An excellent, thought provoking book which is the culmination of a career's worth of research by psychologist, Professor Angela Duckworth, on the true qualities that lead to outstanding achievement in life.

The book compelling argues that people who align their careers, goals and lives with an ultimate 'organizing' purpose or life philosophy which is 'other person' oriented develop the resilience to keep going in the face of set backs and failures. When such purpose is combined with interest (i.e. passion for what they do), practice (which is persistent and meaningful) and hope (i.e. that we can influence our circumstances for the better), this provides a powerful combination to achieving success. This has been backed up in numerous major research studies around the world.

The good news is that none of these four psychological assets are fixed but rather we can grow them from the 'inside out' to develop grit.

However, such growth is most conducive when we are part of a team, organisation or family which shares such psychological assets. As Duckworth writes, 'whether we realise it or not, the culture in which we live, and with which we identify, powerfully shapes just about every aspect of our being. . . . At its core, a culture is defined by the shared norms and values of a group of people. In other words, a distinct culture exists anytime a group of people are in consensus about how we do things around here and why. As for how the rest of the world operates, the sharper the contrast, the stronger the bonds'.

Purpose is also intrinsically bound up with identity as identity provides the foundation for purpose. Knowing who we are as people (i.e. our identity) gives us the basis to find our ultimate or 'organizing' purpose in life. As Duckworth writes, 'Identity influences every aspect of our character, but it has special relevant to grit. Often the critical gritty-or-not decisions we make - to get up one more time; to stick it out through this miserable, exhausting summer; to run five miles with our teammates when on our own we might only run three - are a matter of identity more than anything else. Often our passion and perserverance do not spring from a cold, calculating analysis of the costs and benefits of alternatives. Rather, the source of strength is the person we know ourselves to be.'