For years, University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth searched for the secret to success. What separates people who achieve extraordinary things from everyone else? Is there a particular quality that allows some people to reach the highest levels of performance?
About a decade ago, after years of extensive field research, she challenged the widespread assumption that exceptional achievement is primarily a matter of innate talent. Her bestselling book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance introduced the idea that a combination of deep passion and relentless persistence was one of the most important characteristics distinguishing high achievers from others.
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The conditions surrounding us can play a crucial role in determining our success
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Duckworth's approach soon became enormously influential in management, education and personal development. But as interest in grit grew, so did criticism. Was success really determined by what happened inside a person's mind? Didn't life circumstances also shape the chances of achieving one's goals? And how fair was it to demand that people rely entirely on their own inner resources?
Duckworth did not dig in her heels. Instead, with the determination that had become her trademark, she continued investigating.
In her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best, she does not abandon her belief in perseverance. Rather, she adds another essential ingredient: Success also depends on how we choose and shape the situations in which we operate.
Grit remains important, but realizing its full potential requires a supportive environment. And, Duckworth argues, we can do a great deal to create one.
"After examining what goes on inside the heads of successful people, I began to wonder what might also be special about their surroundings," she writes in the book.
What kinds of situations allow people to succeed, regardless of how talented and determined they may be?
Gradually, Duckworth realized that grit was necessary for success but not sufficient. The circumstances in which we find ourselves matter far more than we tend to assume. Instead of constantly telling ourselves to work harder, she argues, we should look for the right mentors, supportive colleagues, physical spaces that help us thrive and cultures that inspire us.
Through in-depth interviews with successful people from different fields, Duckworth identified ways to proactively shape our surroundings so that our determination can translate into meaningful results. Her findings offer four practical lessons, including some surprisingly simple changes that may make success easier to achieve.
1. Willpower may be the least effective tool
For years, much of the research on behavior change focused on willpower: our ability to resist temptation, overcome distractions and force ourselves to do what we know is good for us.
Researchers even explored whether willpower could be trained like a muscle, with repeated exposure to difficult tasks gradually strengthening our capacity for self-control.
In Grit, Duckworth demonstrated the importance of long-term perseverance when connected to passion and a meaningful goal. But her more recent research led her toward an unexpected question: Perhaps what matters is not simply how much willpower we have, but how often we need to use it in the first place.
In a 2016 academic paper written with psychologists James Gross and Tamar Szabó Gendler, Duckworth argued that self-control does not have to begin at the moment temptation appears.
Instead, we can intervene earlier, by changing the situation itself.
For example, we can move our phones out of reach, avoid bringing tempting foods into the house or choose a location that makes concentration easier.
Later research by Duckworth and her colleagues found that students who used such strategies tended to spend more time practicing and achieve better academic results than those who relied mainly on willpower.
This leads to one of her most provocative arguments in Situated: Willpower may be the least effective way to change our behavior.
Not because it has no value, but because relying on willpower requires us to win the same battle repeatedly.
Instead of asking, "How can I strengthen my willpower?" Duckworth suggests asking a different question: "How can I create a situation in which I need less of it?"
The distinction is fundamental. Rather than constantly fighting distractions and temptations, we can organize our lives to make the behavior we want easier and more automatic.
2. The space around you matters more than you think
According to Duckworth, one of the most significant things we can do to improve our chances of success is to examine the immediate physical space around us and redesign it.
Everything within our field of vision and arm's reach can have a disproportionate influence on what we think about and, consequently, what we do.
The goal is to reduce friction when making desirable choices and make unwanted temptations less accessible. That might mean moving unhealthy snacks out of sight, removing distracting objects from a workspace or arranging our environment so the next productive action is the easiest one to take.
In her research, Duckworth examined students' study habits and asked where they placed their phones while working.
The students were offered five possible answers, ranging from keeping the phone right beside them with the screen and notifications active to leaving it in an entirely different room.
Professor Angela Duckworth: The psychologist and bestselling author argues that determination alone is not enough to achieve success
(Photo: Angela Duckworth)
The results revealed a clear relationship: The farther away the phone was, the better the students' academic performance tended to be.
The lesson is not simply that smartphones are distracting. It is that small differences in our surroundings can influence the choices we make without requiring any deliberate struggle.
Duckworth illustrates the importance of personal space using Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing, Vitruvian Man, which depicts a human figure at the center of a circle representing the space around the body.
She argues that the area we can see and reach should be treated as an integral part of our everyday decision-making process.
Our immediate environment is not neutral scenery. It actively participates in shaping our lives.
And because we can change it, we can also make it work in our favor.
3. Become a magnet for different kinds of mentors
Successful people are also proactive about the mentoring they receive.
We often assume that finding a mentor is largely a matter of luck, Duckworth writes. But research suggests that many people never establish such relationships at all. A Gallup finding cited in the report indicates that approximately 60% of employed American college graduates say they do not have even one mentor at work. Other studies suggest that far more people consider workplace mentoring important than actually have access to it.
In her research, Duckworth found that high achievers take responsibility for bringing mentors into their lives.
They do not necessarily pursue wealthy, famous or exceptionally accomplished people. Instead, they often seek ordinary individuals with whom they can build meaningful connections and share experiences.
Duckworth describes successful people as "mentor magnets," and explains that they benefit from three different types of relationships.
