This isn't a review rather my reading notes and thoughts that arouse when I read this. Overall it's an enlightening and easy read and gives us (the readers) loads of methods and tools e.g. Grit score Matrix to help us improve on the subject area.
In the cases were people who score handsomely in SAT can be less gritty. How can this happen? What happens to their grittiness when they are prepare for the SAT ? Could it be that they didn't prepare with Interest and Purpose?
Angela quotes Harvard psychologist William James "The plain fact remains that men the world over possess amounts of resource which only very exceptional individuals push to their extremes of use". Very very true and the fact that he has proclaimed it in 1907 is amazing and makes one wonder how much of research and findings would have been available then.
Looks like Enron had the Talent mindset not only during recruitment but also during the annual performance reviews. I think this should be ready by entrepreneurs, HR Executives and recruiters for sure.
I attended Angela's Book tour speech at the Rotman School, Toronto and she played this video that she also talks about in the book. I've watched more than 10 times since then.
When talking about goals the "goal hierarchy" thing was new to me that you define and elaborate your goals into top goal and mid and low level or subsequent levels to derive micro goals that lead collectively to the accomplishment of the Top goal.
Flynn effect is the first scientific anecdote that I read about "how these kids are getting smarter than us?" puzzle and the social multiplier effect is good too. I hope that the growing awareness among Indian's on health, diet and fitness will become widely adopted and we will see healthier communities with this social multiplier effect in play.
Also the maturity principle shows that there is some science behind why do we become more responsible as we get older.Novelist John Irving`s quote that ``the capacity to work that diligently doesn`t come overnight; to do anything really well, you have to overextend yourself`` reminded me of the quote or the verse that my grandpa referred innumerable times `the heights by great men were not reached and kept by a sudden flight``
I consider the following lines as the most important in the book : `Like Calculus and piano, you can learn the psychology of grit o your own, but a little guidance can be a tremendous help.; The four psychological assets òf interest, practice, purpose and hope are not You have it or you don`t commodities`` I am extremely convinced of what I am doing as work and what I have set as a related career goal from asking myself the question of `Do you love what you do?`question.
I have learned about Kaizen while learning about typical process improvement frameworks and methodologies. But I realize after reading Angela`s referral to it that only and the only thing that makes me explore externally on the career side is to pursue `Kaizen`and in her words ``to challenge the plateau of arrested development``
Rowdy Gaines story is very inspiring and reiterates the 10,000 hour rule of practice to attain greatness. Having read Charles Duhigg`s ``Smarter Faster, Better`` the theory of deliberate practice seems Deja Vu but work reminding the key aspects of it.
1) Stretch goal (very specific)
2) concentrated, focussed effort towards the goal
3) immediate and critical feedback
4) repeat, reflect and refine
The hope mindset and the 3-step sequential process to get better at it is quite an eye opener and they are:
1) Growth mindset
2) Optimistic self-talk
3) perseverance over adversity
My god, I surfed a little about Francesca Marinez, my god what an extraordinary human being. Here`s a quick stand up comedy clip from her, such an amazing talent she is. I just added her book to my reading list.
I came across several new adjectives in this book :) and these ones caught my attention as they are used on special noun ``Parents`` :) I am really thriving to become `follow-your-dreams` parent and trying in vain to become a hippy-dippy parent :)
It`s great that Angela has dealt with quite a bit of parenting stuff and its quite enlightening to know about parenting styles - permissive, neglectful, authoritarian and wise. Ofcourse she recommends wise parenting which is all about striking a balance between `being so demanding` but at the same time being super-supportive. I am certainly going to get my daughter assess our parenting style using Dr Nancy Darling`s parenting checklist.
It is reassuring to read that concerted cultivation or exposing kids to variety of extra-curricular activities make them fare better on every other conceivable metric.
I am going to try and implement the hard thing rule (atleast make an effort to do)
1) parents had to pursue a hard thing(could be career related)
2) You can only quit at a natural stopping point not abruptly or due to other excuses
3) ``hard thing`` is picked or chosen by oneself, including kids
Joseph Brodsky`s (Nobel winning Russian-American poet) asked his university graduate students to memorize Russian poems making students and ``really get into`` the Russian culture. When I read that, I drew parallels to the fact that my grandpa wanted me to learn Sanskrit and made me memorize score of Sanskrit verses.
I am also trying to advocate the Seahawks chant on `No whining, No complaining, No excuses`` at home for sure, but will I be able to do this at work?
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