Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
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- Create Date：2022-10-30 06:52:45
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Annie Duke
- ISBN：0593422996
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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 biasHow 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。
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 biasHow 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。
Reviews
Damon Glassmoyer
，
Unpacks the delusions and fallacies that keep us stuck in paths and activities that do not help us。 The summary at the end， encouraging us to redefine "failure" and "waste"， is worth reading repeatedly until it sinks in。 Unpacks the delusions and fallacies that keep us stuck in paths and activities that do not help us。 The summary at the end， encouraging us to redefine "failure" and "waste"， is worth reading repeatedly until it sinks in。 。。。more
Aaron
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very readable。 well worth while。 basically spelling out the things that get in our way of making rational decisions to quit something 。。。 and tools to help with better processing。 quitting to be able to do the next thing that's better。 keeping feelers out even when you're in a good thing because sometimes there's something better out there - or your current thing might come to an end。 （think of ants， most of them go after the known food， but others are always scouting for maybe the better or nex very readable。 well worth while。 basically spelling out the things that get in our way of making rational decisions to quit something 。。。 and tools to help with better processing。 quitting to be able to do the next thing that's better。 keeping feelers out even when you're in a good thing because sometimes there's something better out there - or your current thing might come to an end。 （think of ants， most of them go after the known food， but others are always scouting for maybe the better or next thing。 。。。more
Steve Brock
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As Stevo’s Novel Ideas， I am a long-time book reviewer， member of the media， an Influencer， and a content provider。 I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher， a publicist， or the author， and have not been otherwise compensated for reviewing or recommending it。 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases。This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 10/23， as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas。 From a f As Stevo’s Novel Ideas， I am a long-time book reviewer， member of the media， an Influencer， and a content provider。 I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher， a publicist， or the author， and have not been otherwise compensated for reviewing or recommending it。 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases。This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 10/23， as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas。 From a former professional poker player and the bestselling author of "Thinking in Bets" comes a toolkit for mastering the skill of quitting to achieve greater success。It's been a great few months for my "Stevo's Business Books of the Week" selections， as many of them are books that I wish I had read in the early years of my career， which is good news for those who are there now。 Annie Duke's "Quit" is one of those titles， as I have been guilty of over-staying in at least two cases， while I watched my co-workers successfully jump from company to company。As Duke says （and I am a poster-child for it）， we are horrible quitters。 We see the clear indications that things need to change， yet we still hang on。 Like me， you are a workaholic and don't have time to look for a new job， much of your identity is tied to your current job， or you lack the funds to start looking after you quit （thinking， "what if I don't get any offers for a long time"）。Duke's tells us that we need to start thinking about quitting shortly after we are hired。 We should create a scenario that helps us leave on our terms when the time comes。 And we won't be thought of as traitors because smart companies want us to leave when we feel our contributions have leveled off， or even a little before that。The gem in "Quit" comes from Duke's studies in cognitive psychology。 The timing of your worklife decisions are always governed by levels of uncertainty。 Not having the option to quit in your arsenal can paralyze you from progressing in your career。 You need to give yourself permission to stop doing what's not working and focus on what is。There are so many books out there telling us how to keep doing our current work - which Duke calls "Grit，" - her book is a refreshing reminder that the time will come to move your garden to another plot， and successful moving comes from both mental and physical preparation。Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www。goodreads。com/list/show/9。。。， and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google。 。。。more
Jiri
