Grit Summary and Analysis

Preface–Chapter 2 Summary

The father of psychologist and author Angela Duckworth frequently reminded his children they were “no geniuses.” Years later, Duckworth won the MacArthur Fellowship, known as “the genius grant.” Duckworth wished she could go back to her childhood, not to tell her father he was wrong, but to tell him she would grow up to love her job and persevere through the challenges.

Part 1 of the book is called “What Grit Is and Why It Matters.” Duckworth begins Chapter 1 with an exploration of the psychology of success. As a graduate student in psychology, she asks, “Who makes it through West Point’s ‘Beast’?” The reference is to the United States Military Academy’s intense training program, nicknamed “Beast Barracks.” West Point faculty member Mike Matthews provides the first clue, proposing that persisting when challenges exceed skills results more from a “never give up” attitude than talent.

Duckworth expands her research to people identified as the top in their field. Two commonalities emerge. First, all were driven to improve, a trait Duckworth labels “perseverance.” Second, each was “chasing something of unparalleled interest and importance,” a trait she labels “passion.” This finding leads to the formula: Passion + Perseverance = Grit. Based on her findings, Duckworth develops the Grit Scale, a survey tool designed to measure both traits. In 2004, she tests over a thousand West Point cadets with the scale and finds that it is an “astoundingly reliable” predictor of who survived the “Beast.” She uses the scale to test other groups, from salespeople to students, and finds that the successful candidates are “grittier.”

Duckworth goes back in time to discuss her career as a teacher, before she became a psychologist. Her observations of hardworking algebra student David Luong suggest that effort may be more important than talent, an idea Duckworth later pursues in her psychology studies. In graduate school she learns that psychologists have been wondering about predictors of success since the mid-19th century. She eventually concludes that society’s privileging of natural talent over effort is not just inaccurate. It is also harmful, because it sends an implicit message that other factors—namely effort—are not important.

Preface–Chapter 2 Analysis

Duckworth’s father, like many people in the studies Duckworth cites in subsequent chapters, views innate talent as the key to success. Ironically, the daughter he viewed as lacking intelligence wins the “genius award,” granted for outstanding contributions to her field of study. This experience mirrors Duckworth’s central claim: when it comes to predicting success, passion and perseverance—the essence of grit—matter more than talent.

Duckworth begins Chapter 1 at West Point Military Academy, the location where her exploration of success began. The opening situates readers in Duckworth’s research. Then the reader follows Duckworth as she begins her quest in the office of Mike Matthews, military psychologist and West Point faculty member. Duckworth not only reports the information that propels the work forward, but she also explains her approach to the task. She seeks out experts and listens, lending credibility to her findings. Her tone is that of a friendly expert.

The author sets up a question to move the text forward: “Who succeeds and why?” Matthews provides the first “clue to the riddle.” Similarly—though Duckworth reports interesting data, such as 14,000 hopefuls applying for 1200 academy seats—she gives enough detail to cause the reader to engage with the question she herself asked: “Why would cadets drop out after such a rigorous application process?”

Chapter 2 begins with a look at Duckworth’s classroom experiences. She supports her claim that talent does not always lead to achievement by citing examples to which readers can relate, such as the hardworking student who surpasses his more talented peers. By the close of Chapter 2, the reader may be inclined to think of Duckworth as a “genius.” She surprises the reader with the revelation that assessments deemed her not smart enough for the gifted classes as a child. This experience lends credibility to her claim that something other than talent seems to be responsible for success. It sets the reader up to “buy in” when she suggests that success has more to do with hard work than intelligence, a topic she explores in the next chapter.