IQ is not a valid indicator of success
Angela Lee Duckworth, as an elementary school teacher, quickly realized that IQ is not the only thing that differentiates successful students from those who struggle. Her most gifted students did not necessarily have the best IQ and vice versa. She realizes that it is necessary to understand the success of these young people by taking into consideration their degree of motivation, regardless of their social background, financial situation, etc. In the field of education, what we measure best is a person's IQ, without taking into consideration what they experience on a daily basis, outside the educational model.
Who is successful and why?
After her stint in education, Angela Lee Duckworth began studying psychology where she took a closer look at the question: who is successful and why? She and her research team looked more broadly at certain groups: students from different demographics, military trainers, and business professionals, to find out who would perform better and why. She soon realized that what made some people stand out had nothing to do with IQ, talent or any other trait we might naturally think of. The differentiator was motivation and perseverance. Yes, perseverance with a capital "P".
The most successful people work excessively hard, have long-term goals, can fully imagine their future, will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
For Angela Lee Duckworth, the most successful people see life as a marathon towards their goals, not a sprint.
We may tend to believe that an individual's success is tied to certain demographics, family situation, income level, or any other characteristic that may influence how they learn. However, this study reveals that these aspects hardly contribute to an individual's success. This is all the more surprising since there are few scientific studies that have analyzed motivation and perseverance as the differentiating factor for success. It is also a blow to those who think that innate ability is more important than anything else.
The brain is a muscle... that needs to be exercised
Angela Lee Duckworth's approach is supported by the work of Carol Dweck, a few years earlier, which points in the same direction: the ability to learn is like a muscle, it can be modified. In this case, it is by having the conviction that failure is not a permanent condition that one can claim to succeed.
Encouraging the process rather than the solution
Dweck developed his research in a Chicago high school where students did not receive a failing grade as an outcome of an exam, but rather a "Not yet" notation. Thus, instead of failure being perceived as a definite state, it was transformed into an encouragement to persevere. During her career, Dewck also conducted a study in which she gave 10-year-old children a mathematical problem that was too difficult for them to perform. She noticed two distinct behaviors: those who exclaimed "I love challenges!" and those who perceived it as a catastrophic event.
The more enthusiastic ones quickly realized that they had the opportunity to learn, to excel, and to become better. If the teacher sees that the students are really stuck, he or she can distill selected cues to boost their interest and perseverance. The others, who see the complex problem as an insurmountable test, develop strategies to get around it (tend to cheat or look for a student less good than them). In other words, they seek to escape when a difficulty arises. This also results in very low brain activity, whereas those who persevere generate very high brain activity.
Carol Dweck also brings an interesting point of view to the evaluation of performance: we too often tend to reward the immediate solution (which she calls the now) rather than the improvement, the efforts towards the solution or the quality of the strategy (which she calls the yet). Her studies show that rewarding the process rather than the solution is what creates greater commitment, increased motivation and perseverance over a longer period of time when candidates are faced with a more complex problem to solve.
Role of the coach
In concrete terms, it is up to the teacher, parent or mentor to avoid flattering ("You're smart to have passed this exam"), and instead to encourage ("You must have worked hard to get there"). This is also what allows us to put into perspective the innate, "naturally" brightness of some people. However, this kind of approach does not support the person facing a problem: if the person does not succeed, it is because their innate intelligence does not allow them to solve it. So what's the point in continuing? This also explains why many teachers in Quebec primary (and even secondary) schools apply this method and give points for good reasoning, even if the final result is wrong.
Adopt the right mindset to give yourself the best chance
We must be willing to fail and try more than once if we really want to achieve our goals. When you put your brain in a position of sustained learning over the long term and reward the process as much as the solution, the results are impressive in every case studied!
Duckworth and Dweck are unanimous: it is perseverance that leads to success. How can we apply this to our everyday adult lives? By encouraging effort in our employees, but also by changing our mindset about our own failures, that would already be a great start.
To go further :
Creativity: putting ideation at the service of the organization
