How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Stephen Dubner explores the tension between grit and quitting through stories of failed inventions, academic careers, art, and love. The episode argues that failure can be instructive, that persistence is often overrated when projects are structurally doomed, and that public discussion of failure can reduce shame and help others make better decisions.

Main Topics: Grit vs. quit (Priority: 5/5): The episode frames failure as a dilemma: when should people persist and when should they stop? Dubner contrasts Angela Duckworth’s case for perseverance with Steve Levitt’s economic argument that quitting can be rational when opportunity costs and sunk costs are high. Invention and entrepreneurial failure (Priority: 5/5): Travis Thull, Jill Hoffman, and John Boykin each pursued ambitious products that largely failed because of market resistance, technical problems, or funding barriers. Their stories show how hard it is to commercialize consumer inventions and how failure can still yield learning, patents, and perspective. Failure in academia (Priority: 4/5): Melanie Stefan and Mike Ridgman illustrate how academic systems can hide failure, reward persistence, and leave talented people feeling isolated when careers do not unfold as expected. The episode highlights the rise of adjunct labor and the value of openly documenting rejection and false starts. Public storytelling as a remedy for shame (Priority: 4/5): Several speakers describe how hearing others admit failure would have reduced their sense of isolation. Stefan’s 'CV of failures' idea is presented as a way to normalize rejection and make scientific careers less misleading. Art, complexity, and unpredictable failure (Priority: 3/5): Joseph O’Connell’s public sculpture project shows that even carefully planned, high-skill creative work can fail due to unforeseen environmental conditions and complexity. The story reinforces that complex systems are vulnerable to variables no one anticipates. Love and timing (Priority: 3/5): Helen Fisher’s relationship story broadens the theme beyond work: failure and success in romance can hinge on timing, and what looks like rejection may later become a successful relationship.

Key Arguments: Persistence is valuable, but it is not always the right answer; some projects should be abandoned when the odds or opportunity costs become too high. Failure is often hidden in successful institutions, especially academia, which makes people feel uniquely alone when they struggle. Invention is socially beneficial even when individual inventors fail, because user-driven innovation produces many useful ideas that companies often ignore. Publicly sharing failure stories can reduce shame and help younger people calibrate expectations more realistically. Complex projects often fail not because they are pointless, but because they encounter unanticipated technical or environmental problems. A failed idea can still create value through patents, learning, networks, or a later second attempt.

Data Points: New business failure rate in first 2 years: around 20% - Dubner cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data while discussing entrepreneurial failure. New business failure rate in first 5 years: 45% - Used to show how common business failure is. Postdoc funding applications rejected: most of several grants - Melanie Stefan describes rejection after completing her PhD. Adjunct faculty share of teaching positions: more than two-thirds - Dubner explains how universities increasingly rely on contingent labor. Former share of adjunct/contingent positions: fewer than half in 1987 - Comparison point for academic labor changes over time. Ramen Now Kickstarter goal: $277,000 - Travis Thull’s crowdfunding target for the ramen machine relaunch. Ramen Now Kickstarter raised: $54,000 - The campaign fell far short of its goal. Follow-on investment chance estimate: 10% - Thull estimates the odds of raising the needed money after revisiting the project. Wings Over Water installation timing: Spring 2016 to February 2017 - Joseph O’Connell’s sculpture was commissioned for Super Bowl 51 in Houston. Wings Over Water temperature exposure: around 10–20 degrees for one to two weeks - A Texas freeze caused pipe damage and cracks.

Pivotal Quotes: "the road not taken, the track that you want to switch to, is appealing not because it is objectively better, but because it's objectively easier just in the short run" — Angela Duckworth: Used to frame why people give up and why grit is psychologically difficult. "It is a compliment to be called a quitter precisely because we live in a world where so many forces push us to persist far too long at failing endeavors." — Steve Levitt: Economist’s argument for quitting when persistence becomes wasteful. "I needed a story from somebody else that said, Yeah, I failed." — Jill Hoffman: She explains why sharing failure stories matters and how it would have helped during her own collapse.

Implications: The episode encourages listeners to treat failure as information, not just embarrassment. For innovators, academics, and creators, the challenge is learning when to persist, when to stop, and how to share failures so others can make better decisions.