My abilities are fixed
Leads to fear of failure, a desire to look
good & think:
“I can’t get any better at my job.”
“Feedback and criticism are personal.”
“Debriefs focus on things that went wrong.”
“When I am frustrated I give up.”
“I can’t have input onto improvements.”
“I follow set procedures and don’t like changing them.”
“I don’t like to be challenged.”
As a result, I achieve less than my full potential.
My abilities can be developed
Leads to a desire to learn & think:
“Feedback is constructive.”
“Debriefing is an opportunity to gain feedback,
review a process and implement improvements.”
“I am inspired by the success of others.”
“I can make a big difference through improving by 1% every day.”
“I embrace change and I’m always on the look out for better ways of doing things.”
“Challenges help me to grow.”
As a result, I reach higher levels of achievement.
Developed by Carol Dweck, the concept of a growth mindset was a result of her studies into why some people
succeed and some don’t.
Ultimately, your view of yourself can determine your achievements. If you find yourself demonstrating more fixed mindset behaviours, you may find it more difficult to cope with setbacks, be satisfied with your progress and ultimately achieve your goals.
On the other hand, demonstrating a growth mindset helps increase motivation, drive development and ultimately achievement.
No one is fully one mindset or the other, but you can develop and train yourself to demonstrate a growth mindset way of thinking, which is proven to lead to a more positive outlook on life and increased performance.
“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well,
is the hallmark of the growth mindset.” Carol Dweck.
Whilst the concept was developed by Carol Dweck we first heard about it through the work of Matthew Syed and in particular his work on Black Box Thinking, where he highlights how marginal gains add up to a huge improvement. This is hugely effective across businesses, but only if a Growth Mindset is adopted and people are open to it. Find out more here.