True Grit (Not the Western)
Several years ago Angela Duckworth, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, released a book provocatively entitled “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” which rose quickly on the non-fiction bestseller charts. Duckworth’s thesis was straightforward and she marshaled impressive evidence to support it. Highly successful people manifest two traits missing in those of lesser accomplishment: First, they are very clear about what they want and are fiercely committed to its achievement; second, they are willing to work long and hard to reach their goals. Taken together, these two traits constitute what Duckworth called “grit.”
This was hardly a groundbreaking discovery. Five years earlier Malcolm Gladwell made a similar claim when he invoked the “10,000 hour rule” in another blockbuster entitled “Outliers.” First proposed in the early seventies by two Carnegie Mellon academics, Herbert Simon and William Chase, the rule states that 10,000 hours are the bare minimum needed to achieve mastery in a challenging game such as chess. Subsequent studies of high achievers in other fields tended to support these findings. For instance, in a survey of talented students at the prestigious Music Academy of West Berlin, what separated the merely “good” from the truly “great” was the latter’s work ethic; they prioritized practice over everything else.
But while persistence, perseverance, and the patient, steady application of effort is often necessary for mastery, it’s hardly sufficient. This is one of the concerns some have had with Angela Duckworth’s thesis: that she oversells the concept of “Grit” while downplaying factors that also play a significant role in a person’s success. Moreover, she seems to suggest that “grit” is an attribute within everybody’s reach, and if a person is deficient it’s because they don’t have the right attitude. Grittiness can be acquired and, if we recognize its importance, we will – like a tiger mom – instill it in our children and strengthen it in ourselves. It’s all just a matter of resolve and will power.
Unfortunately, we are not delivered onto a level playing field. While it’s clearly important to develop strategies for helping children become more patient, persevering and committed to a discipline we should refrain, David Denby writes, from making value judgments. If a child is raised by absent, neglectful or abusive parents, they will likely experience high levels of toxic stress. This, in turn, can cause irreversible damage to the pre-frontal cortex, the seat of our executive functions, and reduce the child’s capacity for resilience and perseverance.
Moreover, too much emphasis on “grit” may lead to feelings of inadequacy. “Anyone who would tell a child that a sufficient work ethic is the only thing standing between him or her and world-class achievement,” Mike Egan, an accomplished musician and former member of the U.S. Marine Band insists, “ought to be jailed for child abuse.”
Over the years I’ve run across so many self-help books that claim to have discovered the singular key to leading a successful and flourishing life. What most of them ignore is that we exist in a social milieu that can propel us forward or hold us back. The reality, Malcolm Gladwell observes, is this:
The amount of practice necessary for exceptional performance is so extensive that people who end up on the top need help. They invariably have access to lucky breaks or privileges or conditions that make all those years of practice possible.
But social and economic factors apart, perseverance is still just half of the “grit” equation. There’s also the question of passion, and once that falls into place it will feel natural and even joyful to persevere in its service.
When people are passionate about a pursuit we say that they have discovered their “calling. For some, that realization surfaces early in life. The late E.O Wilson was an indifferent student in his south Alabama public school. He was much more invested in the living world beyond the schoolhouse doors where he roamed freely, observing and capturing snakes, spiders and other small denizens of the scrublands. As a pre-adolescent, his passion was already in clear evidence, and out of that he fashioned a celebrated career in entomology.
Wilson’s IQ was well above average, but he never claimed to be a genius. However, he did have grit – a passion for environmental studies, and an indefatigable work ethic. At Harvard Wilson emphasized to his students – many of whom still were fuzzy about their future - the importance of both. “Put passion ahead of training,” he counseled in Letters to a Young Scientist.
Feel out in any way you can what you most want to do in science…or some science-related profession. Obey that passion as long as it lasts…but sample other subjects and be ready to switch to a greater love if one appears….Decision and hard work based on enduring passion will never fail you.
Discerning one’s calling may take considerably longer than it did for E.O. Wilson, and could include a lengthy gestation period. But perseverance follows naturally from passion; we will not be sufficiently motivated to work long and hard until we feel a singular affinity for the task at hand. And while it is undoubtedly true that most of us must settle for making a living rather than composing a life, there may well come a time when we feel so drawn to a task that it redeems our brief interlude on this good, green planet Earth.
