What forces work against good quitting behavior, such as escalation commitment, desire for certainty, and status quo bias How to think in expected value in order to make better decisions, as well as other best practices, such as increasing flexibility in goal-setting, establishing "quitting contracts," anticipating optionality, and conducting premortems and backcasts Whether you're facing a make-or-break business decision or life-altering personal choice, mastering the skill of quitting will help you make the best next move." --

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	158.1 DUK	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	158.1 DUK	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi)	158.1 DUK	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

From the bestselling author of Thinking in Bets comes a toolkit for mastering the skill of quitting to achieve greater success

Business leaders, with millions of dollars down the drain, struggle to abandon a new app or product that just isn't working. Governments, caught in a hopeless conflict, believe that the next tactic will finally be the one that wins the war. And in our own lives, we persist in relationships or careers that no longer serve us. Why? According to Annie Duke, in the face of tough decisions, we're terrible quitters. And that is significantly holding us back.

In Quit , Duke teaches you how to get good at quitting. Drawing on stories from elite athletes like Mount Everest climbers, founders of leading companies like Stewart Butterfield, the CEO of Slack, and top entertainers like Dave Chappelle, Duke explains why quitting is integral to success, as well as strategies for determining when to hold em, and when to fold em, that will save you time, energy, and money. You'll learn:
How the paradox of quitting influences decision making: If you quit on time, you will feel you quit early What forces work against good quitting behavior, such as escalation commitment, desire for certainty, and status quo bias How to think in expected value in order to make better decisions, as well as other best practices, such as increasing flexibility in goal-setting, establishing "quitting contracts," anticipating optionality, and conducting premortems and backcasts
Whether you're facing a make-or-break business decision or life-altering personal choice, mastering the skill of quitting will help you make the best next move.

Author Notes

Annie Duke is a bestselling author, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space. As a former professional poker player, Annie won more than $4 million in tournament poker before retiring from the game in 2012. Prior to becoming a professional player, Annie was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a non-profit whose mission to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Duke follows up How to Decide with a fascinating look at the power of walking away from strategies and plans that aren't working. There's a pervasive cultural narrative that proposes a false dichotomy of "grit vs. quit," she argues, but that oversimplified framing serves no one: "While grit can get you to stick to hard things that are worthwhile," it can also mean staying with something when it's time to stop. Duke breaks down why people get so hidebound, explaining how the "escalation of commitment" can lead people to double down when they're losing. Finding the resolve to walk away from a project that overlaps with one's identity is especially hard, she notes, as people often fear they'll be judged "as being wrong, irrational, capricious, and prone to mistakes" if they abandon a goal or belief. She offers examples of people who were right to drop the rope when they did, including Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, who recognized the risk continuing to compete posed to her health, and Stewart Butterfield, who walked away from developing the game Glitch to create Slack. Duke reassures readers that there's nothing shameful about quitting: "Contrary to popular belief, winners quit a lot. That's how they win." This no-nonsense survey packs a punch.(Oct.)

