Generational Grit: Who Has It and Who Doesn’t?

In her podcast, No Stupid Questions, one of my favorite podcasts, Angela Duckworth, discusses generational grit. She developed a rubric to measure grit, as described in her 2018 book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In this podcast episode, she tells us what happens when she layers generational data on the rubric. Data reveals that younger people are less gritty than older people, which is the opposite of her expected outcome. According to Duckworth, younger people are “trying things on,” and in an “exploration period” of their lives. High school students, for example, try out for many things and quit many things as they explore. Independent schools with a no-cut policy for extra-curricular activities embrace this exploration phase in human development.

Quite a bit older than a high school student and having started a business a few years ago, I was thinking about my own grittiness. How do I deal with things that are challenging and stressful? I decided to take a closer look at a recent experience while visiting a client school:

I rent a lot of cars, and I’ve crafted a system to cut my learning curve. The 2-part system: 1) rent a Chevrolet, 2) rent from a company that stocks a lot of Chevrolet cars. I know how Chevys work. My phone pairs with them perfectly, and I can be out of the parking lot and on my way in minutes.

I recently flew into a small regional airport. The airport was too small to allow rental car customers to choose their car. The attendant returned with a set of keys and said, “Good news, we have a BMW for you.” I sighed. And not in a good way.

On the first day with the BMW, it took me 15 minutes to get the car going (flashlight and Google were involved), and another 10 minutes at the school to attempt to put the car in Park, then to Google how to put it in Park.

On the second day with the BMW, I could not determine if the lights were on at twilight. I pulled over to figure it out but realized I could not put the car in Park without turning off the car, thereby extinguishing the lights. I cursed the car. I forged ahead, assuming BMW had built something into the vehicle to ensure they were on.

On the third day with the BMW, I hit a bird. It flew into the hood, bounced into the windshield, and then onto the road. I screamed, swerved, pulled over to clean up the mess on the windshield, and cursed the car.

Was this grit? I suppose so since I didn’t give up. Did the car irritation keep me from doing my job with my client, from being present, engaged, and efficient? No, it made me dread the commute, but it also gave me a bunch of ongoing material for jokes with my colleagues at school during my week with them. What about kids, I wondered? How do they deal with persistent, mid-level stress? The kind that is not related to work but sits at the perimeter of their life, complicating it in unexpected ways. According to Duckworth, they are less gritty and less able to move through difficult situations.

Take the cafeteria, for example. How many of us can remember stress and anxiety related to a cafeteria experience at school? We can’t eliminate stress for kids. But we can offer guidance, which is what counselors do. I sat in on a middle school Wellness class during a school visit. The counselor (a rock star, by the way) taught a lesson on navigating the cafeteria and the coding system the food service provider uses so that kids can make intelligent choices in their food and learn to plan ahead. They watched a video, investigated the online monthly menu, and then went to the cafeteria to re-think all they knew about the cafeteria food, the food stations, and ways to cut through the noise and chaos in choosing food. Brilliant.

So, if research shows kids are less gritty and need more latitude to approach difficult situations, how does this affect school dynamics? I read Phyllis L. Fagell’s new book, Middle School Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times. She outlines 12 superpowers that adults can recognize and encourage in middle school kids—more brilliance. Parents, grandparents, educators, and anyone who cares about kids should read this book. It’s a new generation and a new world, and we owe it to kids to help them develop their superpowers, or as Angela Duckworth describes it, grit.

The author, Jill Goodman, is a consultant working with independent school leaders to advance their school’s mission, enhance their processes, and bolster their skills. Learn more about all services here.