Ever wondered how Google's moonshot factory, X, led by Astro Teller, balances innovation with pragmatism, turning ambitious ideas into commercial reality? Curious about the downfall of iconic brand Sears and the lessons it offers about adaptability and strategic quitting? Dive in to discover how winners often find their path by knowing when to quit and pivot, leading to greater opportunities and fulfillment.

Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

Mount Everest, one of the most formidable environments on Earth, is a battleground for perseverance. Yet, it’s also a fitting backdrop to explore the virtues of quitting. 

One story from the 1996 Everest climbing season, chronicled in Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air," features three climbers—Dr. Stuart Hutchison, Dr. John Taske, and Lou Kasischke—who made the wise decision to turn back just hours from the summit. Their story is often overshadowed by the tragic deaths of other climbers, including their expedition leader, Rob Hall.

Hutchison, Taske, and Kasischke were part of a guided expedition led by Adventure Consultants, known for facilitating the ascent for relatively inexperienced climbers. Ascending Everest requires acclimatization and adherence to strict turnaround times to ensure climbers' safety during their descent. On summit day, the turnaround time was set at 1 p.m. to prevent the climbers from descending in dangerous conditions such as darkness, fatigue, and hypoxia.

Despite nearing the summit by 11:30 a.m., Hutchison advised his companions to turn back, recognizing it would be well past the turnaround time when they reached the top. Taske agreed, but Kasischke hesitated, driven by his goal to complete the Seven Summits. Ultimately, they all turned back and safely descended, avoiding the tragic fate that befell many others that day.

This narrative highlights the importance of quitting as a crucial decision-making skill. In high-stakes environments, sticking to predetermined plans, like turnaround times, can mean the difference between life and death. The story of Hutchison, Taske, and Kasischke underscores that quitting isn't about failure; it's about making the right choice given the circumstances.

Quitting enables adaptability. In Silicon Valley, strategies like "minimum viable product" (MVP) rely on the ability to pivot quickly based on feedback, abandoning what's not working and refining what's successful. Comedians like Richard Pryor also illustrate this principle by testing new material in small clubs, discarding jokes that don't land, and honing those that do.

In our own lives, quitting plays a vital role in decision-making. From dating to career choices, the ability to walk away from something unfulfilling or unsustainable allows us to pursue better opportunities. The challenge lies in overcoming the uncertainty of whether quitting is the right choice, a dilemma faced by climbers, poker players, and businesses alike.

Ultimately, understanding when to persevere and when to quit is essential. As Kenny Rogers sang in "The Gambler," knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em is key. In a changing world, the ability to quit wisely can lead to greater success and happiness. Whether on Everest or in everyday decisions, quitting is not a sign of weakness but a strategic move toward better outcomes.

Is Quitting the Ultimate Survival Skill? Insights from Everest's 1996 Tragedy

In 1992, Stewart Butterfield was captivated by the internet's potential for human interaction, especially across geographical boundaries. By 2002, he co-founded a company to create a multiplayer online role-playing game called Game Neverending. 

Despite its innovative concept, the venture struggled to secure funding post-dot-com crash and eventually ran out of money. In a desperate move, they salvaged a photo-sharing feature from the game, which became Flickr. Within a year, Yahoo acquired Flickr for $25 million.

Butterfield left Yahoo in 2008 and tried again to create a cooperative online game, launching Glitch in 2011. Despite an enthusiastic core audience, most new users abandoned the game quickly. Recognizing the unsustainable growth required to maintain the game, Butterfield decided to shut it down in 2012, despite having $6 million in the bank and recent user growth. He saw that continuing would likely turn the project into a financial black hole.

Butterfield's decision to quit Glitch allowed him to pivot. He transformed the internal communication tool used by his team into Slack, which launched in 2013. Slack went public in 2019 with a market cap of $19.5 billion and was acquired by Salesforce in 2020 for $27.7 billion. This story underscores that quitting, when thoughtfully timed, can lead to greater opportunities.

Similarly, Dr. Sarah Olstyn Martinez, an ER physician, faced burnout from her demanding job, which affected her health and family life. After realizing she would be perpetually unhappy if she stayed, she decided to switch to a less stressful job, improving her well-being and family relationships.

Both stories highlight that quitting on time, although often perceived as premature, can be a strategic move leading to better outcomes. Expected value thinking, which involves assessing the potential long-term benefits versus the downsides, is crucial in making such decisions. By considering future scenarios and probabilities, Butterfield and Olstyn Martinez navigated their paths toward more fulfilling opportunities, demonstrating that quitting can sometimes be the smartest choice.

How Stewart Butterfield's Strategic Quit Led to the Rise of Flickr and Slack

Before ridesharing apps, taxicab drivers were early gig economy workers, operating as independent contractors. They paid a fixed fee for a 12-hour shift and chose when to drive. This setup presented an interesting case for studying quitting behavior.

