I wish this article hit on an important point: when should the persistent quit? We all know we should know when to hold and when to fold, but in practice that's a hard decision to make especially when we're invested. And someone who is "persistent" vs "obstinate" should be able to do this: quit when it's right to do so.
The closest thing he mentions is this, "persistence often requires that one change one's mind. That's where good judgement comes in. The persistent are quite rational. They focus on expected value."
Following that, if I'm working on x thing, and the expected value is < some other big thing, I should quit and start the other thing.
But there should be a "grass is always greener on the other side" counter weight - some other thing may LOOK like higher expected value, but that's because you don't know the shit under the hood.
I would've liked him to have touched on this, as I don't think you can truly call someone persistent but not obstinate unless they can actually walk away from something if necessary.
“One thing that distinguishes the persistent is their energy. At the risk of putting too much weight on words, they persist rather than merely resisting. They keep trying things. Which means the persistent must also be imaginative. To keep trying things, you have to keep thinking of things to try.”
If you have ideas on what else to try, you persist. If not, maybe time to move on or risk it becoming obstinance.
It's a paradox, expertise will tell you which one to pick (know when to quit | never give up). Tom Sachs called principals like these "Paradox Bullets". The movie: https://vimeo.com/293569057
Apologies, I was referring to the specific thing one is doing (and giving up on) as a node below the "do something great" headline.
That is you don't give up on the overarching objective "do something great" because you have realised that the something you are doing is not helping you achieve that headline goal.
The closest thing he mentions is this, "persistence often requires that one change one's mind. That's where good judgement comes in. The persistent are quite rational. They focus on expected value."
Following that, if I'm working on x thing, and the expected value is < some other big thing, I should quit and start the other thing.
But there should be a "grass is always greener on the other side" counter weight - some other thing may LOOK like higher expected value, but that's because you don't know the shit under the hood.
I would've liked him to have touched on this, as I don't think you can truly call someone persistent but not obstinate unless they can actually walk away from something if necessary.