Leadership, Management & Life in the Workplace
  • Blog
  • About John
  • Decoding the Workplace
  • Dr. Juran AIG Archival Project
  • Contact
  • Disclaimers

Three Factors Affecting Success

10/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Why are some people more successful than others in the workplace, home, life? Setting SMART goals can be one factor but there are others, such as resources, time, situational constraints. Some would add luck. All things being equal though, much success probably comes from within ourselves, psychological characteristics that tend to lead some of us to be more successful than others.
 
Two stalwarts of psychology addressed this topic in the September 2017 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science: Angela Duckworth, known for her work on grit, and Martin Seligman, known for his work on learned helplessness. Their article focuses on the importance of self-control but it summarizes concisely three psychological factors affecting success:
  • self-control – “the capacity to regulate attention, emotion, and behavior in the presence of temptation.”
  • grit – “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.”
  • conscientiousness - being careful, being thorough; desiring to do a task well (one of the Big Five personality factors). 
Duckworth and Seligman discuss the pros and cons of lumping these together in studying success versus studying separately. The bottomline is both lumping and splitting help understand the differences and underlying dynamics. Here are some insights I noted:
  • In middle school students, self-control equaled intelligence measure in predicting grades and test scores but exceeded intelligence measures on predicting absences, procrastination, and time watching TV.
  • Self-control is important to outcomes in life, including income, finances, health, and “occupational prestige.”
  • Conscientiousness includes self-control and is highly related to longevity, wealth, and health.
  • Gritty people have a “single-minded, sustained commitment” to “enduring goals of superordinate personal significance.”
  • “A gritty person cannot be gritty about everything.”
  • Being able to delay gratification of “ill-timed or inappropriate impulses” is a hallmark of self-control and develops early in life, according to Freud.
  • Suggestions: teach goal-setting and planning; affect situational factors to downplay temptations; try to make negative emotions “less overwhelming.

My take-aways:
 
1. Many factors contribute to success. Your definition of success may be very different from another’s. I knew a local rock band that were truly outstanding, but when given the opportunity for national, even international exposure, declined. Making music was a joy – not a lifestyle calling. Being a “rock star” was not part of their individual definitions of success. What does success mean to you?
 
2.  I see self-control and grit as important factors for individual success in any part of life. I have written about grit here previously. But grit is not necessarily predictive of organizational success unless the enduring goal is somehow tied to the organization. Given recent headlines about sexual harassment in the workplace, we can probably agree that self-control should have a greater emphasis in our training and conduct. Just how long can you go without looking at your smartphone?
 
3. On the other hand, conscientiousness is of great organizational and personal significance. We can measure conscientiousness, correlate with organizational outcomes, and design into selection systems. As I have written previously, it is the most important trait affecting health and success that you may have never considered.
 
4. Lumped or separated, these three factors offer a good self-assessment as to your success. How is your self-control? Do you have an enduring goal that you are pursuing with passion? Are you thorough in your work, striving for good outcomes in the various parts of your life? 

Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P.  (2017).  The science and practice of self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 715-718.
 
Image modified from image by Darrell A. Obtained from https://www.flickr.com/photos/117427305@N05/32031185350/
Used with permission: Public domain per CCO 1.0
 
© John Ballard, PhD,  2017. All rights reserved.
 
Author, Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2016.
Please visit www.decodingtheworkplace.com.

0 Comments

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed