What is the main message of The Dip?

The main message of The Dip is about knowing when to quit and when to stick to achieve success.

Who is the author of The Dip?

The author of The Dip is Seth Godin.

Productivity

The Dip Book Summary - The Dip Book explained in key points

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The Dip summary

Name: The Dip
Rating: 4.3 (223 reviews)
Author: Seth Godin

Seth Godin

A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)

4.3 (223 ratings)

21 mins

Brief summary

The Dip by Seth Godin explains why quitting when it comes to a dead-end may be a good decision. It teaches how to identify The Dip and either push through or quit to focus on other opportunities.

Topics

Simplify Podcast Self-Help Success

Table of Contents

The Dip
Summary of 8 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Learn the secrets of sticking with your projects and when to pull the plug.

As the old song goes, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em.” While this may be a reference to playing poker, it’s also pretty good advice on how to get by in the business world or with any personal project – you have to know when to keep going and when to cut your losses.

No matter your calling in life, there’s a good chance you’ll hit a rough patch where things aren’t going as planned and progress is at a frustrating standstill. Many of us have watched as colleagues get promoted ahead of us, sales figures plateau, relationships grow cold or felt like our work is getting worse rather than better. In the words of author Seth Godin, this difficult time is known as the Dip, and it can be found in just about every facet of life.

But don’t despair! Even though the Dip is virtually unavoidable, there is often light at the end of the tunnel. Those who show patience and determination will be rewarded when growing pains come to an end and promotions, customers and relationships take a turn for the better. As Godin points out, the Dip is just a natural progression for any endeavor and by being prepared for it, you’ll be better suited to succeed.

In these blinks you’ll find out

how the Dip can be used as a helpful tool;
how the Dip has benefitted giants like Microsoft; and
why you should stop worrying and learn to love the Dip.

Whatever your aim, you will experience a Dip, or a period of struggle.

Let’s say you want to master figure skating. Learning how to gracefully glide across the ice, and even skate backward, can happen pretty quickly. But learning how to land a perfect quadruple jump will take a great deal of time and strenuous effort before you can perfect it. This is the time when you’re struggling – deep in the Dip.

The same experience can happen when you’re bringing a new business to life. At first it’ll be smooth sailing as you fall in love with your exciting and innovative ideas. But then there’s the inevitable mountains of paperwork to overcome and figuring out how to solve the many problems that will arise during the early stages. Chances are, it’ll be years before the Dip is over and you’re comfortably running a successful business.

Sometimes the Dip can be purposefully built-in to a process as a way of finding out who the most dedicated and hardworking people are.

Imagine you’re a student in the US, thinking of going to medical school. One of your mandatory classes in the first year will be Organic Chemistry – a fiendishly difficult subject that will eat up a great deal of your study time. While Organic Chemistry isn’t the most important class in the curriculum, it creates a Dip that causes many students to throw in the towel early on.

A lot of people entertain the idea of becoming a doctor, so creating a Dip early on is an easy way for universities to reduce the class size to only the most dedicated students.

A similar strategy is used in the hiring processes of companies around the world. In order to whittle down the applicant pool to only the best talents, many job applications require an excessive amount of documentation and include multiple rounds of stressful interviews.

The good news is, by recognizing these Dips for what they are, you can find comfort in the knowledge that they’re supposed to be difficult and that it will get easier if you just stick with it.

Being the best comes with big rewards, as well as some less obvious perks.

When you were growing up, there’s a very good chance you were taught to have modest, realistic goals rather than bold, grand ambitions.

The truth is that if you aim for being the best at what you do, the rewards can be phenomenal.

In order to succeed, it is important to specialize and learn how to quit strategically.

The average grade school experience is about getting an all-around general education, with rewards tending to go to the students who get good marks in every subject.

But in the post-school world, being good at everything isn’t as important as being at the top of your class in one important subject. In other words, success is about specializing in something.

You will face a Dip in any business or personal endeavor.

As the saying goes, “knowing is half the battle.” And knowing that a Dip is on the way is an important insight that gives you time to plan ahead and to familiarize yourself with what your particular Dip will look like.

Since every type of business has its own Dip, let’s take a look at some of the most common ones, starting with manufacturing.

Success comes from embracing the challenge of the Dip and pushing yourself to your limits.

If it wasn’t for the unpredictable nature of the wind, windsurfing would probably be pretty easy. In fact, many people are drawn to windsurfing and experience an initial thrill, but then end up cursing the wind and giving up what at first seems like a fun hobby.

But despite the difficulties it may occasionally bring, you obviously can’t windsurf without wind! In fact, the wind is the best part, which brings us to the key in withstanding the Dip: embracing the challenge.

Competitors will use the Dip to their advantage, while surviving the Dip will make you rise above mediocrity.

Competition is rarely a pleasant business. Dealings with competitors can be full of treachery and resentment.

Often, one of the primary motivations of a competitor is to lengthen your time in the Dip. Specifically, an established competitor will create a marketplace that makes it very hard for you to gain a foothold.

To withstand the Dip, you need to develop grit and patience.

If you’ve ever been stuck in a long line at the supermarket, you know how tempting it can be to switch to another checkout lane in the hopes of getting out a little bit quicker. But there’s always a chance that once you switch to the other line, that first one will start to speed up and you’ll end up waiting longer than you would have in the first place!

This supermarket scenario can be applied to careers and personal projects too. If something seems to be slowing down or stalled, you may be tempted to move everything over to a new endeavor – but what’s really needed is patience and grit, otherwise known as determination.

When times are tough, don’t abandon the experience you’ve gained and make sure you explore all options.

While it’s undoubtedly beneficial to have grit, it’s nevertheless wise to know when to cut your losses and quit a project that’s clearly falling apart. But there’s also a smart way to both quit and simultaneously stick with your chosen field.

When something is clearly not working, there’s no sense in letting it continue to drain your time, energy and resources. But that doesn’t mean you should quit the market that you’ve grown familiar with and gained experience within. Doing so would just be yet another waste of your time, energy and resources.

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What is The Dip about?

The Dip (2007) is about the common struggle we all face when we undertake an ambitious project or embark on a new career. As author Seth Godin points out, we can greatly increase our chances of success by preparing for the inevitable dip into difficult and trying times. By making tough choices, avoiding distractions and setting priorities, you can be well-equipped to persevere and come out stronger than you were before.

The Dip Review

The Dip (2007) by Seth Godin is a captivating book that explores the concept of strategic quitting and knowing when to push through challenges or walk away. Here's why this book is worth reading:

Packed with practical wisdom, it provides a roadmap for success by teaching readers how to identify and navigate through the inevitable periods of stagnation.
Godin's no-nonsense approach and straight-to-the-point writing style is refreshing, making the book a quick and easy read without sacrificing depth or impact.
With its thought-provoking insights and real-life examples, the book challenges conventional wisdom and encourages readers to evaluate their goals and priorities in a new light.

Best quote from The Dip

Its easy to be a CEO. Whats hard is getting there. Theres a huge Dip along the way.

—Seth Godin

Who should read The Dip?

Entrepreneurs
Ambitious people
People who have trouble finishing projects

About the Author

Seth Godin is a writer, entrepreneur and educator. He is the creator of Seth’s Blog, a popular online destination filled with advice on marketing, work values and team building. He is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? (2010), Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (2008) and Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable (2003).

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