Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. (aff.) New York: Scribner, 2016. 349 pages.
Angela Duckworth, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, studies grit and other attributes that predict success in life. She wrote a fascinating book on the subject.
She begins by relating how her father regularly reminded her that she was “no genius.” Later, she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, dubbed the “genius grant.” She concluded, “A girl who is told repeatedly that she’s no genius ends up winning an award for being one. The award goes to her because she has discovered that what we eventually accomplish may depend more on our passions and perseverance than on our innate talent” (x).
Duckworth began her study of grit by looking at the admissions and enrolment at West Point. More than 14,000 people begin the application process. Only 1,200 are ultimately admitted. Of those who are accepted, one in five will drop out, many in the initial stages (3). Duckworth studied this phenomenon. Clearly, students who are admitted to West Point are intelligent, talented, and universally recognized as leaders. But scores on SAT exams or GPAs in high school failed to predict who would quit and who would persevere. Duckworth eventually developed the “Grit Scale” (9). By having entering cadets take the Grit Scale, she was able to predict, much more accurately, their success.
Throughout the book, Duckworth examines why some people persevere and others don’t. Why do some athletes win medals and others fall short? Why do some musicians master their instrument and others remain mediocre? Duckworth is particularly interested as to how these principles relate to children’s success at school. She also includes a chapter on parenting, which contains practical advice for helping children succeed.
One of the values of this book is the various psychological studies Duckworth either conducted or cites that provide a glimpse into the field of human success. She also interviews numerous people such as Steve Young of the San Francisco Forty-niners, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and actor Will Smith. Duckworth also examines well-known institutions such as West Point and the National Spelling Bee.
I won’t attempt to summarize all of her conclusions or observations. The following are just a few points that particularly struck me as I read.
She honed in on talent’s contribution to success. She concluded that “Talent is not all there is to achievement” (15). She cites the mantra of McKinsey, an elite consulting firm that strives to hire “A Players.” Duckworth, herself, used to work for the organization. She cites the example of Enron, run by a former McKinsey employee, which routinely fired the bottom 15% of its employees (31). While the intent was to develop a staff of “A Players,” it actually fostered competition, deception, and exaggeration of results. She concludes, “If we overestimate talent, we underestimate everything else” (35).
Duckworth provides a formula that states that “talent times effort = skill” and “skill times effort = achievement” (42). She notes that talent comes naturally whereas skill is developed after hours and hours of practice (51). She includes an interesting discussion of goals and how they can drive people to success. She suggests there are three levels of goals. She cites Warren Buffet who suggested listing our top twenty-five goals. Then he advises to identify our top five goals. Then he recommends that we purposefully ignore the bottom twenty (66).
Throughout the book, Duckworth addresses a number of important issues. She discusses the difference between genes and experience. She suggests that looking at “naturals” does a disservice to many who could achieve great success if they persevered and worked hard. She also discusses the advice offered at many high school graduations to “follow your passion” (95). While the statement contains some wisdom, she provides an interesting discussion to demonstrate that teenagers often haven’t yet discovered their passion. She also suggests we can deepen our passions over time. She advises people to take the time to truly discover what they are passionate about. She states, “Here’s what science has to say: passion for your work and a little bit of discovery, followed by a lot of development and then a lifetime of deepening” (103). She concludes, “The reality is that our early interests are fragile, vaguely defined, and in need of energetic, years-long cultivation and refinement” (106).
Duckworth also incorporates an interesting discussion on practice. She cites the commonly held view that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice, or ten years, to make someone a master in a field (119). But Duckworth discusses how simply putting in hours of practice will not in itself make people experts. They need to engage in “deliberate practice,” that is practicing in an intentional and focused way seeking to develop particular skills (121).
Duckworth discusses the difference between grit and flow. Some studies show that mastery comes after much work and sacrifice, while other studies show that elite performers talk about “flow” as they perform at the highest levels. She concludes that both are necessary. She states, “Deliberate practice is for preparation and flow is for performance” (132).
Duckworth also claims that the higher the purpose people have, the more grit they will demonstrate (147). She notes that adults who felt their work was a calling missed one-third as many work days as those who viewed their work merely as a job (150). She also notes that people whose goals are both for themselves and others tend to outperform those who either work solely for themselves or for others (160).
Duckworth examines the importance of hope in relation to grittiness in life. She claims that “It’s not suffering that leads to hopelessness. It’s suffering you think you can’t control” that leads to hopelessness (172). She notes that studies demonstrate that optimists outperform pessimists by 20-40% (174-175). She writes that optimistic teachers were grittier and happier than teachers who were not optimistic (177).
An important aspect of grittiness is whether people have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset (181). A fixed mindset assumes people are the way they are for life, so there is little reason to try to change. A growth mindset, on the other hand, presumes things can change, so determination and perseverance are worth the effort. Duckworth notes that experiencing struggle can lead either to hope or hopelessness. It depends on how the person views the struggle.
Duckworth includes an interesting section on how parents can teach their children to be gritty (199). She notes, “There are countless research studies showing that kids who are more involved in extra curriculars fare better on just about every conceivable metric—they earn better grades, have higher self esteem, are less likely to get into trouble, and so forth” (275). She notes that this correlation is evident when students are involved in at least two extracurricular activities for at least two years. She also notes that “. . . there is a worrisome correlation between family income and Grit Grid scores” (237). Children who grow up in homes where there is little encouragement to engage in extracurricular activities, or where there are no funds to enroll in such activities, will be less likely to persist in following their interests later in life. But, she notes, “The association between working hard and reward can be learned” (240).
Concerning culture, Duckworth states, “The bottom line on culture and Grit is: If you want to be grittier, find a gritty culture and join it. If you’re a leader, and you want the people in your organization to be grittier, create a gritty culture” (245).
Duckworth suggests that it is not always wise to persist in activities that are going nowhere. She notes that sometimes it is better to quit early on so you can find a field of endeavor in which you can thrive (272). But she advices not to quit on a bad day. She also notes that “Clarity won’t give you more hours in the week, but it will help you get more out of your hours” (281). Finally, she notes that college dropouts tended to have much higher divorce rates than those who completed college (286). It would seem that grittiness in one field of endeavor can be transferred to other fields.
I found this book interesting. We all know instinctively that perseverance is good. But Duckworth demonstrates that grittiness may actually get you farther than merely having a high IQ or plenty of natural talent. Clearly, there is more to success than simply being unwilling to quit, as she points out.
I would have been interested to know what Duckworth would suggest for GenZ students who seem to struggle more with adversity and difficulty in school than previous generations have. I suspect, however, that the parenting suggestions she offers are applicable in that regard.
Duckworth acknowledges several times that her studies have not been longitudinal enough to make definitive statements yet. There are also some “chicken or the egg” situations. I appreciate her candor in that regard. I like her challenge on “naturals,” as if some people are successful with little or no effort and others must work extremely hard even to be mediocre. Her book does not offer an easy road to success, but it does offer hope that, if one is willing to pay the price, they, too, can achieve success in life.
Whether you are interested in your own success or you are concerned about helping others, this is a great book to read and contemplate.
Rating: 4
