Managing Up

21It's Okay to Quit

“If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.”

—W.C. Fields

Quitting is an act of courage. I don't take quitting lightly.

Quitting is not in my nature. In fact, for the first quarter of my life, quitting was a dirty word. It was abhorrent to me. It was shameful. Growing up, my family motto was “quitters never win.” That motto was drilled into us kids by my (well‐meaning) parents. Both parents grew up poor and built a successful life through grit, hard work, and persistence. So, for them, quitting was a weakness and should be avoided at all costs. As children and young adults, my siblings and I were stuck with any commitments we made. Hate the basketball team? Tough luck; you wanted to play, so now you have to see the season out. Hate guitar lessons (which I did)? Tough luck; you made a commitment to play. Hate honors algebra? Too bad. Do your best. Hate babysitting? Suck it up; you said you wanted to earn extra money. Hate working at the local pizza joint? Too bad; you took the job. And so on and so on.

I took this mantra into my adulthood and my professional life. Quitting was for losers. Quitting made you weak. Quitting was what quitters do, and quitters never win.

While sticking things out is a noble and often useful tenet, experience has taught me that quitting is also empowering. I have come to believe that quitting can be an act of creativity, growth, and empowerment. There are times where ...