Chapters 3-4 Summary

Duckworth continues discussing her findings about the role of talent in predicting achievement. Challenged by her advisor in graduate school, Professor Marty Seligman, Duckworth realizes she lacks a theory. She proposes the following: talent x effort = skill, and then, skill x effort = achievement. According to Duckworth’s theory, effort counts twice as much as talent. In her words, “[E]ffort makes skill productive.”

Duckworth meditates on the work of novelist John Irving, whose 1978 The World According to Garp won the National Book Award. Irving struggled in high school because he was dyslexic. Through effort and practice, he overcomes his disability and becomes a masterful writer. Actor Will Smith, too, says he is not especially talented but that he will stay on a treadmill longer than others. Duckworth connects Smith’s statement with a 1940 research test called the Treadmill Test that gauged stamina of young men running on a treadmill. Decades later, psychologist George Vaillant follows up on this test with the same men and finds that their earlier performance on the treadmill predicts a number of factors related to positive mental health.

Duckworth concludes that persistence is “not just working hard” but “working on something you care about so much that you’re willing to stay loyal to it.” In other words, passion matters, as well as perseverance. Duckworth develops the Grit Scale to assess these two key components. It asks participants to check off the box on a scale of 1–5 that best describes them in 10 key areas, such as focus and diligence. It measures two components, passion and perseverance.

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll enables Duckworth to understand passion better. Carroll states, “A clear, well-defined philosophy gives you the guidelines… to stay on track.” From this work emerges an understanding of passion as rooted in a hierarchy of goals that serve as a life compass.

Chapters 3-4 Analysis

Chapter 3 indicates a turning point in Duckworth’s research. Her mentor, Marty Seligman, challenges her to come up with a theory. Her theory contrasts with the prevailing notion, one held not just by the general public but by prestigious institutions like West Point. So ingrained is this notion that she gives considerable attention to research that explains why the ideas persist: if success is due to talent, then ungifted people are “off the hook.”

Duckworth forces herself to propose a “story” that explains success. She formulates her theory as the equation talent x effort = skill, which leads to skill x effort = achievement.

Various examples support Duckworth’s theory: John Irving, a successful author who once had dyslexia; the award-winning actor Will Smith; and the original participants in Harvard’s “Treadmill test support.” The Treadmill test, however, also provides an apt metaphor for grit. Getting back on the “treadmill” of life, day after day, is what grit is all about. The notion that grit involves effort suggests that grit can be improved.

Duckworth pulls back the curtain on a gritty person’s inner workings, showing through diagrams how a gritty person operates. The gritty person has a coordinated hierarchy of goals that support the achievement of one overarching goal or “passion.” That passion serves as a life “compass.” Passion motivates individuals to persevere. Diagrams also show why less gritty people fail.

Given grit’s “plasticity,” the Grit Scale is useful not only for institutions like West Point but as a tool for readers to self-reflect. Self-reflection is the first step in “growing grit,” a topic Duckworth explores in the remainder of the book.