GRIT

by Allen Weiss, MD, MBA, FACP, FACR
President and CEO, NCH Healthcare System

Why are some people so successful, even though they seem not as talented as others who never quite make it? Why do some people love to work out, practice, and persist—while others drop out, get frustrated, and never seem to finish anything?

The answer is grit, which is also the title of psychologist Angela Duckworth’s authoritative book with the formal title, “Grit, the Power of Passion and Perseverance.”

Talent does not equal achievement, she maintains, but there is a direct relationship when effort is included as a factor. In other words, talent multiplied by effort equals skill. Thus, talent is defined as how quickly skills improve when you invest the effort.

Let’s explore two examples before offering a quick self-quiz to check your grit.

The National Spelling Bee is televised yearly on ESPN. To say the students are impressive and the words difficult to spell is an understatement. Duckworth and her colleagues interviewed and assessed the spelling bee finalists to learn about how they prepared and how much effort was involved.

The advisory book, “How to Spell Like a Champ,” suggests three types of learning and preparation to become a competitive contestant. First, read for pleasure and play word games like Scrabble. Second, get a partner or computer to quiz you. The third and most critical action is unassisted study doing solitary spelling practice. This most important last activity is directed at memorizing new words from a dictionary, reviewing tricky words in a “spelling” notebook and learning the roots of words.

The successful spelling bee contestants were more intense when studying. Deliberate practice was the best predictor of success—even more so than total practice hours. “High effort” practice mattered even though it was not as enjoyable, required much more effort and was much harder. The first two activities take less energy and are more enjoyable. It is hard work to stay focused, self-motivated and be on your own.

The concept that “talent multiplied by effort equals skill” applies to spelling competence in regard to the time and effort spent on the three types of preparation—reading for pleasure, quizzing, and selfstudy. Again, we define talent as how quickly skills improve when you invest the effort.

Another noteworthy example of grit is the ability of incoming West Point cadets to graduate, as nearly 20 percent will drop out with a disproportionate percentage dropping out during the rigorous first summer.

Typically there are more than 14,000 applicants who start the process with only 4,000 obtaining a nomination from their representative in Congress. Of these, 2,500 meet the rigorous academic and physical standards and 1,200 are enrolled. These outstanding students have typically been varsity athletes, top of their class academically, and have excellent College Board scores or the equivalent.

The admissions process takes in all of the objective measures of intellectual and athletic prowess combined with a subjective leadership ability score to form the “Whole Candidate Score.” This measurement process is carefully thought out, but this Whole Candidate Score was not a good predictor of who would survive and thrive at West Point. The 20 percent of who dropped out of the program rarely did so because of lack of talent or ability—but rather the lack of the “never give up” attitude when severely stressed.

To apply the algorithm: Talent multiplied by effort equals skill, and skill times effort equals achievement for our West Pointers. We can see they all had the talent as objectively measured and all applied the effort to have the skill. But about 20 percent ran out of effort and did not achieve the goal of graduation.

The incoming cadets who had enough grit to get them over the seemingly unendurable stress achieved graduation. The revelation that grit turns out to be a much better predictor of graduation from West Point than the Whole Candidate Score may seem astounding, but in reality makes sense. Talent matters, of course, but multiplying that talent with effort makes for achievement. So, how to measure grit becomes the important question. Psychologist Duckworth freely shares (at http://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/) ten questions with no right or wrong answers. Answer these honestly with just how you feel about the statement at this moment.

1. NEW IDEAS AND PROJECTS SOMETIMES DISTRACT ME FROM PREVIOUS ONES.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
2. SETBACKS DON’T DISCOURAGE ME. I DON’T GIVE UP EASILY.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
3. I OFTEN SET A GOAL BUT LATER CHOOSE TO PURSUE A DIFFERENT ONE.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
4. I AM A HARD WORKER.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
5. I HAVE DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING MY FOCUS ON PROJECTS THAT TAKE MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS TO COMPLETE.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
6. I FINISH WHATEVER I BEGIN.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
7. MY INTERESTS CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
8. I AM DILIGENT. I NEVER GIVE UP.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
9. I HAVE BEEN OBSESSED WITH A CERTAIN IDEA OR PROJECT FOR A SHORT TIME BUT LATER LOST INTEREST.
   1. Very much like me
   2. Mostly like me
   3. Somewhat like me
   4. Not much like me
   5. Not like me at all
10. I HAVE OVERCOME SETBACKS TO CONQUER AN IMPORTANT CHALLENGE.
    1. Very much like me
    2. Mostly like me
    3. Somewhat like me
    4. Not much like me
    5. Not like me at all

If you take this assessment online your score is calculated automatically. By hand, score the odd numbers with points from 5 to 1 and even numbered questions from 1 to 5, take the sum and divide by 10. The maximum for extremely grittiness is 5 and the minimum is 1, not gritty at all. I suggest you take it online which also compares you to a large sample of American adults.

Your Grit score changes over time as your life, attitude, and environment change. Grit has two components: passion and perseverance. Both measures typically go together with most people having a slightly higher perseverance metric.

The bottom line: Success is predictable and grit is measurable. Knowing the components of achievement—the importance of effort for skill development and effort’s importance for talent advancement—is a valuable insight.