Chapter 2 Distracted by Talent

Grit Answers

Chapter 2 – Distracted by Talent

1. Why did Duckworth leave her job at McKinsey to become a teacher?

She always felt that teaching was her true vocation.

2. How wealthy were the students in her school?

Her students came from lower socio-economic households because they lived in public housing projects.

3. What did she discover about talent among her students?

Talent did not determine how well her students did in her class.

4. What does Duckworth mean by “the naturals” in the third paragraph of page 17?

The naturals were the students who had innate math ability.

5. How were Duckworth’s New York students different from her Lowell students? Which group seemed to work harder?

The students at Lowell were very successful academically. They seemed to work much harder than the students at her old school in New York. 6. How did David do at first in the accelerated math course? How did he do on the Advanced Placement test?

At first, it was difficult for David, but he worked hard. He got a perfect score on his AP calculus test.

7. What did Charles Darwin think was more important for success: talent or hard work and enthusiasm?

Darwin thought hard work and enthusiasm were more important for success than talent.

8. What do Americans say and what do they actually believe about effort and talent?

They say effort is more important for success, but they actually believe talent is more important.

9. What is the basic argument in the book The War for Talent? Does the experience of companies like Enron support the report’s thesis?

The basic argument in the book is that companies will be strong if they have very talented employees. The experience of Enron’s bankruptcy is evidence that The War for Talent’s thesis about talented employees is wrong.

10. According to Duckworth, what is the danger in focusing on talent?

It makes people forget that other things are important for success such as grit.

Chapter 3 – Effort Counts Twice 1. What does the phrase “the mundanity of excellence” mean?

It means that great things people have done are the result of many ordinary actions.

2. Why do we want to think experts like Olympic swimmers are talented rather than think they became experts through a combination of talent and hard work? In other words, why do we “prefer mystery to mundanity”?

We prefer it because it excuses us for when we are not experts at something. If we think it is natural talent that makes someone excel, then when we don’t excel, we don’t feel bad about it.

3. Who inspired Duckworth to develop a theory of achievement? In Duckworth’s theory of achievement what matters most?

Marty Seligman, Duckworth’s academic advisor in graduate school, inspired her to develop her theory. Effort is what matters most in her theory of achievement.

4. How does John Irving illustrate Duckworth’s theory of achievement?

Irving overcame his dyslexia through effort to become a successful writer.

5. What was the Treadmill Test? What did the results of the test show?

It was a test developed in 1940 at Harvard in which the participants (men at age 20) were asked to run on a treadmill for five minutes even though it was set up to be very hard to run for five minutes. The researchers timed how long the participants lasted on the treadmill and compared that with their career success and a variety of other things. It turns out that the longer one stayed on the treadmill, the more psychologically adjusted one was later in life.

6. Does George Valliant think he is gritty? Do his actions show that he can be gritty in some areas of his life?

Valliant seems think he is not gritty, but he showed grit in that he stayed with the Treadmill study for a long time and that he practiced doing pull-ups for a long time.

7. What is the suggestion Duckworth has for improving the Treadmill Test?

She would allow the participants, if they wanted, to come back to increase their time on the treadmill. Then, she would measure their grit based on how many times they came back.