Is Grit by Angela Duckworth worth reading?
Worth reading, as long as you read it with the critiques in mind. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (2016) makes an encouraging, well-told case that sustained effort towards long-term goals matters a great deal. But researchers have questioned how much grit predicts success and how different it really is from conscientiousness, so treat it as an inspiring argument rather than settled science.
Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.
Grit arrived in May 2016 from Scribner and became one of those books that everyone seemed to be quoting at once: in schools, offices and sports clubs. It is an easy book to like. It is also a book that has been argued over, and knowing both sides makes it more useful.
What the book argues
Angela Duckworth defines grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. Her claim is that grit is common among the top performers she studied, that it is unrelated to IQ, and that it is closely related to conscientiousness, as Wikipedia summarises. She is especially interested in how adolescents can develop it.
In plain words: the people who get somewhere are often not the most naturally gifted, but the ones who keep going at the same thing for a long time, out of real interest. Talent counts, but effort counts more, and both can be cultivated.
The book mixes stories of people who have stuck at difficult things with Duckworth's research, including her own measure, the Grit Scale.
Why people love it
- It is hopeful. If effort and interest matter more than innate talent, more of the outcome is in your hands.
- It is readable. Clear prose and plenty of human stories.
- It is useful for parents, teachers and coaches, who spend their lives trying to help other people keep going through the hard middle of things.
The critiques worth knowing
This is where a careful reader earns their keep.
- How much does grit predict? A 2017 meta-analysis by Credé, Tynan and Harms found grit only moderately correlated with performance and retention, the same Wikipedia article reports.
- Is it really new? The same analysis argued that grit had not been clearly distinguished from older personality traits such as conscientiousness, persistence and industriousness.
- Measurement. In 2021 Duckworth acknowledged she had misinterpreted some of the psychometric properties of her Grit Scale, an admission that is to her credit but worth knowing.
- Context. Some critics argue that focusing on individual grit can distract from the social and economic conditions people need in order to use it. Duckworth has responded that both individual grit and structural barriers matter.
None of this makes the book worthless. It does mean that the strongest claims you may hear in its name, that grit is the secret ingredient of success, go further than the evidence.
How to read it well
Read it as encouragement, not as a formula. The useful core is simple: find something you care about, practise it deliberately, and expect a long, uneven middle. That is good advice in sport, cooking, music or work. Where the book overreaches, apply the same judgement you would to any confident self-help argument.
It also pairs well with books that pull in a different direction. David Epstein's Range makes the case for sampling widely before committing; see what Range argues. And our mindset page on knowing when to quit is a useful counterweight to the idea that sticking at things is always the right answer.
FAQ
Is grit the same as a growth mindset?
No. They are often mentioned together, but grit is about sustained passion and perseverance, while Carol Dweck's book is about how we think about ability itself. See what Dweck's Mindset actually says.
Can you become grittier?
The book is written in the belief that grit can be built, especially in young people. How much it really changes, and how much that matters, is part of the research debate described above.
What does grit look like in everyday life?
Usually something small and unglamorous: turning up on the days you don't feel like it. Our page on what grit means day to day keeps it practical.
Is it a good book for teenagers?
It can be, especially alongside a conversation about its limits. It was written with young people's development very much in mind.
Sources
Written by the Zestasy editors. General information for curious adults, not medical, nutrition or training advice.