kill criteria in action

In my post about strategic quitting, I referenced kill criteria--the specific conditions under which I’d leave a project--but I didn’t get around to providing any examples. Because I basically quit on the original story I was writing and decided to do a meta-post instead.

In terms of defining kill criteria, obviously there shouldn’t be a ton of them; and some should likely be constants regardless of the project--they’re really your values--and others can vary depending on the situation.

For me, one of my constant criteria is ethical risk/ values misalignment: “I encounter decisions or directions that violate my personal or professional ethics.” If this happens, I give myself permission to quit.

And booyyyyy, as a financial leader, I’ve had this come up many times. A core part of my “job,” whether or not others agree, is to shed light on ethical questions and then see how the chips land. Sometimes we can come into values alignment on rectifying issues (let’s say, acknowledging fraud, as a fun example), but sometimes we can’t.

And I have given myself a lifelong carte-blanche to exit situations that violate my inner code of conduct. For one, ethical slides are a slippery slope that only slide in one direction. And I have this one life and one name, and it isn’t worth it to risk my reputation or be associated with folks I don’t want to be associated with.

I just saw a story that Substack sent a push alert encouraging users to subscribe to a Nazi newsletter. This was first reported by Taylor Lorenz, on their Substack (hm!), User Mag. But regardless, this feels to me like a fool-me-once/fool-me-twice moment.

Did I know that Substack welcomed far-right content? I did. Did I justify joining anyway, for various reasons, including laziness? I did. Am I allowed to change my mind and pivot accordingly? I am.

For me, I think the issue is contributing to the algorithm-driven environment where these views are not just allowed, but endorsed and promoted. I’m barely hanging on in the digital world as it is, so this for me is just more than I can handle.

Do I think I can find another digital home that is a better fit for me? I do. It’s a PITA, but I’m going to try.

This tripwire on the kill-criteria doesn’t mean I’m going to end this project 14 days in. I’m just going to take a beat (hopefully one day, but let’s see) to move this little operation and take it as an opportunity to reset. For subscribers, my goal is not to let this impact your experience.

See you on the other side.

Time spent: 1.5 hours/ words: ~477