True Grit

This is Mr. Weber's assembly address with students on March 5, 2012.

Let's begin by taking this simple little test. Check the one that seems to most apply to you. Be honest with yourself; there are no right or wrong answers.




1.Setbacks don’t discourage me.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

2.I am a hard worker.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

3. I finish whatever I begin.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

4. I am diligent (attentive and persistent in doing something).

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all
-------
5. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

6. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

7. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

8. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.

•Very much like me
•Mostly like me
•Somewhat like me
•Not much like me
•Not like me at all

(Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., & Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 1087-1101.)

This simple little test is called a “grit” test. They gave it to over 1200 West Point cadets, incoming freshmen, to see if it could help the Army predict who might succeed, and who might wash out of their summer training program. The U.S. spends a lot of money on training its soldiers, and tests potential recruits rather rigorously to see who is worth investing in. It turns out this simple test, completed in 3-4 minutes, is much more highly predictive of success than anything the Army had developed up until that point.

Why? Because the army will tell you—and not just the army but coaches, employers, businessmen—that grit is a more important predictor of long term success than even talent. There are a lot of talented people, people with high ACT averages for example, who wash out of college because they don’t have the drive, the perseverance, the “want to” to succeed. There are basketball players playing pick-up games on the streets of New York who have more natural talent than players in the NBA, but never had the grit to do well enough in high school to go to college and develop their game. There are many unemployed geniuses.

So let’s see where you stand:

For questions 1-4, assign the following points:

5 = Very much like me
4 = Mostly like me
3 = Some what like me
2 = Not much like me
1 = Not like me at all

For questions 5-8, assign the following points:

1 = Very much like me
2 = Mostly like me
3 = Some what like me
4 = Not much like me
5 = Not like me at all

Add your points and divide by 8. If you have a 4-5 average, you are very gritty. If you have a 1-2 average, you need to challenge yourself to become more gritty!

The good news is grittiness is something we can get better at, something we can control. Talent is God-given in large measure, but grit is a matter of perseverance, of drive, of the willingness to fail and having the guts to keep plugging. It’s a matter of heart.

If you were at our girls’ basketball game this Friday, you’d have noticed that on certain defensive rotations, Demisha Porter, all five foot nothing of her, was having to defend the post against Christina Slay, who is 6’ tall, Ensworth’s best player and one of three state finalists for Miss Basketball. Demisha battled, pushed, fronted her, cleared her out with her much smaller frame. She was “scrappy.” Yes, we lost the game, but Slay was held to just 6 points the entire game, her lowest output of the season.

My wife has a student in Geometry she really admires. Geometry is hard for him, and he often does poorly on tests. But he comes to every tutorial, sometimes before and after school on the same day. He always does his homework. He doesn’t let poor grades get him down—in fact, they seem to inspire him to work harder. She is convinced he will be a success because he has the drive, the grit to succeed.

Thomas Edison was one of our nation's greatest inventors, and still holds the United States record with 1093 patents. Contrary to myth, he didn’t invent the light bulb. But he did design a light bulb that gave off enough light to be useful, didn’t burn out very quickly, wasn’t prohibitively expensive, and therefore was practical for common use. To do that, he did over 1000 experiments, trying to find the right combination of materials, failing repeatedly. When he was asked about it, he said famously, “ I have not failed 1000 times. I have successfully discovered 1000 ways how NOT to make a light bulb, and I am that much closer to the solution. "

You may remember at the beginning of this year, I told you the story of the little boy in my neighborhood who was learning how to ride a bike and kept crashing. But he kept getting up each time, until after about the 15th crash, he was able to wobble down the street on this own. I said to you then that I hoped you would “fail often” this year, but have the drive, the guts, to get back up. If you are doing that, it’s a sign that you’re really pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, that you’re expanding yourself, pushing past limits. It’s a sign of grit.

