flâneur

Quitting Time | No Mercy / No Malice

profgalloway.com · 4,088 words · saved by 1 readers

Few virtues are more celebrated in America than perseverance and grit. Commencement speakers offer a similar battle cry: “Never give up!” Jesus, what bullshit. Entrepreneurs aren’t voted into the hall of fame unless they have a story about mortgaging their house to make payroll or cleaning the first apartments rented on the platform. Sir James Dyson made 5,126 prototypes of his bagless vacuum cleaner, only to be rejected by every manufacturer in the U.K. Jack Ma was rejected by Harvard 10 times. Grit is great. Perseverance is a virtue. But, narratively, it’s overrated. Greatness is a function not just of grit, but of talent, luck, where and when you are born … and knowing when to quit. Don’t quit, “reboot.” Quitting is “onwarding.” The point is that similar to not-quitting, quitting is also a virtue. In fact, it’s a necessity. The most successful prehistoric peoples were willing to leave a place when they observed a decline in prey or a change in the weather. Most CEOs have one thing i

Quitting Time Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share this post Quitting Time Scott Galloway @profgalloway Published on January 26, 2024 Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share this post Audio Recording by George Hahn Few virtues are more celebrated in America than perseverance and grit. Commencement speakers offer a similar battle cry: “Never give up!” Jesus, what bullshit. Entrepreneurs aren’t voted into the hall of fame unless they have a story about mortgaging their house to make payroll or cleaning the first apartments rented on the platform. Sir Jame

related reading