Reviewing (sort of) Angela Duckworth’s New Book – Situated (hint: it rocked)

I recently finished reading Angela Duckworth’s new book – Situated – a follow up to her best seller – Grit. 

Full disclosure, I loved Grit.  I loved everything about it – personally and professionally.  First, because the entire mantra of the book fits who I am.  In our family, we say – Haller’s grind – in a good and bad way.  In a good way, we work, we overachieve, we stay at it and persist.  In a bad way – we over do almost everything.  We even have a verb in our family – Hallerizing – overdoing something.  Think about tightening a screw.  Have you every over tightened one so much you strip the socket or screw one in so much it cannot be undone?  That’s us – that’s Hallerizing.  Guilty as charged. 

Also, full disclosure, I have gotten better over the years.  Sortof.

After reading Grit, I was so energized, I worked to incorporate components of it into our admission process at UM.  I asked myself and our team, “how can we craft a supplemental essay that allows us to identify those hard working, overachieving, difference-making students we may otherwise miss via high school GPA or curriculum, recommendation letters, or, from my perspective, the bluntest instrument – standardized test scores?”

Listening to Angela Duckworth interviewed via two podcasts, I was excited to read Situated.  It did not disappoint.  It sooo complemented Grit.  It gave context to grit.  It took on grit from a broader perspective – meaning there are times when gritting it out is not the most productive course of action.  Sometimes, just working harder or staying after something is not the best solution.  While I have come to realize this, it was refreshing to read that Angela Duckworth came to the same conclusion. 

For example, within my own professional experience, as I reflect on my UM experience, it was time for me to move on.  We had accomplished a great deal for the institution.  Without citing metrics, we had probably advanced the ball beyond the caliber of the place.  We were building infrastructure to advance the institution even further that was incredibly threatening to cultural norms.  Not a recipe for longevity. Time to find a different situation and take on new challenges so too the institution could take a different direction – whatever that ends up being.  Consulting has been an immediate scratch of the itch – working to help institutions achieve success by advancing their missions while becoming more sustainable.  Connecting dots, finding synergies, and improving practices they struggle with on their own.        

As another example of Situated brought to life, my daughter entered college ready to set the world on fire.  She was a high achieving high school student and a standout student-athlete.  At the institution where she initially enrolled, after a year, she found her interests were broader than the institution allowed her to pursue.  As a parent, and a Haller, my initial instinct was – grit it out kiddo – don’t give up or change – just work harder.  Thankfully, she has a lot of her mom in her, so she changed her situation.  She continued to be a student-athlete but decided to pursue broader academic interests – choosing to major and minor.  She joined a Greek organization, took on leadership positions, and became a tour guide.  Changing her situation rather than just trying to grind it out made for a more positive and well-rounded college experience. 

Circling back to Situated, Angela Duckworth writes about all of this.  What I loved most was her situational model – one that talks about how you can influence your situation via your Space, Peers, Mentors, and Culture.  Specifically, within the section on “Picking Your Peers”, I loved…disclaimer first – sorry.  If you surround yourself with toxic individuals – what do you expect will happen?  However, if you believe in doing things for the reason of helping other people succeed or achieve their dreams – you should surround yourself with those types as opposed to “it’s all about me” types.  This also applies to parenting – working to position our kids to help them find their “sweet spot” by creating situations “where they can achieve their best.”  Influencing your situation via the model she documents gives you a higher likelihood of success and happiness while you grit and work hard to achieve. 

So, while grinding and working hard is a critical component to success, so too is ensuring you are putting yourself in situations that allow for greater opportunities of success.  Thank you, Angela Duckworth, for providing context to Grit.  Clearly trying to push a boulder uphill is not always a recipe for positive outcomes.