This book falls squarely next to Carol Dweck’s Mindset, which is funny since Duckworth specifically references Dweck towards the end of the book. In a nutshell, Duckworth shows how hard work and determination are paramount for success. None of this should be new, conscientiousness, a trait from the Big5 is extraordinarily well researched, but in many academic circles, the idea is apparently somewhat novel and marginally taboo. Still, the research she’s done, clearly demonstrating the value of hard work, framing it as will power rather than merely an inherited personality trait, adds a useful lens to the discussion. Specifically, I could see this research rebutting claims overemphasizing other success resources such as IQ or socioeconomic background.
For me, there were a handful of points worth remembering. First, lots of people and programs don’t really consider grit to be as important as it clearly is. She uses data and anecdotes to illustrate this including phrases such as “you’re so smart” and “the man is a fish!” in reference to an Olympic swimmer. As demonstrated in the first paragraph, that’s hard for me to grasp at times. She points out that many people profess to place high value on grit, but then behave as if grit is not a factor, particularly when comparing their own success to others. We seem to naturally understand that not having grit is shameful, therefore we tell ourselves all kinds of lies to remove grit from the equation, even when it clearly belongs.
Second, grit doesn’t mean gutting it out at all times, in all things, and in all places. Grit starts with a passion. To be gritty about something, you need to be excited about it, at least at first. Uncle screwtape says it best “Work hard (dear devil), then, on the disappointment or anticlimax which is certainly coming to the patient during his first few weeks as a churchman. The Enemy (God) allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.” Grit is about pushing through the disappointment in something that once excited you and will surely excite you again. in Duckworth’s words “To be gritty is to hold fast to an interesting and purposeful goal. To be gritty is to invest, day after week after year, in challenging practice. To be gritty is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.”
Finally, Duckworth includes a good deal of material on “deliberate practice” this was perhaps my personal most novel takeaway. Any of the things I’ve “gutted out” in my life I’ve done with my mind hidden in a protective cocoon. I don’t remember hardly anything from 2 years of 4am swim practices. My mind was in a protective daydream to avoid the pain; Something like Westley’s anti-torture technique in Goldman’s immortal The Princess Bride. Turns out, that can’t make you a better swimmer… all that pain was largely wasted because I didn’t practice deliberately! Duckworth says“Each of the basic requirements of deliberate practice is unremarkable: A clearly defined stretch goal, full concentration and effort, immediate and informative feedback, repetition with reflection and refinement.” (Emphasis added).
The book isn’t dense enough to make my all-time reading list, but the scientific inquiry and data-rich pages make it a valuable footnote to me in the philosophy of success.
