If it hadn’t been written by Seth Godin, I probably never would have picked up The Dip because I thought it was one of those single concept books that can be explained in one sentence, e.g., The Secret, The World is Flat and The Long Tail. The latter two actually benefit from some good examples, although they did start to feel redundant after a bit. As for The Secret, my newer readers can click here to read what I really thought about that book.
Anyhow, I gave it a go, because I knew Godin would be entertaining. Besides, it was extremely short, more of an essay than a book. On top of that, it covered a topic I could totally relate to–when should an entrepreneur quit, and when does one continue to push through a dip? With any entrepreneurial endeavor (and Godin argues almost any venture), after the initial launch, there’s always a plateau or down period where quitting seems the easier alternative. The Dip explores when to quit and when to push on.
Godin starts out by identifying why it’s so important to be number one in any business/enterprise. That’s an easy concept, especially when he uses Jack Welch’s six sigma as an example (quit any business in which GE was not one or two. Although I’m curious: Has any other company adopted that approach with equal success?).
Next, Godin asks you to identify whether your company is facing a dip (meaning, you will come out ahead after slogging through it), a cul-de-sac (i.e., a dead end) or a cliff (where you have slow and steady growth and then an abrupt drop-off). He uses smoking as an example of the “cliff,” but I’m thinking 8-track tapes, Beta video recorders, record stores, Blockbuster and even Netflix.
The focus of the book then shifts to quitting. When to quit and why you should be a quitter. His point is that the phrase “winners never quit” is a bogus statement because winners quit a lot of things or they wouldn’t be winners. He uses the example of athletes who quit playing the sports they weren’t good at to focus on the one they are the best at. Phew. I feel soooo much better about quitting my college tennis team, leaving a law practice after only three years and even hanging up my soccer cleats last winter (my knees feel so much better after the last one). The trick is not to quit everything but to quit the things that aren’t beneficial to moving you toward where you really want to be, so that you can focus on the activities that are beneficial. Maybe it’s a relationship, maybe it’s a job, maybe it’s a marketing campaign.
So, how do you know when to quit? I liked Godin’s simple test. You need to ask yourself, am I moving forward? Am I standing still? Or am I falling backward? If it’s the latter two, you’re never going to get where you want to go–so quit. But before you quit, you also need to determine whether you are simply panicking. How do you avoid making a decision in a panic situation? He recommends planning in advance what factors should lead to your quitting. A fortune 500 company comes out with the same product? You get an offer you can’t refuse? You’re so miserable you can’t get up every day? The bank is about to foreclose on your house?
He also points out some items that get in the way of intelligent quitting: childhood admonitions about never quitting, pride and money spent (i.e., my law school tuition). But, on an inspirational note, I liked his statement, “If it’s worth doing, there’s probably a dip.” My company is coming out of a dip right now, so I can honestly say it really was worth all the effort and the sleepless nights.
Top Shelf Bottom Line: While the first few chapters seemed a bit redundant, he does get into a few interesting examples. Overall, I liked the book because it helped make sense of some “quitting” I’ve done and got me to consider which factors will signal to me “it’s quitting time” in the future. I’ve also found myself referencing it to friends in the past two days. So maybe its significance is a bit more than one would think. In sum, this is a good book for any entrepreneur facing a dip to help focus on the right things and to look at the negatives in a positive light. However, don’t be expecting advice on how to get you out of your dip, as this is more of a macro view about how to manage dips in your business plan (although I do see how one could even apply this to personal relationships).
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 10:53 am and is filed under Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