Behavioral economist Colin Camerer and colleagues collected data from nearly 2,000 NYC cab drivers. They discovered that drivers often made poor decisions about when to continue driving. Many quit early during high demand and persisted too long when fares were scarce. Instead of maximizing earnings based on real-time conditions, drivers set daily income goals and stopped once they met them, regardless of earning potential.

This behavior aligns with findings in behavioral economics, notably Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory, which highlights loss aversion: people fear losses more than they value gains. This theory explains why cab drivers quit early when ahead, to lock in gains, and continue working when behind, hoping to avoid losses.

Similar patterns are found in retail trading. Traders often exit winning positions prematurely to secure gains and hold losing ones too long, hoping for a rebound. This behavior, driven by loss aversion, reduces their potential earnings.

Even expert investors show this bias. Research shows that while they make good buying decisions, their selling decisions often lag behind, suggesting they could benefit from a more data-driven approach to quitting.

In essence, understanding when to quit and when to stick is crucial. Misjudging this can lead to significant financial losses. Whether in taxi driving, trading, or investing, refining our quitting strategies can lead to better outcomes.

Can Kahneman and Tversky's Theories on Loss Aversion Help Us Make Better Financial Decisions?

During the post-World War II era, many Americans moved west to Southern California, chasing the American Dream. Shirley Posner and her husband Harold did just that, settling in San Bernardino. Harold saw an opportunity in the booming factory town of Fontana and opened a small appliance store, the Union Store, in a converted chicken coop. By offering discounted prices, Harold’s business flourished, and he expanded to larger locations, eventually renaming his store ABC.

The 1950s brought immense growth to Harold’s business and the surrounding area, driven by the expanding California highway system. Harold capitalized on this boom and opened multiple stores, transforming ABC into a major retail chain. However, the arrival of Kmart in the 1960s marked the beginning of Harold’s challenges. Kmart’s aggressive pricing strategy forced many local retailers, including ABC, out of business. Despite the growing competition, Harold refused to sell or close his stores, even as his losses mounted.

Harold’s persistence, even in the face of mounting evidence to quit, puzzled many. His son, Barry Staw, later studied this behavior, coining the term “escalation of commitment.” Barry’s research revealed that people often double down on losing endeavors due to the sunk cost fallacy—our reluctance to abandon something we’ve invested heavily in, even when it’s clearly failing.

Harold’s story is a poignant example of how the same determination that drives success can lead to downfall when one fails to recognize the need to quit. This phenomenon isn’t limited to business; it’s seen in various aspects of life, from relationships to public projects like California’s bullet train. Despite the immense challenges and skyrocketing costs, decision-makers often continue investing in failing projects, driven by the desire to justify past expenditures.

Understanding the sunk cost fallacy and the escalation of commitment can help us make better decisions. It reminds us that life is one long game, and sometimes, the best move is to walk away.

Barry Staw's Insight: The 'Escalation of Commitment' Behind His Father’s Retail Struggle

Astro Teller, affectionately nicknamed "Astro" since college, has had a remarkable journey. After earning his PhD in artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University in 1998, he co-created an interactive gallery installation and published novels. 

He went on to co-found five companies, including a hedge fund using machine learning and a successful wearable body monitors company. As a Stanford professor, he joined forces with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Sebastian Thrun to develop Google’s innovation lab, X, in 2010, where he now serves as "Captain of Moonshots."

X, an incubator for revolutionary ideas, aims to solve the world's most intractable problems with a 10x impact rather than just incremental improvements. Under Teller’s leadership, X has seen projects like the self-driving car initiative Waymo, Google Brain, Verily Life Sciences, and Wing delivery drones reach commercialization. However, they’ve also had to shut down ambitious projects like Project Loon and Project Foghorn when they proved unviable.

Teller's unique approach to innovation involves a mental model called "monkeys and pedestals." The concept highlights the importance of tackling the hardest part of a problem first (the monkey) rather than focusing on easier, already-solved aspects (the pedestal). This strategy helps X quickly identify and cut losses on projects that won’t succeed, saving resources for more promising endeavors.

Teller emphasizes precommitment through "kill criteria," setting benchmarks in advance to know when to quit and shift focus. He advises applying this strategy in various aspects of life, from personal relationships to career choices, to ensure that time and resources are spent on endeavors with the highest potential value.

Astro Teller’s relentless pursuit of innovation, combined with his pragmatic approach to quitting nonviable projects, has propelled X to be a powerhouse of groundbreaking ideas, demonstrating that smart quitting and focusing on the right challenges can lead to outsized returns and world-changing solutions.

Can Astro Teller's Moonshot Strategy at Google X Transform the Future?

