Exit, Voice, Persist or Neglect

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In his book Originals, Adam Grant talks about the 4 choices people have when handling a dissatisfying situation (think boring job, failing marriage or even as simple as a heated argument) - exit, voice, persist and neglect.

Exit - Exit means removing yourself from the situation altogether. This could mean quitting your job, ending your marriage or just walking out on a heated argument.

Voice - Voice involves actively trying to improve the situation - voicing your concerns and following it up with necessary actions.

Persist - Persistence is gritting your teeth and bearing the situation. You’ve already accepted that the situation sucks but you’ve decided to go through with it.

Neglect - Neglect entails staying in the current situation but reducing your involvement in it. This could mean just doing just enough at work not to get fired.

Voice

Control vs Commitment

The 4 options can be seen as a trade-off between control (Do you believe you can effect change?) and commitment (Do you care enough to try?).

If you feel you can’t make a difference, then you would choose to persist if you’re committed and you’d neglect if you aren’t. If you feel you can make a difference, then you would choose to voice if you’re committed and you’d quit if you aren’t.

The Originals are the committed individuals who think they can make a difference!

source - Originals by Adam Grant

Kaushik Rangadurai

Code. Learn. Explore

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