Daily Times

Nawaz Sharif is back to how he stared his last term — not smiling. I feel for him, as repeated failures can become a panoptic stain on the soul and create all-embracing pathos. In fleeting moments, he must be thinking why he did not quit when he was ahead. Some of us had conveyed it to him in good time that quitting is not about giving up or being a failure; it can be about choosing to focus on more important things.

The former PM is rather stubborn. He is in good company here because great leaders persisted where others gave in. But that is only half the story, as for every Jinnah and Einstein; there are thousands of politicians and scientists who failed not for lack of grit, but how they applied it. His obstinacy worked to perfection when Nawaz Sharif disposed off political nightmares (eg Dawn Leaks) and personnel (e.g. Army and Naval Chiefs) with finesse. Where it did not come off, he looked like Shahid Afridi going for a six but ending up diving back for the crease after being stumped.

Virtues like perseverance are morally desirable in a person. Every culture has a set of favourite virtues embedded in idioms. Some of ours are depicted in ‘never give in’, ‘stand and deliver’, and the ex PM’s favourite ‘They live who dare’. Unfortunately, we are not interested in the opposite but equally admirable virtues mentioned in ‘think before you speak’ and ‘If you fight and run away, you live to fight another day’. Persistence may be a virtue but quitting is an art. Successful democracies rely on an active citizenry. They require citizens to participate in politics by voting and running for office. But what happens when citizens opt out of politics? Exit is usually thought of as purely instinctual, a part of the human ‘fight or flight’ response, or motivated by an anti-participatory self-centered impulse. But the concept deserves closer scrutiny. When we explore examples of political exit, we learn how political systems change in the aftermath of actual or threatened departures. The decision to refuse to play along — whether as a hostage, a dissident who is exiled but whose influence remains, or a government in exile— can shape political discourse.

Quitting typically means opting to lose, take the easy way out and/or wasting resources. No one thinks about the other side: intransigence. This involves persisting after learning that further progress is unlikely. There’s nothing virtuous about unwise explorers continuing to search for the Fountain of Youth, or researchers seeking the key to a perpetual motion machine. Instead of clinging pointlessly, we need to learn/practice conscious quitting. This means risk-assessing projects on the basis of how meaningful, exciting and fruitful they are and deciding their fate. The ousted PM never did that, despite the best part of his job often being his chair that swiveled.

Persistence may be a virtue but quitting is an art. Successful democracies rely on an active citizenry. They require citizens to participate in politics by voting and running for office

Nawaz Sharif is fond of singing and singers but he is not comfy with the Backstreet Boys. I was in Islamabad in December 2015 when a journalist showed me an email (shared with like-minded journalists) sent from an unknown source abroad. It had details of an important and explosive meeting in the PM office. The journalists were being encouraged to go public and use the information to support a point of view. I strongly advised the person against it and may have prevented a ‘leak’ unknowingly. Before leaving Islamabad a few days later, I could hear the Backstreet Boys “Quit playing games with my heart/before you tear us apart…” advising the ex PM to get on his bike. Since he is not familiar with the Backstreet Boys, I sent him a message regarding succession planning.

When it comes to success, determination is revered as the secret to achieving dreams. We cannot blame Nawaz Sharif here because there are hundreds of books and speakers praising determination/grit but few highlight how to cut your losses and run. There’s a time when your grit will get you nowhere but stuck further in a hole. Aristotle, therefore, described virtue as an ‘intermediate’ between two extremes: one of excess and one of deficiency. Sometimes resilience comes from gritting your teeth and packing your bags. The nature did offer that chance to the Sharif through heart surgery in June 2016.

There is no rule of thumb about when or how to quit. However, knowing and applying economic principles of ‘sunken’ (time, energy, capital spent on the project) and ‘opportunity’ (missed options while engaged with the project) costs might help. Further barriers to quitting are the potential heartache, stress of self-reform and social embarrassment. Once stocktaking is over, take a firm decision, map out the next steps, make a public commitment and move on. If you get stuck because you stay on a sinking ship too long and/or start avoiding a new challenge for the fear it may not work, it is time to call an old friend (psychiatrist).

The writer is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Visiting Professor based in London. He tweets @AamerSarfraz

Published in Daily Times, September 5th 2017.