{"id":53362,"date":"2021-11-07T16:09:09","date_gmt":"2021-11-07T20:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=53362"},"modified":"2021-11-07T16:09:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-07T20:09:50","slug":"grit-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/grit-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Duckworth: Grit\u2014Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is Angela Duckworth’s Grit <\/em>worth all the hype? Is having grit really more important than intelligence or natural talent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela Duckworth’s book Grit <\/em>was published in 2016 and became an instant bestseller\u2014remaining on the New York Times <\/em>bestseller list for years. Although there have been many criticisms of the book, many swear that Duckworth’s research is revolutionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading for our Grit <\/em>book review including the book’s context, impact, and critical reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Grit<\/em> Book Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In her book Grit, <\/em>Duckworth argues that talent<\/em> and intelligence<\/em> matter less to success than grit, which she defines as a combination of perseverance<\/em> and passion<\/em> that drives a person to consistently pursue goals<\/a> over many years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duckworth is primarily interested in how to raise gritty kids<\/em>, and her insights have inspired parents and educators around the globe since the book\u2019s publication in 2016. However, she believes that adults, too, can develop grit, and she lays out specific, measurable ways to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her work has sparked heated debates about which matters more to success, innate talent<\/a> or deliberate effort, and whether or not grit is instinctive or can be developed and taught. Throughout our guide, we\u2019ll address these controversies, and we\u2019ll refer to other psychologists who shed additional insight on Duckworth\u2019s ideas.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth is a child of Chinese immigrants. Her father was a chemist and research fellow at Dupont who valued intelligence highly and was obsessed with how smart he and his family were, which helped fuel Duckworth\u2019s research interest in what drives accomplishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in life, Duckworth won a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, often called the \u201cgenius grant,\u201d ironically for her theory, later popularized in Grit<\/em>, that accomplishment may depend more on passion and perseverance than inborn talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duckworth has a BA in neurobiology from Harvard University, an MSc in neuroscience from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today she serves as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a faculty co-director of the Penn-Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative<\/a> and Wharton People Analytics<\/a>. She also runs the Character Lab<\/a>, a nonprofit devoted to helping children thrive using scientific research and insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with Angela Duckworth:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n