Grit by Angela Duckworth

Grit by Angela Duckworth 

The power of passion and perseverance

In sum, no matter the domain, the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination that played out in two ways. First, these exemplars were usually resilient and hardworking. Second, they knew in a very very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination, they had direction.

Three of the McKinsey partners published a report called, “The War for Talent”. The report was widely read and eventually became a best-selling book. The basic argument was that companies in the modern economy rise and fall depending on their ability to attract and retain ‘A players”.

“What do we mean by talent?” the McKinsey authors ask in the book’s opening pages. Answering their own questions: “In the most general sense, talent is the sum of a person’s ability - his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence, judgement, attitude, character and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn and grow”.  

Talent x effort = skill

Skill x effort = achievement.

Talent is how quickly your skills improve when you invest effort. Achievement is what happens when you take your acquired skills and use them.  Without effort, your talent is nothing more than your unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you should have done but didn’t. With effort, talent becomes skill and at the very same time, effect makes skill productive.

Grit has two components - passion and perseverance.

Two indicators could easily rephrase as passion items for the Grit scale:

1. Degree to which he works with distant objects in view (as opposed to living from hand to mouth). Active preparation for later life. Working towards a definite goal.

2. Tendency not to abandon tasks from mere changeability. Not seeking something fresh because of novelty. Not looking for a change.

And the other two could be rewritten as perseverance items for Grit scale:

1. Degree of strength of will or perseverance. Quite determination to stick to a course once decided upon.

2. Tendency not to abandon tasks in the face of obstacles. Perseverance, tenacity, doggedness.

• First, passion begins with interest. - enjoying what you do.

• Next comes the capacity to practice. One form of perseverance is the daily discipline of trying to do things better than we did yesterday.

• Third is purpose. What ripens passion is the conviction that your work matters.

• And finally hope. Hope is a rising to the occasion kind of perseverance

What practice is needed for a better outcome?

• A clearly defined stretch goal
• Full concentration and effort
• Immediate and informative feedback
• Repetition with reflection and refinement.

Growth mindset leads to optimistic ways of explaining adversity and that, in turn, leads to perseverance and seeking out new challenges that will ultimately make you stronger.

Growth mindset -> Optimistic self-talk -> Perseverance over adversity.

Parenting for Grit

Nietzsche said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. John Watson’s advice (in his book - Psychological care of infant and child), “Never hug and kiss your kids. Never let them sit in your lap. If you must, kiss them once on the forehead when they say good night. Shake hands with them in the morning, give them a pat on the head if they have made an extraordinary good job of a difficult task”.

There are four parenting styles:

• Supportive and undemanding - permissive parenting
• Supportive and demanding - wise parenting
• Unsupporting and undemanding - neglectful parenting
• Unsupportive and demanding - authoritarian parenting.

Wise parents are accurate judges of the psychological needs of their children. They appreciate that children need love, limits and latitude to reach their full potentials. Their authority is based on knowledge and wisdom, rather than power.

Basketball coach John Wooden was fond of saying “success is not final, failure is not final. It’s courage that counts.”

Grit is not everything. There are many other things a person needs in order to grow and flourish. In assessing grit along with other virtues, I find three reliable clusters. I refer them as the intrapersonal, interpersonal and intellectual dimensions of character. You could also call them strength of will, heart and mind.

• Intrapersonal character includes grit. It also includes, self-control, particularly resisting temptations. David Brooks call them as resume virtues as they are the sorts of things that get us hired and keep us employed.

• Interpersonal character includes gratitude, social intelligence and self-control over emotions like anger. David Brooks call them eulogy virtues as they may be more important to how people remember us than anything else.

• Intellectual character includes virtues like curiosity and zest. These encourages active and open engagement with the world of ideas.

Book referred in this book

• Daily rituals by Mason Curry
• Psychological care of infant and child by John Watson.
• Between the world and me by Ta-Nehisi Coates