Kirkus Review

Why quitting is sometimes a good move. Business consultant and former professional poker player Duke mounts a persuasive argument that quitting is a "decision skill worth developing." Although grit and perseverance are much praised and useful in many situations, sometimes, "persistence is not always the best decision, certainly not absent context. And context changes." The author draws on many examples of individuals at crossroads in their lives or careers, confronting the decision to continue or walk away. She faced just such a decision when she was a graduate student in cognitive psychology, aspiring to a career in research and academia. A serious health issue derailed her progress, and she lost her fellowship. Needing to support herself until she could resume her studies, she took up poker and found she loved the game. "A poker table, it turns out, is a very good place to learn about the upside of quitting," she discovered. "Optimal quitting might be the most important skill separating great players from amateurs." Quitting, though, can be impeded by negative assumptions: that quitting is synonymous with losing; others will view us badly; the time and effort already spent were wasted; giving up some project will mean giving up one's identity. Duke sets out some practical guidelines for overcoming those internal forces. "When you enter into a course of action," for example, she suggests that you "create a set of kill criteria. This is a list of signals you might see in the future that would tell you it's time to quit." Continuing to pursue a goal, she reminds readers, means that other opportunities--more fulfilling and perhaps more exciting--will be neglected. "You simply don't see them because you're not looking for them," writes Duke. When working toward any goal, "don't just measure whether you hit the goal, ask what you have achieved and learned along the way." A fresh perspective on the pursuit and meaning of success. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Prologue The Gaffed Scale	p. xv
Grit vs. Quit	p. xviii
Wrapped in Euphemism	p. xxi
Science Says	p. xxiii
Section I The Case for Quitting
Chapter 1 The Opposite of a Great Virtue Is Also a Great Virtue	p. 3
The Invisible Men at the Top of the World	p. 6
Quitting Is a Decision-Making Tool	p. 10
The Siren Song of Certainty	p. 14
The Super Bowl Is a Corporate Graveyard	p. 16
"Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em But Mostly, Fold 'Em	p. 18
Chapter 2 Quitting On Time Usually Feels Like Quitting Too Early	p. 23
Quit While You Still Have a Choice	p. 29
Thinking in Expected Value	p. 32
Quitting Decisions Are Expected-Value Decisions	p. 35
Time Travelers from the Past	p. 39
Flipping Coins	p. 41
Jumping the Shark	p. 42
The Quitting Bind	p. 44
Chapter 3 Should I Stay, or Should I Go?	p. 48
Paper Gains and Paper Losses	p. 51
Quit While You're Ahead?	p. 55
Take the Money and Run	p. 57
How Smart Is the Smart Money?	p. 59
Getting Feedback on the Things You Don't Do	p. 63
Interlude I Quitting When the World is Watching	p. 67
Section II In the Losses
Chapter 4 Escalating Commitment	p. 73
Knee-Deep in the Big Muddy	p. 79
Waiting until It Hurts	p. 81
Chapter 5 Sunk Cost and the Fear of Waste	p. 85
The Sunk Cost Effect	p. 89
When "Public Works" Is an Oxymoron	p. 92
Katamari	p. 95
How Big Does the Katamari Grow?	p. 98
Mental Accounting	p. 100
The Hardest Cost to Bear	p. 102
The Difference between Knowing and Doing	p. 103
You Can't Jedi Mind Trick Being Fresh to a Decision	p. 105
Chapter 6 Monkeys and Pedestals	p. 108
Getting the Monkey Off Your Back	p. 112
Kill Criteria	p. 115
Funnel Vision	p. 117
States and Dates	p. 122
Better, Not Perfect	p. 125
Interlude II Gold or Nothing	p. 129
Section III Identity and Other Impediments
Chapter 7 You Own What You've Bought and What You've Thought: Endowment and Status Quo Bias	p. 135
An Oenophile among Economists	p. 140
Also, If You've Known It, You Own It	p. 143
The Endowment Effect	p. 144
Pro Sports Teams and Their Escalating Commitment to High Draft Picks	p. 146
The Status Quo Is Hard to Quit	p. 150
Better the Devil You Know	p. 153
The Price of Sticking	p. 154
Chapter 8 The Hardest Thing to Quit Is Who You Are: Identity and Dissonance	p. 158
The Cult of Identity	p. 164
Cognitive Dissonance	p. 168
The Mirror and the Window	p. 170
Out on a Limb	p. 173
Mistaken Identity	p. 175
A Ray of Hope	p. 176
Chapter 9 Find Someone Who Loves You but Doesn't Care about Hurt Feelings	p. 180
(Over) Optimism	p. 185
The Difference between Being Nice and Being Kind	p. 188
Some Coaches Can Pull the Plug	p. 190
Divide and Conquer	p. 192
The Importance of Giving and Getting Permission	p. 194
Interlude III The Ants go Marching ... Mostly	p. 199
Section IV Opportunity Cost
Chapter 10 Lessons from Forced Quitting	p. 205
In the Meantime	p. 210
What Ants Can Teach Us about Backup Plans	p. 213
Notes from the London Underground	p. 216
Just One Day	p. 218
Diversifying Your Opportunities	p. 221
The Great Resignation	p. 224
Chapter 11 The Myopia of Goals	p. 228
The Problem with Pass-Fail	p. 230
Fixed Objects in a Changing World	p. 235
Every Goal Needs At Least One Unless	p. 237
Marking Progress along the Way	p. 240
Goal-Induced Myopia	p. 242
Quit Thinking about Waste	p. 244
Acknowledgments	p. 249
Notes	p. 253
Bibliography	p. 281
Index	p. 297

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Summary

Summary

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Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

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