
Just finished reading Seth Godin’s new book, the dip. It’s a small book on a big idea. Here are the highlights from my reading:
- "Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time."
- "Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations."
- "In a competitive world, adversity is your ally. The harder it gets, the better chance you have of insulating yourself from the competition."
- "Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers."
- "Average feels safe, but it’s not. It’s invisible."
- "Selling is about a transference of emotion, not a presentation of facts."
- "Yes, you should (you must) quit a product or a feature or a design–you need to do it regularly if you’re going to grow and have the resources to invest in the right businesses."
- "The time to look for a new job is when you don’t need one. The time to switch jobs is before it feels comfortable. Go. Switch. Challenge yourself."
- "Quitting as a short-term strategy is a bad idea. Quitting for the long term is an excellent idea."
- "Quitting when you’re panicked is dangerous and expensive."
- "If you enter a market that’s too big or too loud for the amount of resources you have available, your message is going to get lost. Your marketing disappears, your message fails to spread."
- "How dare you settle for mediocre just because you’re busy coping with too many things on your agenda, racing against the clock to get it all done."
- "If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try."
- "We fail when we get distracted by tasks we don’t have the guts to quit."
- "This book is really short. Short books are hard to write, but you made me do it. My readers are excellent correspondents, and this is something I’ve learned from them along the way: Write less."












Thanks for the synopsis. I’m going to get the book! It’s seems to be speaking to right where I’m at in life. I posted recently on my blog about taking risks and liked the part in your post where Seth wrote, “if it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” I also liked “The time to look for a new job is when you don’t need one. The time to switch jobs is before it feels comfortable.” I am actually leaving my old job right now when things are better than they’ve ever been, both for the business and for me personally!
How true is this?
“How dare you settle for mediocre just because you’re busy coping with too many things on your agenda, racing against the clock to get it all done.”
I can think of three times today I settled because I was “too busy.” That’s just sad.
Had a chance to hear Seth yesterday… awesome! Essentially, the presentation and book are identical. Went down with some co-workers and had a ball debriefing the talk. You can see a post at: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2436896/18697516
Oops… Wrong link. Try this: http://wcagl.typepad.com/willow_creek_association_/2007/05/seth_godin_on_c.html
Can you tell… I’m new at this!
Dave
Dave, good to hear from you. It’s always a fun surprise when I get to reconnect with friends online. Hope life is going well for you.
tony
Tony, I just picked up this book on the recommendation of a couple I attend church with. How much of The Dip is applicable to people who are considering their job/career situations, and if they need to leave or stay?