The Context Window · Economics & Policy
TIER 4 Wed, 27 May 2026 11:00:18 +0000
On being lost for 10 years, and why your situation matters as much as your effort ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ | | ---|---|--- | | | Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more --- --- New episode of The Context Window. Listen on YouTube * Apple Podcasts * Spotify * * * # Angela Duckworth on the limits of grit ### On being lost for 10 years, and why your situation matters as much as your effort | | David Deming --- | May 27 --- | --- --- | | | --- | | --- | | --- | | --- | | READ IN APP --- Welcome to The Context Window with David Deming Don't recognize this sender? Unsubscribe with one click David Deming recently imported your email address from another platform to Substack. You'll now receive their posts via email or the Substack app. To set up your profile and discover more on Substack, click here. * * * > _" Sometimes you have determination but you don't yet have direction. Sometimes you have perseverance and you don't yet have passion."_ -- Angela Duckworth * * * Hello Forked Lightning readers! I am starting a podcast called _The Context Window_ where I ask interesting, successful people about their career journeys and how they became who they are today. Some of my conversations are with Harvard alums, others will be on topics related to my research interests - education, jobs, AI, and all that good stuff. Here is a longer description. I added you to the mailing list, but if you want to unsubscribe just scroll to the bottom and hit the button. You will still stay subscribed to Forked Lightning (and I will continue to write for it). But I hope you stick around. Enjoy the show! * * * My first guest is Angela Duckworth. She is a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a MacArthur Fellow, and the author of _Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance_. She graduated from Harvard College in 1992 with the Radcliffe Fay Prize for best senior thesis, went on to a Marshall Scholarship at Oxford, worked at McKinsey, taught in public schools, ran a nonprofit, and spent a decade in what she calls "capital-L Lost" before starting her PhD at age 32 under Martin Seligman. Her new book, _Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best_ , argues that individual determination is necessary but not sufficient for success -- the environments we place ourselves in matter just as much. This is a conversation about what elite institutions get right and wrong, how long it takes to find your direction, and why the people around you may determine your trajectory more than any quality you carry inside. Also available on YouTube. * * * #### **Chapters** **[00:00:00] Cold open and introduction** Duckworth on being "capital-L Lost" for a decade. David introduces her background: MacArthur Fellow, author of _Grit_ , Harvard '92 Fay Prize winner. **[00:01:30] Growing up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey** Her father the chemist at DuPont, his obsession with achievement, and the rule that she couldn't visit colleges before getting accepted. **[00:02:30] Arriving at Harvard: rejection and competition** Being rejected from the freshman urban program, the "comping" culture, and the Darwinian atmosphere of late-1980s Harvard. **[00:04:00] "You're no genius"** Her father's brutal honesty, the neurobiology concentration, and how winning the MacArthur later became a punchline. **[00:07:00] Reunion culture and the class of '92** Applying to be "most prominent" at your 25th reunion, and why she thinks the _Bridgerton_ creator should have won. **[00:08:00] The thesis, the lab, and where she actually spent her time** Null findings on spectrin isoforms, the Phillips Brooks House rival program Harvard Hand in Cambridge public schools, and not sleeping. **[00:10:30] Accomplished but unhappy** Winning the Fay Prize while feeling lonely. What she now tells her Penn students about prioritizing friendships over achievements. **[00:14:00] Watching Amanda do Harvard differently** Her daughter's graduation, the friendships that don't go on a resume but matter more than one. **[00:17:00] The winding path: Summer Bridge to Oxford to McKinsey to teaching** Starting Breakthrough Greater Boston (still operating 30+ years later), the Marshall Scholarship, politics-philosophy-economics at Oxford, and switching to neuroscience because it was easier. **[00:21:00] Ten years lost** Age 22 to 32: "Should I get an MBA? What's an MBA? Maybe I should be a pediatrician. I didn't take the MCAT." The ugliest, most comfortable couch in the world. Many tears. **[00:25:00] Finding psychology at 32** Running her finger down a Yale Summer School course catalog at age 16, and the moment at 32 when she asked: What am I good at? What do I like? What do I dislike? **[00:27:00] "Don't let me quit for 10 years"** The pact with her husband Jason. His reminder at the 10-year mark. Her answer: "No, I'm good." **[00:28:00] Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals** The two subscales, West Point cadets, Scripps National Spelling Bee contestants, and why people usually get the definition wrong. **[00:30:00] Perseverance without passion** Why young people score high on determination but low on consistent direction. David's contention: she had passion all along, she just hadn't articulated it. **[00:32:00] Sample before you specialize** Olympic athletes play more sports, not fewer. Reframing quitting as sampling. