I read the “The Dip” a number of years ago. I have a vague memory of reading it in Denver Airport so I think it might have been soon after it was first published in 2007. It created a lasting impression. I reread it again during the holiday period at the end of 2021.

Insight: most projects hit a low point. It could be a temporary setback (a dip), a cul-de-sac (the French phrase for a dead end), or a cliff. They can be represented graphically like this:

1. The dip is a point between starting and mastery. If something is worth doing it has a dip. The dip creates scarcity because not everyone will get through. This in turn creates value for those who make it through.
2. In a cul-de-sac, you can work hard but nothing much changes.
3. In a cliff, the project might seem like it’s going great but suddenly, everything falls apart.

Insight: Strategic quitting is the secret of success for people and organizations. Successes quit fast and commit to beating the right dip for the right reasons. Many people (and teams) quit reactively when a project becomes painful or they stick with a lost cause when they should quit.

Guideline: Godin says if you want to be a "superstar" find a steep dip and quit all the cul-de-sacs that you’re idling in. Persistent people (or organizations) see light when others can't. Smart people are realistic about not imagining a light that isn't there.

Guideline: at the start of a project decide stopping criteria so you can quit at an early stage before getting to the "dip". This can work because you’re still clear headed. At work, at the start of a project, we try to decide “acceptance criteria” so we know when we’re done. We could also define “stopping criteria” so we know if we’re in a dead end.

Guideline: continuously review active projects. The key is to determine if more hard work will lead towards long term goal or a dead end.

Guideline: if it’s a dip, lean in: push harder, change the rules, whittle away at the problems because they won't last as long. Reframe the difficult situation as a gift. Without the obstacle no learning would take place. The dip is the reason you're here. As Godin says:

"never quit something with great long term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment"

Guideline: if it’s a cul-de-sac or a cliff, quit immediately. Godin calls these “the biggest obstacle to success in life”. Reframe quitting as freeing resources for the dips that matter. Quit as early as possible, ideally before you start. You have two choices for every project, quit or be exceptional.

Guideline: before quitting, ask yourself three questions:

• Am I panicking?
• Who am I trying to influence?
• What sort of measurable progress are we making? Be aware of delayed effects.

If you’re trying to influence an individual, it's easy to cross the line and become a pest. It's hard to change someone’s mind when they’ve made it. If you’re trying to influence a market, most of the people probably still haven't heard of you. Later when your product or service get’s better they'll influence each other.

Guideline: view quitting as a positive tool. Write down some positive statements about how would quit. For example, "quitting would enable me to rededicate my time..."

Random bonus insight: Godin says "Selling is about a transference of emotions, not a presentation of facts." The attitude of the sales person is transmitted to the prospect and changes the dynamic. If the seller is committed to selling because there’s a benefit to the prospect then that comes across.

Aside: it’s interesting to see how the examples in the book have aged. At the time Godin wrote the book, Netflix sent DVDs in the mail and the space shuttle was still active.

I have a feeling that Godin’s insights could be extended by connecting them with ideas like the rollercoaster curve of a startup company or cost-of-delay estimations for project value. I hope to return to this in future posts.

For now, thanks for reading…

If you have any other examples or feedback please comment/follow/share below or on: twitter, medium or linkedin.

If you’d like to write for LearnShareDo, please send an email to (write at learnsharedo dot com).

Credits: Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

Disclosure: some links in this post may use Amazon affiliate links.

When you’re trying to get someone to make the right decision or take the right action, provide concrete instructions because that will make it easier for them to do the right thing.

Examples & Stories

At work I’m currently putting together a field guide for change management based on our experiences with a number of change programs. During my research, I read the following story in Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath.

Researchers at Stanford University conducted an experiment to find the factors in getting students to donate food to charity. They first asked students to rate their perception of their classmates’ willingness to donate to charity. In effect, the researchers categorized the students as either “saints” or “jerks”. They then provided each student with one of two sets of instructions.

Basic instructions:

• A well known location on campus to bring some tinned food

Detailed instructions:

• A map with the location of place to bring the tinned food
• A specific request - a tin of beans
• A suggestion to the student to think of a time when they would be near the location
• A follow up call to remind them where and when to donate

Of those who received the basic instructions, 8% of the saints and 0% of the jerks donated food. This was not entirely surprising. Of those who received the detailed instructions, 42% of the saints and 25% of the jerks donated food.

That’s right, jerks who received detailed instructions were more likely to donate than saints with basic instructions. If you’re hungry, you’re more likely to get food from a jerk with a map than a saint without one.

When?

… you’re trying to get someone to do something or change their behavior in a specific way...

How?

Provide detailed instructions. Anticipate decisions the person will need to make and give them concrete options. Make it easy for them to take action or make the right decision. The Heath brothers call this “Shaping the Path”.

This experiment is also mentioned in Bob Sutton’s Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst. In a section titled “Be Repetitive and Concrete” he suggests providing checklists which were used during World War 2 by B-17 pilots. Early in its lifetime, the B-17 was considered difficult to fly but a set of checklists for takeoff, flight, landing and taxiing tamed the complexity. Checklists were also used in medicine by Atul Gawande to reduce to number of infections post surgery.

Why?

As the Heath brothers say, “what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.” People only have capacity for a finite number of decisions in a day. The less thinking they need to do the more likely they are to take action.

The bigger picture

This is an example of a guideline that we use in this blog/publication. Guidelines are also known as:

• best-practices
• patterns
• principles
• tips
• hacks
• mental models
• directives

In future posts we’ll curate individual guidelines or glean collections of them from articles, books and other content. We’re planning posts on:

• Productivity
• Starting a business
• Managing cash flow in a growing business

If you’d like to write for LearnShareDo, please send an email to (write at learnsharedo dot com).

Thanks for reading! If you have any other examples or feedback please comment/follow/share below or on: twitter, medium or linkedin.

Photo by Dave Mullen on Unsplash

Disclosure: some links in this post may use Amazon affiliate links.