Grit Is Good. But Quitting Can Be, Too.

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From politics to sports to business, we tend to glorify those who persevere, show grit, never give up. But former professional poker player and consultant Annie Duke argues that there is also great value in quitting — whether it’s a project, job, career, or company. She walks us through the biases that keep us stuck in the status quo even when other paths would be more fruitful and explains how to make better decisions. Duke is the author of "Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	So you got the job. Now what? Join me, Eleni Mata, on HBR's new original podcast, New
0:08.1	Here, the Young Professionals Guide to Work, and how to make it work for you. Listen for
0:13.8	free wherever you get your podcasts. Just search New Here. See you there!
0:30.0	Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Alison Beard.
0:43.9	It's not about winning, but what it's about is not giving up. You have to work the hardest.
0:56.6	You have to chase with things impossible. Over and over and over again.
1:02.0	It's never give up because you never know what can happen. You never know who you can inspire.
1:06.6	Nobody is going to hit his heart as life, but it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
1:15.9	I will never stop trying because when you find the one, you never give up.
1:22.1	You might want to give up. Don't give up.
1:28.6	Whether it's in sports, movies, politics, or business, we spend a lot of time celebrating people who persevere.
1:34.7	We prize stick to itiveness, grit, and persistence. We applaud winners and especially underdogs who beat the odds.
1:42.1	But our guest today wants us to rethink those assumptions. If you don't succeed, not just at first, but over and over,
1:48.2	is it really best to try, try, try, try again? Long term, do winners never quit and quitters never win?
1:55.9	Or should we be thinking less all or nothing terms about our businesses and careers?
2:01.0	Annie Duke is an author, consultant, and former professional poker champion.
2:05.2	She wrote the book Quit, the power of knowing when to walk away. Hi, Annie.
2:10.2	Hi, Alison.
2:15.2	Why is quitting so stigmatized?
2:17.7	Oh my gosh, we have so many cognitive biases that really stop us from stopping things.
2:27.9	Our version to quitting is really built pretty deeply into our mind where
2:33.3	and then you see this reflected in even the English language.
	...

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