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee research on athlete development. **[00:34:00] What Harvard could do better about career exploration** Curiosity conversations, structured career exposure, Wendy Kopp's frustration with the consulting pipeline, and why you can't just "unleash" 22-year-olds. **[00:39:00] David 's own path: law firm, Berkeley, and serendipity** Almost becoming a lawyer, the creative itch, meeting his wife at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, and the Presidential Management Fellowship as Plan B. **[00:42:00] Gen Z and the cost of comparison** Social media, excessive self-reflection, and the formula: reflect, don't ruminate. **[00:43:30] Can grit be taught?** Mindset as on/off switch versus grit as muscle. Growth mindset research. Her evolving answer: grit is learned more than taught, and it's learned primarily through the people around you. **[00:47:00]**_**Situated**_**: the title, the survey data, and the age trend** Why younger readers preferred _Situated_ over _Great Situations_ , and what she told her publisher about the data. **[00:48:00] Grit as necessary but not sufficient** Bridget Terry Long on situations where hard work pays off and situations where it doesn't. The classroom where nobody is teaching. **[00:51:30] Cody Coleman and situational agency** Born in a prison near Trenton, New Jersey. MIT. Google. Stanford PhD -- the third Black recipient in the program's history. His AI startup, Coactive AI. His own account of success: five-year chapters, each a vault into a more challenging and supportive situation. **[00:55:00] Big fish, small pond** Arriving at Harvard and realizing your rooming group includes a private pilot and a Math Olympiad winner. The moment Duckworth stopped comparing. **[00:57:00] Listen to the inner voice** David's advice to students: if you think you should probably do it, you probably should. Harvard as the ultimate second-chance ticket -- so why not take risks? **[00:59:30] Harvard 's 250th and the founding ideals** Eight Harvard College graduates signed the Declaration of Independence. Duckworth on being prouder of Harvard now than at any point in her life. **[01:01:00] How Harvard can improve** Helping students with post-graduation transitions. Grade inflation as a symptom of decreasing tolerance for imperfection. * * * #### **Guest bio** **Angela Duckworth** is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also teaches at the Wharton School. She co-founded Character Lab, a nonprofit that advanced the science and practice of character development (Character Lab sunset its operations in June 2024). Her 2016 book _Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance_ was a #1 _New York Times_ bestseller, and her TED Talk on the subject is among the most viewed of all time. She received her BA from Harvard (1992), an MSc in neuroscience from Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and her PhD in psychology from Penn, where she studied under Martin Seligman. Before academia, she co-founded Breakthrough Greater Boston (formerly Summer Bridge), taught math in public schools, worked at McKinsey & Company, and served as COO of GreatSchools. Her forthcoming book is _Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best_ (Scribner, September 2026). She received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2013. * * * #### **Mentioned in this episode** ##### **Books** * _Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance_ by Angela Duckworth (2016) * _Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best_ by Angela Duckworth (Scribner, September 2026) * _Mindset: The New Psychology of Success_ by Carol Dweck ##### **Organizations** * Breakthrough Greater Boston (formerly Summer Bridge), founded by Duckworth in 1992 * Character Lab -- nonprofit co-founded by Duckworth; sunset operations June 2024 * Coactive AI -- Cody Coleman's AI startup for visual content analytics * Teach For America -- founded by Wendy Kopp ##### **People** * Cody Coleman -- MIT and Stanford PhD, co-founder and CEO of Coactive AI * Bridget Terry Long -- Harvard economist, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (2018-2024) * Martin Seligman -- founder of positive psychology, Duckworth's PhD advisor at Penn * Wendy Kopp -- founder of Teach For America * Raj Chetty -- Harvard economist (referenced re: peer effects and teams) * David Deming -- Danoff Dean of Harvard College, host of The Context Window ##### **Research tools and concepts** * Grit Scale -- self-report questionnaire measuring perseverance and passion subscales * Angela Duckworth's TED Talk -- "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" * Angela Duckworth's research page -- publications, grit definitions, and measurement cautions * _Grit Lab: Fostering Passion & Perseverance_ -- Duckworth's undergraduate course at Penn ##### **Other** * _Bridgerton_ -- Netflix series created by a Harvard '92 classmate * U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee research on athlete breadth of sport sampling * * * ##### **Credits** **Host:** David Deming, Danoff Dean of Harvard College **Executive Producer:** Denise Koller **Consulting Producers:** Tim Smith and Jonathan Palumbo **Produced by:** Cabin 3 Media -- Katie Toulmin, Producer; Justin Callahan, Director of Photography / Editor * * * Thanks for reading The Context Window with David Deming! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribed * * * Leave a comment #### Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend -- it's the best way to help the show grow. Questions or feedback: david@thecontextwindow.com --- | | | Like --- | | Comment --- | | Restack --- (C) 2026 David Deming 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe