Grit! Part 3

Emphasize effort rather than talent, says Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck.

After children were asked to perform a simple task, some were told, “You’re a natural”  while others were told, “You worked hard.”  When they were asked to do a harder task, the first group, which Dweck labeled as having a fixed mind-set, did poorly, and the majority did not even want to try.

The second group, who had a growth mind-set, believed if they worked hard, their abilities would grow, which was indeed what happened.

Berkeley professor Jennifer Chatman studied Fortune 1000 employees. Those in fixed-mind-set businesses agreed with statements like “When it comes to being successful, this company seems to believe that people have a certain amount of talent, and they really can’t do much to change it.”

Since these companies only value star performers and ignore the rest, respondents admitted to “keeping secrets, cutting corners, and cheating to get ahead.”

However, in growth-mind-set businesses, “employees were 47 percent more likely to say their colleagues were trustworthy, 49 percent more likely to say their company fosters innovation, and 65 percent more likely to say their company supports risk-taking.”

In the last two weeks, we have seen how grit (a combination of passion, perseverance, tenacity and hope) became the determining factor of success.

Companies with a growth mind-set are also grittier, says Angela Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania psychologist.  So how do we encourage a growth mind-set in the family business?

Be aware of the discrepancy between what you say and what you do.

In her book “Grit,” Duckworth gives examples.  Instead of saying “Nagmana ka sa tatay!  Matalino rin siya (You take after your father, he is also intelligent),”  say “You worked so hard!  You should be proud.”

Instead of “This is hard, only the smart ones can do it, so don’t feel too bad,” say “This is hard, so don’t feel too bad if you can’t do it yet.”

Instead of “You are not good here, so do other things instead,” say “We have high standards but let us reach our goal together.”

Elders in family businesses decry the young generation are spoiled, entitled and fragile. But grit is best developed in childhood, when children are raised by sensible parents.

“Growing up with support, respect, and high standards confers a lot of benefits,” says Duckworth.  “Wise parenting encourages children to emulate their parents.”

How gritty are you?  On a scale of 1 (Very much like me) to 5 (Not at all like me), reply honestly to some questions from Duckworth’s Grit Scale:

• New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.
• Setbacks don’t discourage me. I don’t give up easily.
• I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.
• I am diligent. I never give up.

Grittier people are seldom distracted. They almost never give up, especially during rough times, but they may change how they approach the problem, based on feedback.

In the early days of Microsoft, Bill Gates gave applicants a programming task that he knew would require many hours to complete. The task was not an intelligence nor computer skills test, but Gates wanted to hire only those who completed it.

Fired from Citibank at age 33, Jamie Dimon took one year to reflect.  He later led Morgan Chase for more than 10 years, and while Citibank had to be bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis, JP Morgan managed to earn $5 billion.

“Failures are going to happen, and how you deal with them may be the most important thing in whether you succeed. You need fierce resolve. You need to take responsibility. You call it grit. I call it fortitude,” Dimon told Duckworth.

“Grit” by Angela Duckworth is available in National Bookstore.

Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the board of directors of Ateneo de Manila University’s Family Business Development Center. Get her book “Successful Family Businesses” at the University Press (e-mail [email protected]). E-mail the author at [email protected].