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I chose this book because it deals with the questions we ask ourselves in life and find it difficult to find answers to them ourselves。 A second person who has either made a number of decisions in life to quit at the right time themselves， in the case of the author who was a successful poker player this is the case， while seeing life from a different angle， can be a real help to us at times when we are too wrapped up in ourselves or too busy trying too hard， while it's still difficult to see the I chose this book because it deals with the questions we ask ourselves in life and find it difficult to find answers to them ourselves。 A second person who has either made a number of decisions in life to quit at the right time themselves， in the case of the author who was a successful poker player this is the case， while seeing life from a different angle， can be a real help to us at times when we are too wrapped up in ourselves or too busy trying too hard， while it's still difficult to see the end， but at times when the course we're on has changed， or priorities have changed， or purpose has faded， and we're either not giving it the attention it deserves， staying the course requires more of us than is healthy， it can help us recognize that it's the right time to quit。 In this sense， the book met my expectations and I found in it not only encouragement to quit， but also advice on setting new goals， and I can see the purpose in the various activities beyond the call of duty that help to find other， better paths and directions。 。。。more
Jim Cullison
，
Six out of five stars。 Vaults to the top of self-help literature with insights and prescriptions that are absolutely vital to this day and age。
Terry
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Annie Duke has produced a second book on an essential life skill， in this case， knowing when to quit。 As with many pop psych and self-help books， the core thesis is easy to distill， has a lot interesting ramifications， and then needs to back its claim up with rigor。 This book attends to all of them。 You will likely be able to find interviews and summaries and they are worth reading， but the book itself also well done。 In the case of the audiobook， the author reads it and the emphasis feels usefu Annie Duke has produced a second book on an essential life skill， in this case， knowing when to quit。 As with many pop psych and self-help books， the core thesis is easy to distill， has a lot interesting ramifications， and then needs to back its claim up with rigor。 This book attends to all of them。 You will likely be able to find interviews and summaries and they are worth reading， but the book itself also well done。 In the case of the audiobook， the author reads it and the emphasis feels useful。Core claims:*We teach people that perseverance is an important skill， which it is， but continuing past the point where one should quite is a waste of time and resources and can be potentially fatal。*Get someone to help you determine when you should quite， what Duke calls a quitting coach。 We are very bad at treating a situation as if it's new and genuinely need outside opinions to make sense of the world。*Set up kill conditions and quit criteria ahead of time。 We frequently phrase goals as "I will x" but we should be in the habit of adding phrases like "unless" to them。 Goals focus on end state whereas qualifiers focus on process。*We'd do much better to look at how we've done compared to our starting point as opposed to compared to our end goal。 In most cases， any progress is great even if we don't reach our intended goals。*Every time we put off choosing， that's functionally identical to proactively choosing our current course。 We have a strong bias towards what we consider the default and we should be mindful of this。*Our time and resources are finite， quitting allows us to get onto the next thing。*Life is an explore/exploit tradeoff and explore should never go to zero。 No matter how much we want something， gamechanging events can always come in and preclude us from getting what we want and we should be prepared to do something else。These points may seem obvious but that comes tied with the question of "if they're so obvious， why do people seem to so thoroughly ignore them？" The examples given are wonderful。 I heartily endorse this book。 。。。more
Brian Matlin
，
Quit Reading This BookThe main of idea of the book is sensible: stop doing things that make one's life miserable。 Some of the ideas were good: give a trustworthy person permission to give you honest feedback; one's identity is often a reason a person is reluctant to leave a job。Otherwise， the stories of those who were mentioned were typical: always elite athletes and intellectuals。 I found that off-putting。Would have been nice if there had been stories about people in regular jobs: the plumber w Quit Reading This BookThe main of idea of the book is sensible: stop doing things that make one's life miserable。 Some of the ideas were good: give a trustworthy person permission to give you honest feedback; one's identity is often a reason a person is reluctant to leave a job。Otherwise， the stories of those who were mentioned were typical: always elite athletes and intellectuals。 I found that off-putting。Would have been nice if there had been stories about people in regular jobs: the plumber who quit and found another pursuit; the truck driver who disliked his job but quit and found another opportunity。 。。。more
Suzan
