Book Review: Grit by Angela Duckworth

Title: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Author: Angela Duckworth
Publisher: Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Publication Date: May 2016
ISBN: 9781443442329

Synopsis:
Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently bemoaned her lack of smarts, Duckworth describes her winding path through teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius, but a special blend of passion and long-term perseverance. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth created her own character lab and set out to test her theory.

Here, she takes readers into the field to visit teachers working in some of the toughest schools, cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers; from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to the cartoon editor of The New Yorker to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

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Grit has been high on my priority list of personal & professional development books to read, outside of my regular roster of books to review. I’ve been staring at it on the shelf for a year and finally found some time to crack it open. It’s an interesting observation of what makes a person “gritty” versus those who give up or drop out. Grit, Duckworth explains, combines passion with perseverance, leading to high achievement. It is both determination and hard work, combined with resilience and direction. She goes into depth to explore the elements of high achievers’ personalities and character traits that helped them to stand out and push on beyond their peers to become experts in their fields.

I think Duckworth has a lot of interesting ideas and her research sounds incredibly engaging and meaningful. Perhaps because this book has been on the market for a number of years, her ideas have had a chance to permeate the psychology and business landscapes, I was familiar with a lot of what she had to say. At the end of the day, Duckworth’s message is about self-improvement, talent, and never shying away from adversity, even when things get challenging. Given how much buzz there continues to be around this book, I thought it would pack more of a punch than it did, but I still found it interesting. If anything, it was more affirming about my own personal goals and point of view, than anything else. As someone who strives for continuous self-improvement and ongoing pursuit of my personal passions, I like to think of myself as a gritty individual, even if I am not an Olympic athlete or the cartoon editor of The New Yorker.

At the end of the day, it is an interesting read and does have some values and insights as to what makes gritty individuals so successful.

Happy reading!