Quit

The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

By: Annie Duke

Narrated by: Annie Duke

From the best-selling 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 bias
• How 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.

©2022 Annie Duke (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“This brilliant and entertaining book documents a major flaw in human actions and decisions: the bias against quitting. I learned a lot from its compelling tales of failures and sound recommendations. You will too.”—Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner in economics and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow

“Engrossing, important, and grounded in science, Quit is a gem that will allow you to navigate the world more effectively.”—Katy Milkman, bestselling author of How to Change

“A game-changing book of strategy from a world-class thinker on risk and decision-making.”—Shane Parrish, host of The Knowledge Project podcast

get to good decisions faster and with less stigma

As a career coach this book is a must-read for myself and to assist others, and will be a valuable read for anyone who values making good decisions in life at all.
Narrator's voice is pleasant and the book isn't too long (little unnecessary dwindling). Highly recommended.

Great

Worth your time.
Concise and interesting.
One of those books that can change perspective just upon reading.

One of the best books on decision making out there.

This book is incredibly well thought out. The use cases are all very interesting to back core decision making arguments. Those use cases merge together for a central point that really challenges you to approach decisions better. So happy that I found this book.

So many relatable Examples of life

Annie, did such a great job in the narration, keeping me engaged in both Story line and narration throughout the book.
It gave me a brand new perspective on quitting and being able to walk away with pride and with the knowledge why it's best to do it. So many great stories on how it relates to both personal and business life.

Interesting read

This book was a great read and I was sad when I was finished listening to it.

Wonderfully Clarifying

This is for anyone starting a new venture, assessing their current situation, someone who is stuck, or someone looking to take their life or career to the next level.

I learned a lot from listening to this book......

I just finished listening to this book. Great book on how to know when to quit a goal that is not working out or when to continue. I leaned a lot from this book because I've held on to things in my life that I should of let go of long ago because I didn't want to be known as a quitter. As a result I felt like I wasn't open to opportunities that came my way because I was single focused on my goal. I would highly recommend.

Practical to application in life

Very practical book that applies to life . Annie is spot on in here breakdown of when to quit as a life strategy.

Loved the contrarian ideas !

This is a great audiobook. It presents great ideas that are well explained and substantiated. This will help make better decisions.

A fast favorite

This book has become a fast favorite for me and something others should reread yearly :-)