Surface Ripples

It’s OK to Quit

Corporate ‘culture’ doesn’t like failure.  Quitting is seen as failure.   I recently came across a selection of ‘failure words/phrases’ that weren’t recommended for use in CVs.  These included (among others) ‘divorced’ and ‘self-employed’. 

Why do we consider quitting as a sign of failure?  If one quits too often, then there may be something wrong.  It takes considerable courage, however, to admit that it’s time to withdraw from an unprofitable undertaking, especially if we’ve invested high levels of money, time and effort in it.  To quit after this is seen as a ‘waste’ and a ‘mistaken use of resources’ – all the language that so-called ‘successful cultures’ employ.  Studies have shown that the more effort we invest in something, the more reluctant we are to withdraw from it.

We should avoid going into something simply ‘on a whim’ – particularly if it involves large amounts of investment (time, effort, emotion).  That just means we’re irresponsible.  If, however, something that originally seemed to make sense turns out not to be working out, we should ask whether it’s worth the effort to continue.  Businesses withdraw from markets all the time for any number of good reasons.  I know one accountancy firm that always asked clients who were considering going into a particular country to do business what their ‘exit strategy’ was.  To some, this was a rude shock - why consider quitting?  It made sense to me (I knew the country in question), and the firm were making sure their clients understood that this was a market that required considerable care.

Before getting into or committing to anything, we need to do our research not only into the pros and cons, but also into what we see as the longer-term benefits to us and how this will help to achieve our goals.  We also need ‘tell-tales’ that will tell us if we’re off course or that we’re not getting what we thought we would.  It’s like a car fuel gauge.  When the needle shows ‘full’, we don’t need to worry (so much) at the start of a long journey.  If it shows a quarter full and we’re about to set off on a long road trip, we either fill up before the start or not long after.  If the warning light comes on, we know we need to make a decision – fast.

By setting up an ‘early warning system’, we give ourselves the option of what we do next, including the option of quitting.  We don’t go into something knowing we’re going to quit (that’s a waste of everyone’s time) but we make sure that the chances of quitting only occur in exceptional circumstances of some description.  The word around us is changing faster almost daily, with events on one side of the world impacting the other side in very short order.  We can’t predict everything, but we can react, change course, and minimise the number of times we ‘retire with honour’.

We need to make sure, though, that we learn from what went wrong, what mistakes we made and what we do to avoid them the next time.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Leadership, Strategy, Teamwork

posted by William Martin @ 10:16