Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Angela Duckworth, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, was teaching seventh-grade math in the ’90s when she noticed that her best students weren’t necessarily the smartest ones, but the ones with endurance and drive. Backed by the research and anecdotes in her book, Duckworth creates a “Grit Scale” to assess this stick-to-itiveness. High Grit scores prove, in one instance, to be better predictors of whether West Point cadets make it through boot camp than ratings of their physical, academic and intellectual prowess. Useful for parents, teachers and business leaders, Duckworth shows that “high achievers are satisfied with being unsatisfied”.

HIGHTLIGHT(S): “Some people get 20 years of experience, while others get 1 year of experience, 20 times in a row.” Why? Gritty achievers don’t just practice over and over, they smartly engage in Deliberate Practice. Duckworth eloquently describes Ander Ericsson’s framework to explain why there’s more to Grit than just hard work.