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I borrowed this audiobook from my local library。 Annie Duke is a new author to me。 I found this book interesting。 Anne used stories of well know people to explain her ideas。 Some of the people I was aware of and some were not but the stories always helped me to understand what Anne wanted to express。 This also made the book read more like fiction than a textbook， which is a good thing for remembering things for me。 So the idea of Quitting is really not something that we were taught or that we te I borrowed this audiobook from my local library。 Annie Duke is a new author to me。 I found this book interesting。 Anne used stories of well know people to explain her ideas。 Some of the people I was aware of and some were not but the stories always helped me to understand what Anne wanted to express。 This also made the book read more like fiction than a textbook， which is a good thing for remembering things for me。 So the idea of Quitting is really not something that we were taught or that we teach our children。 But after listening to this book I have a different view and think quitting is in many caused the right thing to do。 This book is worth the read！ 。。。more
Alan Eyre
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The third in a great trilogy by Annie Duke about how to view and make decisions。 Takes the stigma away from quitting。 Essential reading for anyone who decides on a regular basis = everyone！
William T
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Quickly reviewing the reviews， I am not certain that every reader focuses on the real point of this book。 It is a good book that explores some old terrain， covered in a new way， and some new terrain that is important for those of us making commitments of one sort or another。It is by no means， as one reviewer suggested， a self-help book。 Ms Duke is too much of a scientist for that。 Should recognition of one more component of decision making help us？ Of course。 But I don't think Ms Duke set out to Quickly reviewing the reviews， I am not certain that every reader focuses on the real point of this book。 It is a good book that explores some old terrain， covered in a new way， and some new terrain that is important for those of us making commitments of one sort or another。It is by no means， as one reviewer suggested， a self-help book。 Ms Duke is too much of a scientist for that。 Should recognition of one more component of decision making help us？ Of course。 But I don't think Ms Duke set out to write a best selling self-help book。 I think that her goal was to say "here are a few of the obvious psychological speed bumps that we commonly hit on our way to intelligent decisions。 If you can keep the possibility of those decisions traps in mind， you may find your way to a more productive process， and even possibly， a higher "expected value" to your decisions。"I think she accomplishes that， and the book will remain on my list of books to return to， again。 。。。more
Sara Goldenberg
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Interesting - I enjoyed it！
Barry McKinney
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There I go again getting sucked into another self help book。 First， a few of things about the genre that I hate。 It's always some smarty-pants with an Ivy league PHD or a poker champion or some such who only makes the reader feel worse about themselves。 So f' off for that。 It's also hard to relate to to the the stories they tell to reveal the secret of their success。 I just couldn't make up my mind on whether to go to Harvard， Yale or Oxford， or do the that series or Ted Talks I'd been meaning t There I go again getting sucked into another self help book。 First， a few of things about the genre that I hate。 It's always some smarty-pants with an Ivy league PHD or a poker champion or some such who only makes the reader feel worse about themselves。 So f' off for that。 It's also hard to relate to to the the stories they tell to reveal the secret of their success。 I just couldn't make up my mind on whether to go to Harvard， Yale or Oxford， or do the that series or Ted Talks I'd been meaning to get around to， so I called my friend in California， best selling Stanford professor so and so， to run a little experiment with a 1，000 undergrads to help me decide。 Thanks for the tip， that's what I'll do next time， too。 In fairness to the author， her style is not nearly as grandiose as I describe here。 Just the style in general。 Duke herself seems entirely relatable as someone you'd love to have a "beer" with。 As for the book， I actually enjoyed it and learned a lot about myself from it。 I am definitely high in grit and low in quit。 I appreciate the excellent critique of the grit movement， if for nothing else than to help me accept those taboo feelings of staying loyal to something and not being rewarded。 That awful feeling of thinking one is doing everything right and not getting ahead。 This book does a good job of diagnosing the problem， which is for gritty， gritty me is a very valuable first step。 Unlike most self help， I feel like I will walk with actionable steps to take to change my life。 Or will I？ Duke makes it clear that knowing is not enough。 Most people who know their blind spots will still fail to avoid them。 Good thing I hired Daniel Kahneman as my quit coach。 Now I'm back to point one。 She should have cut that chapter， but overall a great book and worth your time。 。。。more
