This week, I assigned my freshmen Angela Duckworth's TED Talk on grit. This morning, as I got ready to teach, I took the grit test in her book and discovered what I usually do. According to the test, I'm much less gritty than I thought. As a matter of fact, 70% of test takers are grittier than I am.
This bugged me a bit, and also seemed at odds with what I believe to be true about me. Trust me, there are plenty of low scores I'd accept without argument. Athletic ability. Advanced mathematical concepts. Theoretical physics.
But grit? Duckworth defines it as passion + perseverance, both things I think I have at least an average amount of.
So, I went back and looked at the items where I'd rated myself low, and all of them had to do with sticking to one stated purpose. No deviation. Pushing forward to meet that goal no matter what.
And that's not me.
I set goals, and I reach them. But I also value new roads and directions that open up along the way. Sometimes I take them, sometimes I don't but, when I do, I'm usually glad I did. The other day, for example, I was grading papers when a friend I haven't spoken with in ages called me. I dropped everything and settled in for a chat.
Gritty? No. But I haven't a tinge of regret.
All of this got me thinking about the relationship between creativity and grit. As it turned out, I was on to something.
Creativity and grit often don't go together. There's a level of openness necessary to creative pursuits that can make grit counterproductive. Sure, it's important to put in the time, to sit down and just do it, but what we end up doing might not be what we thought we were going to do when we sat down.
And that's not always a bad thing. It can lead a character down a new path, break us out of a creative rut, or lead to a whole new piece of writing, artwork or music.
I have tremendous respect for Angela Duckworth's work, and I certainly think there are aspects of grit that are key to success.
But, as is so often the case, it's complicated.
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