Summary of The Dip Book by Seth Godin

There are moments when you feel like giving up. If you’re the kind of high-achieving, goal-oriented person who finds herself reading a book like this, you’re probably used to running into obstacles. Professional obstacles, personal obstacles, even obstacles related to personal fitness, or winning board games.

Most of the time, we deal with the obstacles by persevering. Sometimes we get discouraged and turn to institutional writing, like stuff from Vince Lombardi: “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” Bad advice. Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.

Most people quit. They just don’t quit successfully. In fact, many professions and many marketplaces pro-quitters-society assume you’re going to quit. In fact, businesses and organizations count on it.

If you learn about the systems that have been put in place that encourage quitting, you’ll be more likely to beat them.

And once you understand the common sinkhole that trips up so many people (what the author calls the Dip), you’ll be one step closer to getting through it.

Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most.

Extraordinary benefits also accrue to the tiny majority with the guts to quit early and refocus their efforts on something new.

In both cases, it’s about being the best in the world. About getting through the hard stuff and coming out on the other side.

Our culture celebrates superstars. We reward the product or the song or the organization or the employee that is number one. The rewards are heavily skewed, so much so that it’s typical for #1 to get ten times the benefit of #10, and a hundred times the benefit of # 100.

Why being number one matter

People don’t have a lot of time and don’t want to take a lot of risks. If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer of the navel, you’re not going to mess around by going to a lot of doctors. You’re going to head straight for the “top guy,” the person who’s ranked the best in the world. Why screw around if you get only one chance?

You’re not the only person who looks for the best choice. Everyone does. As a result, the rewards for being first are enormous. It’s not a linear scale. It’s not a matter of getting a little more after giving a little more. It’s a curve and a steep one.

Anyone who is going to hire you, buy from you, recommend you, vote for you, or do what you want them to do is going to wonder if you’re the best choice. Best as in: best for them, right now, based on what they believe and what they know. And in the world as in: their world, the world they have access to.

Best is subjective. The consumer gets to decide, not you. It’s the consumer’s definition, not yours. It’s the world he defines, based on his convenience or his preferences. Be the best in the consumer’s world, and you have him, at a premium, right now.

The world is getting larger because the consumer can now look everywhere when he wants to find something (or someone). That means that the amount of variety is staggering, and it means he can define his world to be exactly what he has an interest in and find preferences anywhere on the planet.

So, while it’s more important than ever to be the best in the world, it’s also easier if you pick the right thing and do it all the way.