21 May 2016 The Power Of Grit
Professor Duckworth’s Crystal Ball
Professor Angela Duckworth can pick up the winners out of a crowd. She can tell which West Point cadets will successfully complete their training, which National Spelling Bee contestants will emerge victorious, which teachers in tough neighborhoods will still be there in four years, and which salespersons will win the “salesperson of the year”….year after year after year.
How is she able to do this? How can she tell if you or I will be successful in our lives?
It all comes down to one personality characteristic – Grit.
After years of researching grit, Professor Duckworth published her new book on the subject, Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance:
http://www.amazon.com/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth/dp/1501111108
Grit, she says, is the ability to pursue your goal with passion and perseverance as if it were a marathon, not a sprint.
If you want to know how gritty you are, try Duckworth’s 12-Point Grit Assessment (it will take less than 10 minutes): http://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/
Is Google A “Talentocracy”?
I really loved listening to Professor Duckworth’s talk at Google. It provides a deeper and broader perspective on grit compared to her 18 minutes TED Talk, which amassed over 1,400,000 views thus far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ONEAcBeTk
One of the key questions that came up early in the discussion was whether Google hires based on talent only. “What about Grit,” asked Duckworth? How is it taken into account in the hiring process at Google?
A characteristic of excellence, says Duckworth, is the discipline of intentionally working day-in, day-out on becoming better at our field of expertise. Be it creative engineering at Google, mastering the Cello, or shooting 3-point hoops.
And I think, she says, that in addition to talent, Google should look at the ability of their employees to invest in becoming better at what they do, even if it is un-glamorous hard work.
What Makes Some Of Us Grittier?
Ever since I started studying the science of willpower 2½ years ago, I have been wondering what makes some of us grittier, while others find it difficult to control their impulses and tend to switch direction every time they face a hurdle.
Although Duckworth has been able to establish strong correlations between grit and success in life, she has not yet found the scientific explanation for why some people are grittier than others.
In my opinion, grittier people have stronger emotional regulation circuits in the prefrontal cortex system of their brain. They are able to achieve a better balance between the signals from the emotional circuits of the brain, and the areas of the prefrontal cortex that regulate long term planning, goal setting, motivation, situational assessment, and emotional regulation. They have stronger motivation circuits (dopamine reward pathways) and positive mood circuits (serotonin pathways). They also have a stronger ability to focus on their long term goals and not be distracted by short term opportunities, mood swings, or in the face of adversity.
I believe that the stronger functions and balance of these neuro-circuits give some of us the strong passion and resilience to keep going.
How Can We Become Grittier?
Duckworth says that scientists have not yet figured this out. The closest idea I heard, she says, comes from Professor Carol Dweck of Stanford University. It is a concept she calls Growth Mindset.
https://youtu.be/kXhbtCcmsyQ?list=FLGRvFIk7BErzRMJZrFQUiPQ
But I would like to offer an additional path to greater grit. One that is based on the work of willpower scientists such as Roy Baumeister, Mark Muraven, June Tangney, and others. And it goes like this:
Our brain has an amazing quality called neuro-plasticity. If we work consistently over a period of time on developing certain skills, we will grow the neuro-circuits required to master them. Just as we can learn to dance the salsa, or learn French, or learn to shave with our non-dominant hand, we can develop the circuits of the brain that will make us grittier.
Here are some simple exercises you can start with:
Design simple “endurance challenges” that will train your brain not to quit.
For example: how long can you stand in a cold shower, how long can you work on a “Hard” Sudoku without quitting, how long can you run at a fast pace on the treadmill, or how many days can you go without responding in an argument to your significant other.
Although I am not aware of any scientific study correlating these exercises with grit, I am exploring the possibilities of initiating such a study.
Mindfulness Meditation
Another intriguing question is the relationship between mindfulness meditation and grit. Our long term meditators grittier than non-meditators?
My hunch is that there is a close relationship, but I am not aware of any study correlating the two.
In any event, with all the recent scientific evidence of the benefits of mindfulness meditation, you cannot go wrong in trying it as a way to boost your grit over time.
You Are Invited
If you are motivated to build up your grit, I invite you to engage in a conversation about it, by commenting on this post and sharing it with others.
If you are interested in participating in a study about grit, please contact me at Uri@thewilltocahnge.com
