Strategic Quitting

Happy Thanksgiving!

Your job needs more strategic quitting.

In his book “The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick),” Seth Godin argues that excellence comes from knowing what to quit and what to stick with, especially when things get hard.

The most successful people find their unique intersection of skills, knowledge, and contribution—a specialized domain where they can truly stand out and deliver exceptional value. They become the best at something specific and meaningful within their sphere of influence, whether that’s their team, department, organization, or profession. And every path to this kind of mastery hits what Godin calls “the dip”—that discouraging valley between excited beginnings and true expertise.

Understanding this pattern changes how you navigate challenges at work.

Godin identifies two scenarios: the dip (temporary difficulty that leads to breakthrough mastery) and the cul-de-sac (a dead end that will never improve no matter how much effort you put in). This framework can transform how you evaluate what’s important in the work you do.

Strategic quitting isn’t about giving up—it's about eliminating what doesn't work to focus your resources on what does. The most successful people quit all the time. They just quit the right things at the right time.

Here's the powerful part: being truly exceptional at something specific is disproportionately rewarded. The benefits of being the best in your chosen domain, however large or small you define that domain, are exponentially greater than being merely good at many things. That’s why identifying and pushing through the right dips and identifying and quitting the wrong dips—is crucial: so you can focus your efforts on being the best.

Here are three ways to put strategic quitting into practice:

1. Becoming the best in the world (however you define “best” and “world”) at something requires making choices: When evaluating opportunities, look for places where mastery would create unique value—for your promotion potential, for your organization, for your career, …

2. When you hit resistance, get specific about what “best” looks like in your context. The more precisely you can define your expertise, the more likely you are to achieve it.

3. Allocate your energy like you allocate resources: strategically. Look at your current projects and initiatives. Which ones can help you become “best”? Those are your dips—they're hard because they’re worth it. The rest? Consider gracefully disengaging or maintaining at “good enough.”

This isn’t easy, especially if “quitting” feels like letting people down. So remember: strategic quitting isn’t about giving up, it’s about focusing your limited energy on the challenges that will lead to becoming the best.

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