Knowing when to fold
According to this interesting Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) on recent research about knowing when to fold is not that obvious. And the more successful you are the harder it can be to quit when it is time. In fact, "About 80% of pro athletes don't quit their sports. Instead, they're told it's time to go."
Researchers advise: Write down "stopping rules" before you take a job, outlining which scenarios and warning signals will cause you to quit. And be honest with yourself about your delusional impulses. Mr. Lott may have fantasized that someone like Jesse Jackson would come to his rescue, forgiving his racially charged remarks, says [Duke Business School] Prof. Staelin [who studies "escalation bias"].
In a study he co-conducted, 65% of senior managers who were engaged in a losing course of action opted to stick with it. Other researchers have found that would-be quitters cling psychologically to the "gambler's fallacy" that a win will follow a string of losses.