Andrew Wilkinson is a true entrepreneurial spirit, with a knack for creating successful ventures. Starting with a profitable mobile apps company, MetaLab, his client list boasted giants like Apple, Google, and Disney. Over time, he used his profits to launch over twenty companies, including Tiny, which invested in numerous internet businesses. His reputation for swift deals and a hands-off approach earned him the nickname “Warren Buffett for startups.”

Wilkinson’s journey began in high school with a tech news website, MacTeens.com, which even secured an interview with Steve Jobs. Despite the demands of managing the site, he barely graduated. After a brief stint in journalism, he dropped out of college to start MetaLab. In 2009, he developed Flow, a to-do list tool that quickly became a hit, reaching $20,000 in monthly revenues. Wilkinson, a staunch advocate of bootstrapping, refused venture capital offers, funding Flow himself.

However, Flow faced stiff competition from Asana, co-founded by Facebook's Dustin Moskovitz. Despite initial confidence in Flow’s superior design, Wilkinson found it challenging to keep up with Asana’s resources and capabilities. As Flow’s expenses soared and growth slowed, he continued investing his personal funds, caught in the sunk cost fallacy and endowment effect. Ultimately, after pouring over $11 million into the venture, Wilkinson realized Flow couldn’t compete and scaled it down.

The story reveals how ownership can cloud our judgment, leading to overvaluation of our creations. This cognitive bias, known as the endowment effect, was first described by Richard Thaler. Thaler’s research, along with Daniel Kahneman and Jack Knetsch, showed that people value their possessions more highly than identical items they don’t own. This bias extends beyond physical objects to our beliefs and decisions, making it harder to abandon failing ventures.

Wilkinson’s tale, along with research on professional sports and the endowment effect, highlights the difficulty of quitting and the cognitive biases that fuel over-persistence. Understanding these biases can help us make better decisions and avoid the pitfalls of sticking with failing projects.

From MetaLab to Tiny: Andrew Wilkinson's Journey as the 'Warren Buffett for Startups'

Sears' journey from its iconic mail-order catalog in 1896 to its bankruptcy in 2018 is a tale of innovation, identity, and the pitfalls of failing to adapt. For the first thirty years, Sears thrived by delivering a vast array of products to rural Americans through its catalog, capitalizing on the expansion of railroads and the Postal Service's Rural Free Delivery program. This success led to a $40-million IPO in 1906, underwritten by Goldman Sachs, marking Sears as the first American retailing company to go public.

However, the 1920s brought challenges, prompting Sears to pivot from catalog sales to retail stores, and by 1929, they operated over three hundred department stores. Despite thriving during the Great Depression and expanding post-World War II, Sears faced new competition in the '70s from low-price retailers like Walmart and upscale department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue. Their vast product range, once an advantage, became a disadvantage as malls introduced specialty retailers.

Sears' merchandise income plummeted, leading to a decline that continued despite various efforts to revive it. By 1991, Walmart and Kmart surpassed Sears as the top retailers. The final blow was the disastrous 2005 merger with Kmart, culminating in Sears' bankruptcy in 2018.

Less known is Sears' success in financial services. Starting in 1899 with a banking department, Sears expanded into credit sales, auto insurance through Allstate, real estate with Coldwell Banker, and securities with Dean Witter. These ventures flourished, but in 1992, Sears sold off its profitable financial assets to focus on its failing retail business, leading to its eventual demise.

The story of Sears' decline illustrates the danger of clinging to outdated identities. Faced with new realities, Sears failed to pivot effectively, unlike Philips, which successfully transitioned from lighting products to healthcare technology by divesting its core business and embracing innovation. This highlights the importance of adaptability and the willingness to quit what no longer serves to pursue greater opportunities.

Psychologist Leon Festinger's study of a doomsday cult in the 1950s offers insight into this behavior. When the world didn't end as predicted, most cult members escalated their commitment rather than abandoning their beliefs, illustrating cognitive dissonance. Similarly, Sears couldn't let go of its retail identity, even as evidence mounted against its viability.

The lesson is clear: be selective about what you stick to. Focus on what brings happiness and moves you toward your goals. Quit the rest, and consider seeking outside perspectives to help navigate these tough decisions.

Did Sears' Refusal to Adapt Lead to Its Ultimate Downfall?

Ron Conway, the legendary founder of SV Angel, is not only renowned for his successful investments in major companies like Facebook, Google, and Airbnb but also for his unique talent as a quitting coach. Conway's philosophy, summed up in three words—"Life’s too short"—highlights his belief in the importance of knowing when to walk away from failing ventures.

Conway's experience shows that founders, often brilliant and driven, struggle to recognize when their start-up is doomed. They face enormous pressures, working long hours for little pay, driven by the hope of success. Yet, Conway understands that prolonging a failing effort is a waste of talent and potential. He helps these founders set performance benchmarks and revisits them to determine if the venture is worth continuing. This approach, known as using kill criteria, helps founders make rational decisions about quitting.

