Here at Mack we’re big believers in struggle, challenge and feeling good about failure – as a critical opportunity for learning and growth.
In this 6 minute TED talk former New York City teacher and success researcher, Angela Lee Duckworth identifies “grit” as more important than IQ in predicting success for kids and adults alike. Yet it seems the secret to growing that grit is not so clear. Gritty kids seem to know how to face failure and persevere. In her talk, Angela mentions a perennial favorite of Mack teachers and parents alike, Carol Dweck’s Mindset. Mindset identifies that first and most important secret to grit: a growth mindset, where one sees failure as a critical part of the learning process. To every inventor who learned from 1,000 failures before finding the one thing that worked, we say “Here, here.” And I say, “Here, here” to building grit in our kids.