I have been a fan of Angela Duckworth’s research at the University of Pennsylvania since her first book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, was released in May 2016. It stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 21 weeks.
This week, I listened to an interview, where she affirmed that GRIT is certainly important, but it is not all there is. I was reminded of what GRIT is, and how we see it in Business as Mission businesses.
Grit is the passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. To quote Duckworth:
“What we eventually accomplish may depend more on our passion and perseverance than on our innate talent.”
“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
Additionally, elaborators have suggested that GRIT suggests Guts, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity. A BAM example follows each description:
- GUTS: Patience; willing to wait.
When I interviewed Mike, CO of ITJ, a software company in India, it was evident that after two decades, patience was key. They were willing to hang in there as they learned Hindi, struggled to understand cultural nuances, found ways to live like Jesus, developed consistent sales pipelines, and learned how to integrate faith with business.1
- RESILIENCE: Ability to get back up and go on after failure.
Jenny Nuccio recognized that she failed a lot along the way, but failure is necessary as a means of learning. She asserts that “our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” The result is a significant job-creating fabric business in Mombasa, Kenya.
- INITIATIVE: motivation to make a commencing move.
Stan and his wife were shut down by COVID in their southeast Asia country where they operated multiple bakery/coffee outlets. Yet, they were not to be stopped so easily. After meeting with 40 top managers, declaring the company to be owned by God, they set to work to make a major pivot toward corporate and government customers. Today, they are more vibrant than ever with 400+ employees.2
- TENACITY: hard work and persistence.
Annie Dieselberg, founder and CEO of Nightlight Design in Bangkok, Thailand, entitled her conference talk “Hold Fast to Your Dream.” She encouraged her listeners to hang in there with perseverance because, “… it involves a lot of work, “and “Freedom businesses are hard work.”3
Duckworth suggests that grit alone is not enough, as she asks the question, “who is successful and why?” Successful “gritters need an accommodating favorable environment.” There must be some support, helpful people around them, and the imperative of the context! Her next book will explore the “power of the situation” and “making situation your ally,’ concluding that there is never a solo performance.
It got me to thinking, “…what situations are allies of BAM businesses?” Maybe a place to start would be support systems and situational contexts that one can control. In her recent TED talk on the support systems for successful “gritters” Duckworth mentions, surrogate parents like coaches, teachers, mentors. She even talks of adverse contexts and making them our ally. The following BAM companies can be seen in the exact same way:
- Capital Roasting Company in a former Soviet republic in central Asia took a serious look at their context – a country destroyed by Soviet dominance, pro-west outlook on the future, and the desire of the youth to emigrate. They brought in multiple coaches, consultants and counselors. The result is a successful coffee company which imports coffee into a tea culture, teaches free enterprise history and values, and seeks to make followers of Jesus.4
- One of the most successful BAM tour companies is one begun by three couples with a passion for an Unreached People Group in Asia, but with no business experience at all. All would agree that in addition to dependence on God was friends, advisors, and consultants that they already knew and others that they sought out. It was faithful contact with family and friends who prayed faithfully. They realized this was not a solo effort, or not even a successful triumvirate. Today, we look back on miracle after miracle, lives transformed, and a multi-million-dollar tourist destination, highly ranked on Trip Advisor.5
- Missions Disrupted: From Professional Missionaries to Missional Professionals, page 199ff.
- Ibid, page 164ff.
- Ibid, page 126ff.
- Ibid, page 183ff.
- Ibid, page 136ff.
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com