Grit, Resiliency, and Motivation

Introduction

Grit and resiliency—these are two competencies that work hand-in-hand.  Grit is “stick-to-it-tiveness,” or the ability to persevere toward a goal despite being confronted by obstacles and distractions.  Those who possess grit are able to self-regulate and postpone their need for positive reinforcement while working diligently on a task.  Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from setbacks or difficulties.  Although employers may or may not articulate the need for grit and resilience, they value the results in workers who persist, produce, take initiative, and don’t give up.  More importantly, these competencies are valuable life skills, as they enable you to develop other competencies; they could be characterized as meta-competencies.

Grit

Angela Duckworth has been researching the characteristic and practice of grit with interesting results.  The following video reviews her findings.

This video offers Angela Duckworth herself, telling the back story of her research into the characteristic of grit.

Assess your own level of grit with Duckworth’s Grit Scale.

Then read the short article, 4 Signs You Have Grit.

Consider the outcome of the grit scale and the information in the article. Which of the four signs do you think apply to you?

Resilience

How resilient are you? Use this Mindtools quiz to assess your own resilience. 

Then read the short article, “Developing Resilience: Overcoming and Growing from Setbacks”

Consider the outcome of the self-assessment and the information in the article. How resilient are you?

Internal and External Motivation

The qualities of grit and resilience relate to motivation, which can be internal or external.  Read the short article “Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference?” and view the following video for definitions of internal and external motivation.

Consider what motivates you at school and work, and whether those motivations contribute to grit and resilience.

(You may want to ask yourself some of the questions on the Academic Motivation Scale, an instrument that was developed in the early 1990s in France and validated in different cultures and with different groups in many, many studies worldwide.  Note that the formatting is a bit “off” in this version, but you’ll get the idea of the kinds of questions that indicate internal and external motivation.)

initial Learning activity

A competency called “reframing,” or considering an experience from a different, more positive perspective, is related to grit, resilience, and motivation, as well as to a growth mindset.

Read the article “A Practical Guide to Reframing Your Thoughts and Making Yourself Happier”

Write a brief essay using the following scenario:

You are a project manager for a fundraiser for a non-profit organization.  The venue calls to confirm logistics for the event. During the conversation, you discover that you have been using last year’s menu to plan the meals.  The prices for the food items have increased and not all of the items you selected are still available. As a result, if the venue follows the current order, you will be over budget and there will be a number of attendees who will not have the food accommodations they have selected. The venue says that there is still time to adjust the order, but that any changes need to be received by the end of the day.  Otherwise, the order will be prepared using this year’s menu, with the venue’s discretion at substituting items, and you will be charged the new rates for what has been ordered.

At the same time that you’re dealing with the venue about food, your monthly program report on the fundraiser progress is due.  You receive an email reminder from your director to that effect; the email also states that she needs the projected fundraiser costs for a meeting the next morning. How do you balance working with the venue and completing the report?

Apply what you have learned about grit, resilience, motivation, and reframing to identify at least 3-4 possible actions you can take to resolve both the challenge with the venue and with your director’s request.

Submit: your evaluation in a short (4-5 page) essay, making sure to reference reasons for the possible actions in terms of the competencies of grit, resilience, understanding motivation, and reframing.

in-depth learning activity

Read the article “Student Grit as an Important Ingredient for Academic and Personal Success,” from the journal Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning.

One of the ways the authors assert that student learning can be enhanced, and the competency of grit fostered, is through project-based learning.  View the following video, which introduces problem-based learning: Five Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning

Do additional research as needed into the concept and practices of problem-based learning so that you have a good sense of what it entails.

Then identify a real problem that you are encountering at work, school, or in your community.  Engage in the thinking to design a project-based learning activity to address this problem.  In your design, make sure to address the following questions:

  • What is your problem, and what question results from that problem, a question that you will research through problem-based learning?
  • How can you create an academically rigorous learning experience?  What resources will you need to access, and what processes will you need to engage in?
  • With whom will you need to collaborate in order to work through this project?  What roles can you envision for a collaborative team?
  • How can you assess results – are there checkpoints along the way, and how will you assess final results?

Submit two items together:

  1. A written piece showing the thinking behind a potential problem-based learning activity, including any research and resources you accessed
  2. A written assessment of your own approach and actions as you engaged in thinking about the design of a problem-based learning activity.  What motivated you to engage with this particular problem?  What obstacles did you encounter in completing this learning activity, if you experienced obstacles?  What did you do to overcome them?  How did you – or how might you have – approached these obstacles from a different perspective? Assess your experience and actions in terms of grit, resilience, motivation, and reframing.

Related college Learning Goals

Active Learning: Assess and build upon previous learning and experiences to pursue new learning, independently and in collaboration with others.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Evaluate, analyze, synthesize and critique key concepts and experiences, and apply diverse perspectives to find creative solutions to problems concerning human behavior, society and the natural world.

 

For more information, see the College Learning Goals Policy.