IDEA Collider | Annie Duke, “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away”

Welcome to another incredible episode of the IDEA Collider│Pharma Book Club series with your host Mike Rea. Today, Annie Duke joins us on the show to discuss her latest book, “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”

Annie is an Author, Professional Speaker, Decision Strategist & co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a non-profit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education.

In the episode, Annie Duke delves into the motivation behind her latest book, “Quit,” when quitting is a valuable option rather than sticking around, grit versus willingness to quit, and Stewart’s Butterfield’s Quit story before founding Slack. In addition, Annie expounds on the fear of changing your mind and why most people worry about failing instead of winning.
Ultimately, she delves into the Monkey & Pedestal Model, three reasons behind building the pedestal, the kill criteria & why you should have a quitting coach!


During this episode, you will learn about;
[00:00:33] Introducing today’s guest
[00:01:37] What motivated Annie in writing her book Quit as opposed to Thinking in Bets that lead to decision making
[00:06:40] The difference between grit & willingness to quit
[00:09:27] Why eight times more people die on the descent of Mt. Everest than climbing
[00:18:53] Muhammad Ali is the embodiment of showing how in one circumstance, Grit can be a virtue & in the other circumstance, a downfall
[00:30:20] Stewart Butterfield’s story from one of the world’s greatest quitter to founding Slack
[00:39:37] The fear of changing your mind & failing
[00:48:36] The monkey & pedestal model
[00:56:18] Three reasons behind building the pedestal
[01:02:38] The kill criteria & the idea of having a quitting coach [01:10:08] Does Annie act as a quitting coach?
[01:18:51] The Reverse Sicilian concept
[01:20:17] How to connect with Annie Duke

Notable Quotes
● “Persisting at something when it’s worthwhile to do so is definitely a good character trait, but persisting at something when it’s no longer worthwhile is not a good character trait.” (07:33-07:46)
● “It’s 100% true that to have succeeded on something you must have to stick to that, but it doesn’t mean if you stick to something you will succeed.” (18:16-18:22)
● “Most people don't quit until it’s not a decision anymore.” (30:02-30:04) ● “When you have started something and engaged in a particular course of action, it causes us to be myopic. We don’t see the other things that might be available to us, and we stop exploring other opportunities.” (37:05-37:15) ● “We think it’s going to slow us down to quit, but when we quit something that is no longer worthwhile, it speeds us up.” (39:11-39:16)
● “If I quit after 2 million instead of 9 million, that’s a success. I didn’t fail at something but succeeded at something.” (01:14:43-01:14:49)
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Mentioned Books
-Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
-Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke
-Grit by Angela Duckworth
-Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Follow Alliance For Decision Education;
● Website: https://alliancefordecisioneducation.org/
Follow Annie Duke;
● Website: https://www.annieduke.com/
● Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnieDuke
● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-duke/


Follow Mike Rea on;
● Website: https://www.ideapharma.com/
● Twitter: https://twitter.com/ideapharma
● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bigidea/

To listen to more amazing podcast episodes: https://podcast.ideapharma.com/
- Grit Versus When to Quit with Annie Duke
- Learn When to Quit with Annie Duke
- When to Quit with Annie Duke
Summary
Quitting is a valuable skill. It’s important for dealing with uncertainty, yet we are quite bad at exercising it. It should not be just about sticking to things. Quitting is also good, particularly when we have to start most things. Persisting at something when it’s worthwhile is definitely a good character trait but persisting at something when it’s no longer worthwhile is not a good character trait. Calibrate around the notion, “is it worthwhile to stick? "