Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Hardcover – May 3, 2016

To: All parents, teachers, coaches, athletes, students, and caregivers:Re: the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Dr. Angela DuckworthBuy it. Read it slowly and deliberately. If you listen to it on Audible, set the speed at 50%.After many years of writing book reviews primarily for friends and executives at YPO, I have have finally found a recommendation to give to this esteemed group. It is fitting Dr. Duckworth’s inaugural book debuted the week of the Kentucky Derby as I am fortunate enough to live around and know several jockeys whom I would ascribe the greatest exemplars of grit the world has ever known-what professor Duckworth refers to as grit paragons.What Lean In did to encourage less timidity for women in the workplace, Grit will inculcate and elevate passion and perseverance for long term goals should you choose to accept the practical applications of years of related and transportable research.By this time, you have undoubtedly heard of “grit” the construct coined, developed, and researched by Dr. Duckworth with contributions from notable colleagues along the way including the late Dr. Chris Peterson of “other people matter” fame. After validating the grit scale, she has gone on and tested tons of interesting groups from West Pointers and national spelling bee participants to teachers and athletes. The concept appears to be fairly intuitive until you get the very deep dive into the details of what passion and perseverance over the long term really mean. Is grit nature or nurture? Can you develop it? Can you have too much of it? Dr. Duckworth’s fresh writing is able to distill very difficult psychological concepts and present them in a way that anybody can explain them on the back of a napkin which is a tribute to her as both a teacher and writer.The short TED video by the author from 2013 provides a great introduction and motivation to read the book. The polished TED presentation though is a result from one of the many transformative topics in her book-the confluence of painful effort, feedback, and immense pleasure through deliberate practice (search youtube for rehearsals pre-TED talk).The beauty of this book is that it is really a “book of books”. It interweaves numerous related research activities and concepts, contributions of luminaries in psychology, and solid parenting guidelines (in particular the “hard thing rule”). Here is a short list of the concepts and legends that you will meet: flow, hope, resiliency, fixed vs. growth mindset, learned optimism, Sisu, talent (overrated), cognitive bias’ including “naturalness", goal setting, positive self-talk, passion, purpose, job, career, calling, William James, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Adam Grant, Martin Seligman,Anders Ericsson, Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi, David Yeager, Amy Wrzesniewski, Justin Berg,Jane Dutton, Aaron Beck, Emilia Lahti, Carolyn Dweck, and even Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. . As a former student of hers in the MAPP Program at University of Pennsylvania, I felt like I had I had just done a refresher course. (side note: physical therapy mentioned two different times in the book, would automatically would get a 5 star rating from me!).My biggest personal takeaway is the influence of culture in the environment and workplace and how this alone can foster and make one “gritty”. To that end, I am proud of our healthcare company’s strategic intent: "Our Success is through meaningful work that impacts lives” and perhaps even more so one of our ten commitments that we formed in October of 2014:I commit to Sisu – I will face challenges head-on. “In my life and work, I refuse to be derailed by people or circumstances and will face them with valor. I acknowledge ‘stuff’ can and will happen but choose to ‘power on’ even when it appears that I have reached the limits of my mental and physical capabilities.”Thank you Dr. Duckworth for being a terrific writer, teacher, and example of this profound concept and having an impact far in excess of what I believe you ever imagined. Undoubtedly, those who read it will be driven to further a life of passion, meaning, and prosocial concerns for the long term.

Amanda Duckworth’s “GRIT” is the answer for those seeking the secret to personal fulfillment and success. The secret is Grit, the passion and perseverance for long term goals. She makes her case by connecting the dots of psychological research with her own contemporary research to the stories of many people who have had remarkably successful lives. This book explores the importance of grit, how to identify it, how gritty are you, how to grow it, how to create a culture of grit, and how to instill grit into your children.Duckworth’s interest in personal fulfillment and success began with her first job as a grade school teacher. She noticed some of her students to be more inherently gifted with numbers than others. But not all of these capable students to her surprise got the best grades. And those who did weren’t always “math people”: for the most part, they were those who consistently invested more time and effort in their work. She decided to become a research psychologist to figure out what explained the difference in the students.Duckworth had been “distracted by talent.” Gifted people reach a point where the talent is not enough. Author Jim Loehr (“The Power of Engagement” and the “The Power of Story”) had a similar epiphany early in his career and has leveraged this understanding to become a highly paid professional coach to athletes, executives, and government officials.She is a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and has spent the last 10 years studying why some people have extraordinary success and others do not. One of her first studies as a researcher was that of West Point cadets. She wanted to find out “Why did 20% of the cadets drop out before graduation?” These cadets were admitted to West Point by getting a high “Whole Candidate Score” which was a composite measure of ACT and SAT scores, high school rank, leadership potential, and physical fitness. The score which is essentially a measure of innate ability did not predict who would drop out. A Grit Scale (“I finish whatever I begin” or “new ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones”) emerged with Grit turning out to be an astoundingly reliable predictor of who made it through, and who did not.The book is loaded with gems that are sure to satisfy all who seek personal fulfillment and happiness.' Our obsession with talent creates self-imposed limits and distracts us from the truth. We believe those naturally talented to be more likely to succeed. This bias is a hidden prejudice against those who’ve achieved what they have because they worked for it, and a hidden preference for those whom we think arrived at their place in life because they were naturals. This bias is evident in the choices we make.' The highly successful had kind of a ferocious determination that played out in two ways. First, they were unusually resilient and hard-working. Second, they knew in a very, very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination, they had direction.' There’s a big difference between “this is all I can do” to “who knows what I can do?” Consider those disabled who have overcome their physical or mental limitations to achieve more that many who have no disabilities.' Exceptional individuals push themselves to the extremes of use of their assets and resources.' The “War for Talent” is an empty war based on a false premise. It should be recast as a war for the grittiest!' Passion is a compass but it does not arrive like a lightning bolt. It takes some time to build, tinker with, and finally get right, and be a guide for the long and winding road to where, ultimately, you want to be.' In assessing grit along with other virtues, the author found three reliable clusters: the intrapersonal (self-control, avoiding temptation); the interpersonal (gratitude, social intelligence, and self-control over emotions like anger); and the intellectual (curiosity, zest , active and open engagement with the world).' Goodness must be a partner with grit. Morality trumps all other aspects of character and importance.Amanda Duckworth has written an excellent book. “GRIT” shows us the power of grit, its importance to reaching our potential, and how to grow it. We can grow grit “from inside out”: we can cultivate our interests and discover our passion. We can connect our work to a purpose beyond ourselves... And we can learn to hope when all seems lost.GRIT - the marathon of life and our happiness depends tremendously on it.