The Dip by Seth Godin

Book Notes & Rating: “Gives you things to think about when confused” / 10

This is a short book. It’s 80 pages dedicated to the topic of quitting and persevering that thing you don’t quit. It’s all around the simple and crucial idea that to the best in the world at something, you need have quit doing a lot of other things. 

Remember those who became the best in the world at their chosen field were not people incapable of excelling in other areas. But to be the best, they had to focus. This doesn’t mean exploring in various elements didn’t help, I’m sure it aided them, but when the time came, they had to focus. 

“Quitting creates scarcity; scarcity creates value.” 

Everyone (person or business, which is a group of people) will have various periods of exploration coupled with a period of focus to execute on the exploratory data collected. Think about Charles Darwin’s period of exploring the Galapagos islands to sitting down for years to write the Origin of Species. 

When you don’t quit something you aren’t aspiring to be the best at, you are admitting you are fine being mediocre or choosing to live in ignorance of it. Now, the best is subjective. What we can only hope to be is the best in manners we can control. The irony is that being the best version of ourselves—playing a game that is unfairly in our advantage—is the only way we will be world-class. 

To be world-class in being ourselves sounds easy. But it’s hard. That’s because most are mediocre versions of other people. Quitting is hard because you have to admit you aren’t going to be the best. You could be better but you know you won’t be great. 

Fran Lebowitz communicated this on the decision to quit playing the cello instead of practicing more as her mother implored.

“I knew what talent was because I saw the lack of it in myself...I could get better, but I’d never be good.” - Fran Lebowitz

I could’ve climbed the career ladder in accounting. I was good. Far better than most of my peers. I didn’t think I was competent as an accountant. But I was better. My bosses agreed. But I had to leave. I wasn’t going to be great there. That was something my mentors agreed with and we laughed about that years later. I would’ve eventually quit they said. It was inevitable. Better late than never and better early than late. 

Such is the same for companies. Great companies have actually quit a lot of things that outsiders are not aware of. When we look at Costco, people might think “they should sell furniture or paint or whatever.” They did. They looked into it. They went deep into understanding everything they could about the industry and quit the venture before it got too costly. It wasn’t where they felt they could be the best at. 

Remember that best in the world is subjective. Best is subjective to the people who consume what you create. The world is selfish. They want what fits best for them. It’s not an objective measure. 

Now you can’t control what people think is the best and what categories they will use to determine best. But you can find something you are passionate about that is uniquely you…something you can do for a long time and slog through the inevitable trepidations…and there will be people who like what you are best at. That weird thing you do. 

Just ask yourself: What would happen if I saw through this struggle? Do I want the end result to happen? What does it look like to win in the market I am in right now? Does it make what I'm doing worth doing? 

Doing what’s worth doing is required to stop you from quitting when you hit the Dip. Though, many will because that’s how hard it is. That’s why finding something worth doing is the prerequisite. 

The Dip is that bit of hardship that comes after the initial adrenaline has worn off. It’s the trough you have to get through to get to the other side. 

The Dip can be 30 minutes or 10 years. You won’t know how long. Only a long-term vision and a desire to be the best will help you push through.

“If you can’t make it through the Dip, don’t start.” 

Do what’s scarce. Look at industries where there is a revolving door of people who enter and leave. The fact that lots of people enter and leave shows you many don’t last long. Success in that industry is scarce. It’s worth doing. 

“If you want to be superstar, then you need to find a field with a steep Dip—a barrier between those who try and those who succeed.” 

That’s the same for business strategy. Most will seek to do the easy thing (i.e. the lowest hanging fruit). Most will not go out to tackle hard problems. It runs contrary to the convention but that’s where—if you are the person willing to push through—you can find success. 

“The people who skip the hard questions are in the majority, but they are not in demand.” 

Dips are the literal manifestation of moats in business. The deeper the Dip the harder it is to come through it. That’s the same for companies. Companies that are already in leading positions will make the Dip deeper, steeper, and harder to climb out for others as they compound their advantage. 

Most systems are designed to make you quit. That’s what creates winners. The aspirers keep the winners in business and it’s such a hard road many quit, but not before they keep the winners up top and a few, a tiny few will join them. 

“The Dip is actually your greatest ally because it makes the project worthwhile (and keeps others from competing with you.)”

Quitting in the Dip feels like stopping because it’s too painful. It’s a short term avoidance of pain. The caveat here is that the long-term outcome you desire should be worth the short-term pain. If you can’t picture that….then you should quit. 

“If you’re going to quit, quit before you start. Reject the system. Don’t play the game if you realize you can’t be the best in the world.” 

Don’t hedge. Don’t gather exit options. What’s the point of gathering all the options you won’t use? It’s more things to quit. 

“The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you have only two good choices: Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.” 

“If you realize you’re at a dead end compared with what you could be investing in, quitting is not only a reasonable choice, it’s a smart one. Failing, on the other hand, means that your dream is over.” 

“Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.” 

Michael Crichton graduated top of his class at Harvard Medical School. He also did a post-doc at the Salk Institute. He was all but guaranteed a lucrative career as a doctor, researcher, and professor. But he quit all of it to become an author.

Some of Crichton’s novels became hit movies and T.V shows. You might have heard of some: Jurassic Park, Westworld, ER.

Crichton realized the end results of being a doctor didn’t excite him. There are no sunk costs. Crichton knew he didn’t have to do what he didn’t enjoy just because he persevered through the Dips in med school. That was then and facts had changed.

That’s the thing. It’s fine to quit many things. It’s actually required. The book dives into how it’s smarter to just not even start something you will end up quitting. But I think it’s silly to think we won’t make mistakes and take the optimal path all the time.

We have to make mistakes. Life is about making mistakes. So yes, we should do many things that we probably shouldn’t have even done but that is what makes life interesting. They all compound over time to become something we can build on. It’s still life and it’s still experience. 

There is no point in wondering if we shouldn’t do something. I’m of the opinion it’s better to start it and just do it. Do it and quit. That’s fine. Even if it is in the Dip. Just as long as you can come back from it (i.e. don’t die, go to jail). Most things in life are not so permanently damaging. If we think it is, it's just our mind playing tricks. 

You need to try lots of things to learn to quit. And that’s all fine and dandy. 

Remember Jeff Bezos’s “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.” Quit on the features, the products, and projects but if you’ve chosen a market or niche worth pushing through on, then don’t quit and keep at it.

It’s about constantly iterating to crack the problem and not quit. To stick around longer and longer. That’s what the market is looking for. Someone who will refine their craft to serve them. 

It’s hard to influence one person. Aim to influence a market. You can make progress one step at a time and, like climbing a hill, it gets easier over time. 

Look at your job as a tactic. You aren’t giving up on a higher vision. The job is just one tactic, project, a strategy that didn’t work. 

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”