Angela Duckworth: Grit: Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success

Duckworth’s hypothesis that the real guarantor of success may not be inborn talent but a special blend of resilience and single-mindedness grew out of her upbringing: as a child her scientist father lovingly bemoaned the fact his daughter was ‘no genius’. Duckworth was determined to prove him wrong and spent her youth smashing through every academic barrier. As an adult she became focused on proving her theory and to find out if grit can be learned or cultivated. It was out of this that she created her own Character Lab at the University of Pennsylvania