Why Effort Matters More Than Talent | Angela Duckworth
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the importance of both talent and effort in achieving success. They share a story about a student named Eli, who excels in math without studying, to illustrate the myth of natural talent. The speaker argues that effort is crucial to hone skills and that talent alone is insufficient. They discuss research by Anders Ericsson, highlighting the need for quality practice over quantity to become an expert. The talk concludes by contrasting the continuous learning curve with the plateau of arrested development, urging individuals to maintain their skills and interests over time.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Talent and IQ are important, but they must be multiplied by effort to gain skill and achieve success.
- 📚 The story of Eli illustrates that natural talent can be impressive, but it's the effort applied to skill that leads to true mastery.
- 🏆 Talent alone doesn't guarantee success; it's the combination of talent and consistent, focused effort that propels individuals to the top.
- 🔢 The concept of 'grit' is introduced as a measure of effort and persistence, which is distinct from talent and is crucial for long-term achievement.
- 📉 Grit and talent are found to be uncorrelated or weakly inversely correlated, indicating that being smart doesn't necessarily mean being gritty.
- 💼 As leaders, hiring for talent is beneficial, but it's also important to consider an individual's potential for hard work and resilience.
- 🎯 The '10,000-hour rule' is a popular concept, but it's the quality of practice, not just the quantity, that makes a world-class expert.
- 🎼 The speaker uses the example of playing a musical instrument to highlight that skills can be lost if not actively practiced and maintained.
- 🚀 Grit is essential for staying on the learning curve, continuously improving, and avoiding the plateau of arrested development.
- 🔄 There are three paths in life: continuous learning and improvement, stagnation, or quitting, and the choice to keep learning is vital for growth.
- 🌟 The speaker emphasizes the importance of not only starting but also finishing what one has begun, and maintaining interests over time as a key to lifelong success.
Q & A
What is the main point the speaker is making about the relationship between talent and effort?
-The speaker argues that while talent is important, effort is crucial as it multiplies the talent and leads to the development of skills and achievements.
What is the speaker's view on the role of effort in relation to talent?
-The speaker believes that effort is as important as talent, and in some cases, may matter more, especially in the long run.
What example does the speaker use to illustrate the concept of talent versus effort?
-The speaker uses the example of a student named Eli, who despite not working hard, excels in math, to contrast with the idea that effort is necessary to truly harness one's talent.
How does the speaker relate the concept of effort to the idea of 'grit'?
-The speaker suggests that grit, a measure of effort, is not necessarily correlated with talent and is a separate human quality that contributes to success.
What does the speaker suggest about the correlation between measures of talent and measures of effort like grit?
-The speaker finds that measures of effort like grit are not correlated with measures of talent like IQ tests, and in some cases, they may be inversely correlated.
What does the speaker mean by 'the plateau of Arrested Development'?
-It refers to a state where individuals put in hours of work but do not engage in the kind of practice that leads to improvement, thus they stop developing their skills.
What is the '10,000 hours rule' mentioned in the script, and what is its significance?
-The '10,000 hours rule' is a concept suggesting that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. It signifies the importance of dedicated practice in becoming an expert.
According to the speaker, what is missing in the popular understanding of the '10,000 hours rule'?
-The speaker points out that the quality of practice is as important as the quantity, and that merely spending 10,000 hours does not guarantee expertise if the practice is not of high quality.
What does the speaker suggest is the key difference in the way experts practice compared to others?
-The speaker implies that experts engage in a special kind of practice that is qualitatively different and more effective than the practice of others, leading to their exceptional skill.
How does the speaker use their personal experience with playing the piano to illustrate a point about skill development?
-The speaker uses their experience of quitting piano to demonstrate how skills can be lost if not actively practiced, emphasizing the importance of continuous effort in maintaining and developing abilities.
What is the speaker's view on the importance of grit in relation to skill development and achievement?
-The speaker views grit as essential for staying on the learning curve of becoming more excellent and for sustaining interests over time, which prevents individuals from quitting and allows them to achieve more.
Outlines
🧠 The Importance of Effort Over Talent
The speaker begins by discussing the common emphasis on talent and IQ, using the anecdote of a student named Eli who excels in math without effort. This leads to a conversation with their daughter, Amanda, about the significance of hard work. The speaker argues that talent must be multiplied by effort to develop skills and achieve mastery. They introduce the concept that effort is twice as important as talent because it not only helps in acquiring skills but also in applying them to create achievements. The speaker references Will Smith's quote to emphasize that effort can surpass talent in the long run. They also mention research on grit and talent, suggesting that these are distinct qualities and that hiring for talent does not guarantee passion or resilience. The speaker concludes with a reference to the '10,000-hour rule' but cautions that the quality of practice is more critical than the quantity, as demonstrated by the research of Anders Ericsson.
🎹 The Consequences of Stopping Practice
In the second paragraph, the speaker explores the impact of ceasing to practice a skill, using their own experience with piano as an example. They explain that skills atrophy without regular practice, a natural human tendency. The speaker then connects this to the concept of 'grit,' which is the perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit is what keeps individuals on a continuous learning curve, improving their skills over time. The speaker also notes that individuals with grit are less likely to quit and more likely to sustain their interests and efforts over extended periods. The paragraph ends with a reflection on the choices available to individuals in terms of skill development and the importance of ongoing practice to maintain and enhance abilities.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Talent
💡IQ
💡Effort
💡Grit
💡Success
💡Calculus
💡10,000 Hour Rule
💡Practice
💡Expertise
💡Resilience
💡Growth-Oriented
Highlights
Talent and IQ are important, but effort is crucial for gaining skills and achieving success.
