Angela Duckworth at West Point: Why Grit Outperformed Talent in the Real World

When Angela Duckworth began studying cadets at West Point, she was not trying to overthrow talent. She was trying to understand why it kept failing. West Point is designed to filter for the best. High test scores. Athletic performance. Leadership credentials. On paper, everyone there is exceptional. And yet, every year, a significant number of cadets quit—especially during the brutally demanding first summer, known as Beast Barracks. This puzzled Duckworth. If talent, intelligence, and preparation were enough, attrition should have been predictable. It wasn’t. Some of the most promising candidates dropped out early. Others, with unremarkable résumés, endured. Something else was at work. The Question Talent Couldn’t Answer Duckworth had already spent years as a teacher and consultant before entering…