A Culture of Organizational Grit From the Perspective of U.S. Military Officers: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

With the backdrop of the utility of grit at the individual level, speculation has begun to circulate that grit may exist as an organizational level phenomenon. To explore this potential construct, this study used an exploratory, qualitative research design. This study explored grit at the organizational level by interviewing leaders’ perceptions of what may be a culture of organizational grit. Participants included 14 U.S. military officers. Seven themes emerged relative to the research question: “What do U.S. military officers perceive as a culture of organizational grit?” Themes included professional pride, team unity, resilience-determination, mission accomplishment, core values, growth mindset, and deliberate practice. This study indicated that a culture of organizational grit is likely a combination of converging organizational elements. Overall, findings indicate that there may be a culture of organizational grit in the military and at the least, more research examining the concept is warranted.

How to stay high-performing: developing organizational grit

“…Unfortunately, while the literature on individual grit is growing quite rapidly, the same cannot be said of the (empirical) literature on organizational grit (Jordan et al , 2018; Raver Luning et al , 2021; Southwick et al , 2019). Especially when looking for ways organizations can achieve “grittiness,” the current literature comes up short.…”

“…Raver Luning et al (2021) interviewed US military officers on their perceptions of what is a culture of organizational grit and found the following elements which would make up such a culture according to the interviewees: professional pride (i.e. having a professional ethos and having pride in the achievements of the team), team unity (i.e.…”