The first involves mentors for a particular moment, such as someone who offers guidance at an important decision-making crossroads.
The second consists of mentors for a particular period, who accompany us through a specific project, challenge or stage in our professional development.
The third includes mentors for life, who maintain relationships with us over many years, get to know us deeply and continue supporting our personal and professional growth.
But how do we attract people willing to invest their time and experience in us?
According to Duckworth, mentors are not particularly drawn to people who simply ask them for something. They respond to curiosity, preparation and gratitude, and especially to people who demonstrate that they have benefited from the relationship.
Someone who arrives at a meeting prepared, asks thoughtful questions, listens carefully and expresses appreciation is already sending a positive signal.
But the most important step often comes afterward.
Returning a few weeks later to explain how you acted on the advice you received shows the mentor that the time and experience they invested were worthwhile.
In effect, becoming a mentor magnet means turning the help you receive into something valuable for both sides.
Another powerful way to attract mentors is to mentor other people yourself.
Helping others does more than expand your professional network. It makes you part of a community in which people learn, develop and pass knowledge forward.
In other words, if you want people who are willing to help you succeed, start by becoming someone who helps others succeed.
4. Create the right conditions for other people, too
There is another dimension to Duckworth's argument. Creating favorable circumstances for ourselves is essential, but we can take the idea further by creating those conditions for other people.
She describes this as a form of situational responsibility, particularly important when helping people who cannot yet shape their surroundings independently.
Parenting offers a powerful example.
It is easy to tell a child to concentrate harder, put in more effort, persevere or exercise greater self-control.
But young children cannot choose most of the conditions that surround them. Good parenting, therefore, is not simply about asking children to become certain kinds of people. It is about placing them in situations that encourage those qualities to emerge.
Duckworth points to American swimming legend and former world record holder Michael Phelps.
His mother, Debbie Phelps, recognized that her son behaved differently in the swimming pool. In the water, he found interest, concentration and confidence. He could direct his energy toward something at which he excelled.
Rather than insisting that he adapt himself to an environment that did not suit him, she helped him find one that matched his abilities. From there, she helped create conditions in which those abilities could flourish.
When we take responsibility for helping other people succeed, Duckworth explains, we are also shaping the world in which we ourselves operate.
The principle extends far beyond parenting.
A manager who creates conditions in which her employees can thrive is not merely helping them. She is also building a more capable, committed and independent team.
A woman who helps a friend identify her strengths and find opportunities to use them is also strengthening her own support network.
Ultimately, a situation that benefits other people can also become a better situation for ourselves.
Self-assessment: How well is your environment working for you?
Duckworth's approach can also be used to evaluate the circumstances of our own lives. The following questionnaire examines four areas: personal space, colleagues, mentors and organizational culture.
Consider each statement and decide whether it accurately describes your current situation.
Personal space
I keep temptations, such as junk food or my phone, out of sight and out of reach.
I arrange my personal surroundings so the choices I want to make, such as exercising, reading or going to bed on time, are easy, accessible and appealing.
Colleagues and peers
I have colleagues who hold me accountable for my goals, and I do the same for them.
The people around me know things I do not know, and together we are smarter.
There are people who depend on me, and I know that my presence and commitment matter to them.
Mentors
When I don't know what to do, I have at least two people I can turn to for advice.
I am working on a project with someone who is more experienced or skilled than I am and from whom I can learn.
I have at least one mentor with whom I intend to maintain a long-term relationship.
Organizational culture
The organization where I work challenges me while also supporting me.
I live and work in an environment that allows me to pursue my goals and interests.
How to calculate your score
Give yourself one point for every statement that applies to you, for a maximum of 10 points.
The closer your score is to 10, the more your environment is working in your favor.
Examine the areas where your score is lower and consider what you could change to create better conditions for yourself.
Why determination alone couldn't save her marriage
Duckworth, 56, does not limit her new approach to examples from other people's lives. In Situated, she also writes with unusual openness about a crisis in her marriage to real estate entrepreneur Jason Duckworth.
After years of what she describes as a storybook romance and the birth of their two children, the couple faced a major challenge during the 2008 financial crisis, when Jason's business ran into difficulties.
Both responded in the way that came most naturally to them.
They worked harder.
They got up earlier, stayed awake later and tried to solve their problems by putting in even more effort.
But their strategy failed. Instead, both became increasingly exhausted, and their marriage entered a profound crisis.
Eventually, Duckworth writes, they realized that they had been trying to solve the problem by changing themselves rather than examining the situation in which they were living.
The breakthrough came when they expanded their perspective beyond the two of them.
They sought help from individual therapists and a couples therapist. Jason established an advisory board and began connecting with fellow entrepreneurs through a professional organization. Duckworth also started approaching her work as a more collaborative endeavor.
Gradually, rather than relying exclusively on their own internal resources, they began changing the external conditions surrounding their lives.
They created a more supportive environment, and their marriage survived.
For Duckworth, this experience captures the central message of her new book.
Sometimes the problem is not that we are failing to try hard enough. It is that the circumstances in which we are trying to succeed are not giving us enough support.
Whether in love or at work, grit still matters. But even the most determined people need circumstances in which their perseverance can translate into progress.
And that means learning to shape the environment around us, including the objects, people and places that can help bring out our best.