The strongest predictor for success | Angela Lee Duckworth

Summary

The transcript explores the concept of grit as a key to success in various challenging environments, such as West Point Military Academy, the National Spelling Bee, and the corporate world. Grit is defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, and it is more predictive of success than social intelligence, physical health, or IQ. The study in Chicago public schools showed that grittier students were more likely to graduate. To cultivate grit, the transcript suggests the 'growth mindset' concept by Carol Dweck, which posits that learning ability can be developed through effort. The importance of testing ideas and being open to failure to learn and improve is also emphasized.

Takeaways

• 🧐 The key to success is not just the ability to learn quickly but also involves other factors.
• 🎓 The speaker conducted studies across various challenging environments to determine the traits of successful individuals.
• 🤔 The research team visited West Point Military Academy to predict cadets' persistence in military training.
• 🏆 They also studied the National Spelling Bee to see which children would advance the furthest in the competition.
• 💼 In partnership with private companies, they sought to identify which salespeople would be most successful.
• 🌟 Grit emerged as a significant predictor of success across all contexts studied.
• 🔥 Grit is defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, requiring stamina and consistent effort over time.
• 🏛️ A study in Chicago public schools showed that grittier students were more likely to graduate, even when controlling for other factors.
• 👨‍🏫 The concept of 'growth mindset', developed by Carol Dweck, is suggested as a way to build grit in children.
• 🧠 Growth mindset is the belief that learning ability can change and improve with effort, which can help children persevere through failure.
• 🛠️ The speaker emphasizes the need for testing and measuring our ideas to build grit, acknowledging the possibility of failure and learning from it.

Q & A

What is the key factor that the speaker found to be a significant predictor of success across various challenging settings?

The key factor found to be a significant predictor of success is grit, which is defined as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.

What does the speaker define as 'grit'?

Grit is defined as having stamina, sticking with your future day in and day out, and working hard to make that future a reality over a long period of time.

Which institutions did the speaker's research team visit to study success?

The research team visited West Point Military Academy, the National Spelling Bee, and partnered with private companies to study success in different contexts.

What was the speaker's approach to predicting success at the National Spelling Bee?

The speaker's approach was to try to predict which children would advance farthest in the competition by observing their characteristics and behaviors.

What was the surprising finding when the speaker studied grit in the Chicago public schools?

The surprising finding was that grittier kids were significantly more likely to graduate, even when matched on other measurable characteristics like family income and standardized test scores.

What is the 'growth mindset' and how is it related to building grit in kids?

Growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed and can change with effort. It is related to building grit because it encourages kids to persevere when they fail, believing that failure is not permanent.

Who developed the concept of 'growth mindset' and where is it associated with?

The concept of 'growth mindset' was developed by Carol Dweck at Stanford University.

What does the speaker suggest as a way to build grit in kids?

The speaker suggests 'growth mindset' as a way to build grit in kids, as it helps them understand that the brain can change and grow in response to challenge.

What is the speaker's call to action for educators and parents in terms of building grit?

The speaker calls for educators and parents to take their best ideas and intuitions, test them, measure their success, and be willing to fail, learn, and start over.

Why is it important to measure the success of ideas aimed at building grit in kids?

It is important to measure success to ensure that the methods used are effective and to learn from any failures, allowing for the refinement of strategies to better support the development of grit in kids.

How does the speaker emphasize the importance of perseverance in the face of failure?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of perseverance by highlighting the growth mindset concept, which teaches kids that failure is not permanent and that they can improve with effort.