How to be a Great Quitter

In The Dip, Seth Godin not only argues that quitting is good, but that it is the key to success.

He suggests that we only pursue ventures that we can be the best in the world at and quit the rest. He points to Jack Welch of GE, who eliminated divisions that were not #1 or #2 in an industry, even if it was making profit. This allowed the managers to focus on the areas where they could be the best in the world at.

What justifies sacrificing to become the best in the world? The market leader has a great advantage over competition and often outsells the rest by a large gap (Vanilla ice cream makes up almost 30% of sales compared to the next most popular flavor Chocolate, at under 10%.)

To become the best in the world you have to determine which ventures that you are willing to endure the "Dip". The Dip is the struggle that must be overcome to become the best in the world. It is a waste of time to struggle and then quit in the Dip so you should predetermine if you will make it or not. The greater the Dip, the greater advantage you have over your competition. For example Microsoft has such a dominance of the operating system market that if you wanted to beat them, the dip would be almost impossible to overcome. The greatest success comes to the ones who determine the most worthwhile Dips that they can achieve and focus everything on getting to number one.