A couple of weeks after we get back from Break, I am declaring a “failure week” at JPII, in which all of us celebrate our biggest flops, our biggest failures. Yes, that’s right--I want to celebrate failure. I’m going to encourage House Masters and House leadership to find ways to do this by telling stories about failures with each other. No, that week is NOT going to be an excuse to TRY to fail. You can’t say: "Well, Mom, Mr. Weber said it was failure week, so I thought I’d do my part by getting an F on the test." But it will be a week that says, you know what? Failing is OK from time to time if it indicates that we're pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone, if it inspires us to get after it, if it helps us grow. So be thinking of ways we might be able to celebrate that.

Eating Last

A Lenten Reflection

Bill was a good kid from a fine family, but he was not terribly interested in working hard in high school. During my traditional “roast” of our seniors at his graduation, I said that " he had making C’s down to a science, except for the time he miscalculated in one class, worked too hard and made a B." He was an affable, likable young man, but slouched a bit, indicative of his disposition, and would rarely look you in the eye. I worried that his college career would be “one and done.”

But Bill chose a different path. He joined the Marine Corps.

I lost touch and didn’t see him again until our school hosted a career day four years later. When he walked into my office, I almost didn’t recognize him. He was crisply dressed in formal Marine attire, a dark navy jacket with red trim, white gloves and hat. He stood upright, the slouch gone, looked me dead in the eye, shook my hand firmly and said “Sir, it’s good to see you again.” I learned he had served two tours in Iraq, where he had received numerous commendations. He was confident, happy, and future oriented. Soon he would be leaving the Corps to join the city fire department, and he was engaged to his high school sweetheart, a lovely young lady that I once thought deserved better.

Whether we’re hawks or doves, we can all admire the Marine Corps for the remarkable job it does transforming the 18 and 19 year old “Bill’s” of this world into young men. Recently, I came upon an interview of a Marine colonel, who was asked if he could describe the secret of their success in this regard. The colonel smiled, and in the wonderful brevity that marks many of our service men, said “ Officers eat last. “

Officers eat last in the mess halls; the enlisted eat first. The symbolism of that is not lost on the men. Deep within the ethos of the Marine Corps is the principle of servant leadership: that the men matter more than the officers. The colonel went on to explain: “A rank, a uniform, deserves attention, but it doesn’t command respect. Marines will follow officers who show genuine concern for their welfare. Marines will follow officers who sacrifice. Marines will follow officers who set the example, who eat last. “

We're in a season of the year, Lent, that leads up to the ultimate example of a person who "eats last" with us. "Greater love hath no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Lent is a time we're challenged to follow that example by doing things for others, and putting them first. But let me offer this observation, because I think something strange happens when we do. So much of what we're encouraged to do in this world of ours is aimed at improving ourselves, making ourselves feel better, taking care of ourselves. We pump iron to improve our muscles, we exercise and diet to improve our bodies, we study to improve our minds. Nothing wrong with those things, but they're ultimately self-serving--they make us better. But there's an opposite dynamic at work if we're interested in improving our souls, and I would argue, in improving our disposition and attitude about life. Following the laws of "spiritual physics," when we give to others, when we put their needs before our own, we are the ones most lifted up, we are the ones who become happy. When I was a young boy I never understood the expression "better to give than receive" (I was quite happy to be the recipient!), but as I matured, I began to understand. It's the way God made us.

In the life of a high school, February is often the most difficult month, the "dog days" of the school year. Christmas is long forgotten, Spring break is still some time far off, graduation and summer even further. We get tired, stressed, worried about our grades. It's easy to become self-centered and cranky, and our natural instincts are to draw into ourselves, circle the emotional wagons, and take care of #1. I urge you to do the opposite this Lent. If you really want to feel better, if you really want a lift, to feel liberated, even, go out of your way to do something kind to someone else. Befriend someone who needs a friend, say something kind to a classmate who needs it, write a letter to family members telling them how important they are to you, or give someone a random gift. It will make them happy, for sure, but in so doing, it will also lift you out of the doldrums.

May all of us have the grace this Lent to put others first. May we be willing to "eat last" among our fellow students, our co-workers and our friends.

Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston

Contrasting with this age of ridiculous, over the top Super Bowl musical productions, there was this transcendent moment in Super Bowl XXV, performed by the greatest female singer of our generation.

Rest in peace, Whitney Houston.