Business Reimagined
Ceaseless Striving, and When To Give Up
โGrant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.โ โSerenity Prayer
Never give up, but know when to quit. That is the paradox faced by every entrepreneur.
This doesnโt just apply to the whole business โ it applies to partnerships, client relationships, marketing campaigns, development efforts โ basically anything that is proving to take longer or be more frustrating than you initially thought it would be.
So… what to do? When things arenโt working out as planned, do you keep at it, in hopes that it will get better, or do you give up and look for greener pastures?
The answer, of course, is that it depends on how much is actually within your control.
Letโs take a page from business schools, where everything worth learning fits onto a 2×2 matrix:
- There are basically two courses of action: โActโ, and โDonโt Actโ.
- There are also two kinds of situations: those that you โCan Controlโ, and those that you โCanโt Controlโ.
Thus our matrix is created.
(Hat tip: This matrix was taught to me by Dr. John Pliniussen, who taught the Design & Innovation class in my MBA program at Queenโs School of Business.)
Well, two options multiplied by two options equals four possible outcomes:
- If you โActโ in a situation that you โCan Controlโ, thatโs โSituation Masteryโ
- If you โActโ in a situation that you โCanโt Controlโ, thatโs โCeaseless Strivingโ
- If you โDonโt Actโ in a situation that you โCan Controlโ, thatโs โGiving Upโ
- If you โDonโt Actโ in a situation that you โCanโt Controlโ, thatโs โLetting Goโ

So where do we want to be on the grid? Top-left, or bottom-right โ either โSituation Masteryโ, or โLetting Goโ.
This is what we all strive for โ to act in situations that we can control, and create the results that we want for ourselves, our families, our friends, our colleagues, and our clients. Or, if something is beyond our control, to move our efforts somewhere else, to where we can have an impact.
Itโs the other two that are the real killers: โCeaseless Strivingโ and โGiving Upโ.
Ceaseless Striving and When To Give Up
This is where the paradoxical advice of โnever give up but know when to quitโ comes into play in a hard way; if you canโt control the situation, then donโt invest your time and energy into it, but if you can control it, then do what you need to do to create the outcome that you want.
Except for one thing: life doesnโt fit into a neat 2×2 matrix, and you donโt usually know whether you can control the situation or not! Itโs an educated guess at best, and a gamble at worst.
This is the real question that we need help answering: How much is really within our control, and how much isnโt? In most cases, itโs a combination of both: some things are within your control, and other things are a leap of educated faith โ thatโs the definition of entrepreneurship.
In other words, if youโre feeling frustrated, take heart: if this was easy, anyone could do it!
How about you โ how do you know if a situation is within your control or not? Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Update from Dr. John Pliniussen
I just received an email from Dr. Pliniussen:
“Nice post and thanks for the acknowledgement and I wish that were my 2×2 matrix…but it isn’t and it is called the ‘personal power grid’. And has been around for a while.
I’ve attached a jpeg file with the matrix and on it three places I think most people dwell…a lot.”