Conway's strategy is not just about saving founders from failure but also about freeing them to pursue more promising opportunities. By returning capital to investors and considering employees' future prospects, founders can demonstrate responsibility and flexibility, traits valued by investors for future endeavors.

The notion that optimism alone drives success is pervasive, yet studies by Don Moore and his colleagues show that while optimism may increase persistence, it doesn't necessarily lead to better performance. This is especially true in Silicon Valley, where over-optimism is common among founders.

Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel laureate, emphasizes the need for a "quitting coach"—someone who offers an honest perspective and helps make tough decisions when it's time to quit. This approach prevents people from wasting time on unproductive paths. Kahneman himself relies on Richard Thaler for this role, illustrating that everyone, regardless of their expertise, can benefit from outside guidance.

In business, separating the decision-makers for starting and stopping projects can improve quitting decisions. For individuals, having a quitting coach who offers honest feedback without the bias of being "in it" can be invaluable. Ron Conway's approach, encouraging founders to see the bigger picture and understand when to move on, showcases the power of having a quitting coach in navigating the often harsh landscape of start-ups.

Ron Conway: The Quitting Coach Behind Silicon Valley's Greatest Successes

In the attic of her Connecticut home, Maya Shankar discovered a violin her mother had brought from India, deemed uncool by her siblings. Maya's talent shone, leading her to Juilliard at nine and lessons with the legendary Itzhak Perlman at thirteen. But a torn tendon and misdiagnosed arthritis ended her promising violin career. 

Forced to quit, Maya pivoted, finding passion in cognitive psychology and earning a Rhodes scholarship. Her journey led to a White House role and a senior position at Google. Maya’s story illustrates how unexpected change can lead to new opportunities, urging us to explore backups before we’re forced to. 

Similarly, a health issue pushed another academic, who had been on a path to a tenure-track position, into playing poker for income. This detour led to a successful poker career, proving that sometimes Plan B can surpass our original goals. Like Maya, he discovered unexpected success when circumstances forced him to explore new avenues.

The story of Mike Neighbors, a basketball coach, echoes this theme. By giving his players an extra day off, unconventional at the time, his team thrived. The additional rest not only improved performance but allowed players to explore interests beyond basketball. This strategy, akin to the ants' exploration of new food sources, shows the value of diversification.

In broader terms, forced quitting during the pandemic led many to re-evaluate their career paths. The Great Resignation saw millions voluntarily leave jobs, having discovered new opportunities during forced downtime. This shift underscores the importance of exploring alternatives, akin to London commuters finding better routes during a Tube strike.

The lesson is clear: embrace change, explore new opportunities, and diversify your life’s portfolio. Whether it’s Maya Shankar's pivot from violin to cognitive science, or a poker player's shift from academia to card tables, the path to success often involves unexpected turns. Winners, it seems, quit a lot and that's how they find their way to winning.

Could Maya Shankar's Journey from Violin Prodigy to Cognitive Scientist Inspire Your Next Career Move?

Mount Everest provides a powerful setting to explore the virtues of knowing when to quit. Decision-making in high-stakes environments, like mountain climbing, underscores that quitting isn’t about failure but making the right choice given the circumstances. This concept extends beyond climbing into various domains, from business to personal life, highlighting the importance of adaptability.

In Silicon Valley, strategies like pivoting quickly based on feedback emphasize the value of quitting what doesn’t work. Similarly, personal stories of entrepreneurs and professionals who made strategic decisions to quit and pivot illustrate how these choices can lead to greater success. For instance, Stewart Butterfield's decision to abandon failing projects led to the creation of successful ventures like Flickr and Slack.

Psychological concepts such as the sunk cost fallacy and cognitive biases like loss aversion and the endowment effect explain why people persist in failing endeavors. Understanding these biases can help make better decisions, avoiding the pitfall of over-commitment.

Lessons from both historical and contemporary examples show that adaptability and strategic quitting are crucial. From Sears' failure to pivot to new market realities to Astro Teller’s innovation strategies at Google’s X, the ability to recognize when to quit and refocus efforts is key.

Ultimately, having a clear understanding of when to persevere and when to quit, often aided by external perspectives or "quitting coaches," can lead to better outcomes. Embracing change, exploring new opportunities, and diversifying one’s approach are essential strategies for success. Winners often find their path by knowing when to quit and pivot, leading to greater opportunities and fulfillment.

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Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

Annie Duke

Ever wondered how Google's moonshot factory, X, led by Astro Teller, balances innovation with pragmatism, turning ambitious ideas into commercial reality?

Curious about the downfall of iconic brand Sears and the lessons it offers about adaptability and strategic quitting?

Dive in to discover how winners often find their path by knowing when to quit and pivot, leading to greater opportunities and fulfillment.

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