The story of Eli, who seemingly invented calculus without effort, challenges the notion that talent alone guarantees success.
Effort should be multiplied by talent to truly master skills like calculus, writing, leadership, etc.
Talent counts, but effort counts twice, emphasizing the importance of applying skills through hard work.
Grit, a measure of effort, is not correlated with talent measures like IQ, indicating different human qualities.
Hiring brilliant people is beneficial, but it doesn't ensure hiring the most passionate or hard-working individuals.
Modern science on super successful individuals can be summarized with a graph by Dr. Anders Ericsson.
The 10,000-hour rule is a popular concept, but it lacks the nuance of practice quality over quantity.
Dr. Ericsson's research shows that the way experts practice is qualitatively different and crucial for excellence.
Life presents a multiple-choice scenario: continue learning, plateau, or exit and lose skills.
Grit helps individuals stay on the learning curve and avoid the plateau of arrested development.
Grit is associated with finishing what one starts and sustaining interests over time, preventing quitting.
The importance of not just practicing, but practicing with a purpose to improve and reach expertise.
The cultural destiny of playing the piano as an example of how skills can be lost without consistent practice.
The concept that skills acquired can degrade if not actively practiced, as with musical instruments or languages.
The role of grit in sustaining long-term interests and preventing a series of quits in various endeavors.
Transcripts
my dad growing up used to talk about
talent and IQ all the time
and I want to say that it does count
I've got an 18 year old at home named
Amanda sometimes she she comes home with
stories about Eli Eli's in her math
class
Eli never works Eli never does his
homework Eli seems to have invented
calculus on his own because he still
gets perfect scores on all the math
exams and my daughter's convinced that
Eli is so prodigiously talented that
doesn't really matter in life whether
whether Eli's can't work hard or or not
work hard because he's obviously gonna
become super successful but I think by
now I have convinced my daughter that
insofar as talent counts effort counts
twice first because no matter how
talented you are you have to multiply
that talent by hours of effort to
actually gain skill to learn calculus to
know how to write a memo know how to
lead a team know how to do all the
things frankly that you have learned
your many hard earned skills but I like
to say to my daughter you know talent
counts but effort counts twice because
once you have a skill you know how to
lead a team you know how to do calculus
you know how to act in a film you have
to actually apply that skill its effort
applied to skill that creates human
achievement and so when Will Smith says
you may be more talented than me but I
will never get off this treadmill before
you I think what he's pointing to is
that effort and talent are not the same
thing and in the long run it may be just
as Darwin intuited that effort may
matter more in dated I've collected on
the grit scale and measures of talent
whether physical talent or IQ cognitive
ability
I find that measures of effort like grit
are not correlated with measures of
talent like an IQ test in some samples
they're inversely correlated weakly all
that means for you as leaders is that if
you hire brilliant tell
did smart people good for you but it's
no guarantee that you're hiring the most
passionate hardest-working resilient
growth-oriented people they're simply
different human qualities if I want to
catch you all the way up to 2020 and
what modern science knows about the
super successful I can do it with this
one graph this summarizes the research
of my friend and my colleague onder's
Erickson raise your hand for a moment if
you've ever heard this expression and I
know we're a global audience but this
expression 10,000 hours of practice the
10,000 hour rule
okay that's many of us if not most of us
if Andres Erikson were here today he's a
cognitive scientist who studies the
super successful you know world cup
soccer players he goes to tournaments
like Sudoku tournaments etc what he
would say is that what he is observed
across all fields both mental and
physical is that it indeed takes
thousands of hours of a special kind of
practice to take you from an amateur who
knows nothing to somebody who could be
considered a world-class expert now what
Andres Erickson would want you to know
however is that there's something
missing in the popular understanding of
10,000 hours of practice and that is
that you can spend 10,000 hours of
practice and just be fine mediocre
nothing special I mean just think about
it
lots of people go to work for 40 hours a
week and then if you count up the hours
I mean pretty soon they're at 10,000 but
there are not world-class experts why
and the singular insight from his
lifetime of research is that it is not
just the quantity of practice that
matters it's the quality of practice the
way experts practice is different and I
think there are powerful lessons for all
of us in this room because they apply
not only to the individual but they
apply to the overall organization before
I unpack for you what onder's has found
about the way experts
practice and how different it is
qualitatively let me suggest that life
always presents us a multiple choice and
there are more than two answers you can
become more and more expert at what you
do
that's the read learning curve you never
stop learning I think that is the
culture of Genpact and its valued
clients you can be like most
organizations and most people which is
to say that you will put in hours and
hours but they're not the kind of
practice that gets you better you you
plateau on the you know I like to call
it the plateau of Arrested Development
but the third choice if anyone has at
any time is to exit completely to stop
training at all and it is the nature of
human nature that we lose the skills
that we have acquired when we are not
practicing them let me use myself as a
personal example being an Asian female
in New Jersey I had to play piano it was
part of my cultural destiny so I did it
and I was never very good I quit after
some years and what little skill I had
in piano I now have none at all and if
you used to practice a musical
instrument or speak another language or
play a sport and you are no longer
actively doing that then you know
exactly what I mean you don't get to
hold on at the same level to all the
human skills that you have acquired so I
studied grit in part because it keeps
people on this red learning curve to
becoming more and more and more
excellent at what they do but I also
study grit because it is those greedy
individuals who prefer to finish things
that they've started and have interests
that sustain themselves over years if
not decades if not a lifetime that keeps
them from quitting one thing after
another after another
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