Sometimes the smartest move is simply not to play — exit early, cut losses, and never look back.
"All I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there."
Before choosing a partner, deal, or environment, list every way it could go wrong.
Rather than trying to manage or reform a toxic dynamic, simply decline to enter it in the first place.
The best-avoided crises are the ones that never happen — invisible savings that compound over a lifetime.
Engineer Tyler Shultz left Theranos in 2014 after concluding the company was misrepresenting the accuracy of its blood-testing technology, despite pressure from his own grandfather, Theranos board member George Shultz, to stay quiet. His early exit and subsequent disclosures helped expose one of Silicon Valley's most documented fraud cases.
Vice president Sherron Watkins raised internal concerns about Enron's accounting practices in 2001, before the company's collapse — a well-documented case of an insider recognizing toxicity and acting on it rather than rationalizing continued involvement.
Buffett and Munger have publicly described, in Berkshire's shareholder letters, declining businesses that met their financial criteria but failed their character test — preferring to leave money on the table rather than partner with management they didn't trust.
Make a standing list of the situations, industries, or behaviors you refuse to engage with — decide once, in advance.
02Treat sunk costs as irrelevant to the forward-looking decision of whether to stay.
03When you notice a recurring red flag, act on the third occurrence, not the tenth.
04Exit quietly and promptly rather than staging a dramatic confrontation — the goal is distance, not vindication.
05Reassess relationships and commitments on a fixed schedule, not only when a crisis forces the question.
It is far easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of it — so spend your energy on the entrances you refuse to walk through.