Charles
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I think there is a major distinction between when to quit and when to stick。 During my years in top notch grad school working towards my phd I have seen people who quit too often and people who should have quit a lot sooner。 Listening to the author and looking back at my experience I would say it probably come down to two points 1 have you thought it thru？ It doesn’t guarantee you to make a right decision but it allows you to deal with the consequences better （either quitting or not） 2 what is a I think there is a major distinction between when to quit and when to stick。 During my years in top notch grad school working towards my phd I have seen people who quit too often and people who should have quit a lot sooner。 Listening to the author and looking back at my experience I would say it probably come down to two points 1 have you thought it thru？ It doesn’t guarantee you to make a right decision but it allows you to deal with the consequences better （either quitting or not） 2 what is at stake？ And what are the odds you can make it？ If it is something at high stakes and probability is not at your favor， （eg like gambling or building a startup） quit asap when things go sourA few take away from the authorHave a kill criteria， which is about setting a milestone to hit with a deadline attached; thinking ahead of what signs one might see as things going poorly/wellOne favorite quo”we tend to be more rational when you are thinking ahead than we are actually at the moment 。。。more
Stroop
，
An interesting exploration of the benefits of quitting （while you're ahead or so you prevent additional losses of time and other resources）。 Each chapter ends with helpful tips and a summary of what was covered in the chapter。 Full of anecdotes and examples of why to quit， parameters to set to help you recognize when to quit， etc。 An interesting exploration of the benefits of quitting （while you're ahead or so you prevent additional losses of time and other resources）。 Each chapter ends with helpful tips and a summary of what was covered in the chapter。 Full of anecdotes and examples of why to quit， parameters to set to help you recognize when to quit， etc。 。。。more
Jessi
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In American culture， quitting has become synonymous with failure。 People who persevere are those who are admired。 But Duke argues that we need to start learning when it is time to quit。 Sometimes， it just isn't worth the fight。She lays out example after example showing that leaving the option of quitting on the table means you've given yourself more choices。 Of course， that means you have to be open to the fact that you will never know what might have been。 Being open to change， even when your a In American culture， quitting has become synonymous with failure。 People who persevere are those who are admired。 But Duke argues that we need to start learning when it is time to quit。 Sometimes， it just isn't worth the fight。She lays out example after example showing that leaving the option of quitting on the table means you've given yourself more choices。 Of course， that means you have to be open to the fact that you will never know what might have been。 Being open to change， even when your are happy， might make your life even better。I really liked the last chapter and talking about setting goals。 So many books talk about goal setting as a panacea but they don't talk about the drawbacks。 One instance of a downside would be trying to meet your goals to the exclusion of all else。 The suggestion of not making goals pass/fail and allowing for outs in certain situations seems much more reasonable and， frankly， less depressing。 This book is incredibly readable and the author even inserts some of her own stories into the book。 I wish there had been more scientific data to support her hypothesis but there are a lot of engaging stories to prove her point。 。。。more
Chris Boutté
，
I don’t have words to describe how much I loved this book， but I’ll give it a try。 I was fortunate enough to get an early review copy of Annie Duke’s latest book， and I binged it over the weekend。 Annie’s original book Thinking in Bets was the first book to introduce me to cognitive psych and better thinking， and I’ve been in love with the topic ever since。 The problem is that there are so many books on making decisions， but so few of them dedicate any time to discussing when to quick。 The secon I don’t have words to describe how much I loved this book， but I’ll give it a try。 I was fortunate enough to get an early review copy of Annie Duke’s latest book， and I binged it over the weekend。 Annie’s original book Thinking in Bets was the first book to introduce me to cognitive psych and better thinking， and I’ve been in love with the topic ever since。 The problem is that there are so many books on making decisions， but so few of them dedicate any time to discussing when to quick。 The second I heard Annie was writing this book， I had to read it。Annie does an incredible job discussing the importance of quitting and makes clear that we need to get rid of our preconceived ideas that quitting is a sign of failure。 As usual， throughout the book， in addition to discussing studies and research， she gives real-life examples。 In some cases， people could have died had they not quit。I’m someone who is constantly working on new projects and doing multiple side hustles， so opportunity costs are a big deal to me。 Annie’s book is everything I could have hoped for and more， and now I have some better strategies for choosing when to quit。 While there are definitely studies she references that people will be familiar with， she makes them feel fresh by discussing how we can use this information to know when to quit。 。。。more
David Drysdale
，
I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 I enjoyed Annie Duke's book "Thinking in Bets" and so I was delighted when I saw this title pop up on NetGalley。 In "Thinking in Bets，" Duke unpacks how lessons she learned as a professional poker player can have broader applications to decision making and risk assessment。 Here， she focuses on "knowing when to fold 'em，" arguing that in many situations， people wait too long to exit an unfavourable situation due to I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 I enjoyed Annie Duke's book "Thinking in Bets" and so I was delighted when I saw this title pop up on NetGalley。 In "Thinking in Bets，" Duke unpacks how lessons she learned as a professional poker player can have broader applications to decision making and risk assessment。 Here， she focuses on "knowing when to fold 'em，" arguing that in many situations， people wait too long to exit an unfavourable situation due to some combination of shame—our culture tends to value grit and determination while denigrating "quitters"—and cognitive biases such as the endowment effect or the sunk cost fallacy。 Duke provides plenty of anecdotes to support her thesis， such as Muhammad Ali staying in the ring well past the point at which it was medically advisable and contrary examples， like Slack founder Stewart Butterfield's decision to pivot away from an untenable situation even though it appeared， on the surface， to be a costly choice。 Duke's argument is built on examples like these that make for good reading but not necessarily strong evidence。 For example， she talks a lot about how we value grit， but she doesn't consider the extent to which "stubbornness" is a negative value。 This is symptomatic of her overall selectiveness of evidence; she doesn't offer up any examples of situations where people dropped out of a situation too early though I am sure there are plenty of people who should have stuck around with an investment or idea a bit longer。 That might have been okay if Duke were making a more innovative argument， but she runs through the same old BE studies， cognitive biases， and irrational behaviours that are by now very familiar to anyone who reads much in this space。 The same studies show up and though the framing is different， there's not a lot that's new here。At the end of the day， this is the type of book that will show up in the business section of an airport book store。 It's mildly interesting and Duke's an engaging enough writer to help pass the time on a plane， but it's not an especially innovative or rigorous study。 。。。more
Srinivasan Tatachari
，
I took up this book due to its interesting title “Quit”。 And it seemed to be appropriately timed， what with all the buzz about “Great Resignation” and so on。 It also came into my shelf at a time when people around me in my workplace were quitting。Many of the things Annie puts out in this book makes sense - the clear use of the sunk cost traps， escalation to commitment - are perfect in this context。 So many of us keep wondering about the time and effort we have invested into building our skills f I took up this book due to its interesting title “Quit”。 And it seemed to be appropriately timed， what with all the buzz about “Great Resignation” and so on。 It also came into my shelf at a time when people around me in my workplace were quitting。Many of the things Annie puts out in this book makes sense - the clear use of the sunk cost traps， escalation to commitment - are perfect in this context。 So many of us keep wondering about the time and effort we have invested into building our skills for a job and then are too worried about quitting it for the reason that we already invested so much。 Annie brings in the aspected of expected valuie and the fact that quitting early is never too late for making a better change。 She goes on to also indicate how with the goal setting we might have more difficulties in quitting， because the finish line drives us to complete that task。 Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to go further - her examples of marathon runners running with broken bones is very hard hitting。 We need to quit when there are enough signals - but it takes a lot of mental energy to do that。I liked the book overall， but I think the core ideas of the book are a few and there is a lot of repetition because of that。 Probably a crisper text would have made it more appealing， in my view 。。。more
Darya
，
Knowing when to quit a venture is powerful。 One one side the book tells the stories we already know and show examples of how and at which mountains celebrities decided to quit， on the other side it helps you to understand that quitting is not necessarily something bad and knowing the right time for you to stop doing something can be even beneficial。
Richard Propes
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