Growth vs. Fixated Mindset: Which one works for your Org?
Carol Dweck, a renowned psychologist, embarked on her research journey at Stanford University, delving into the intricacies of the human mindset. As she investigated how people perceive their abilities and potential, Dweck unearthed the foundation for her groundbreaking work. Her research culminated in the publication of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, a book that has since garnered widespread acclaim. However, the significance of her discoveries extends beyond mere academic interest; they are vital to unlocking self-improvement and achieving success in various aspects of life.
On the other hand, according to a research by Harvard Business Review employees who work at ‘growth mindset’ organisations, are 34% likelier to feel a strong sense of ownership and commitment to the company and are 49% likelier to say that the company fosters innovation, amongst other benefits. Engagement, ownership, and innovation are exactly what companies need right now.
Fixated Mindset
Individuals with fixated mindset exhibit unique characteristics that reveal their beliefs about intelligence and talent. Among these traits are the following:
- A conviction in the supremacy of innate abilities (i.e. natural talents one is born with), often neglecting the impact of effort and perseverance.
- They tend to avoid taking up new challenges, preferring to remain confined to their comfort zone.
- They engage in negative self-talk and react defensively to negative feedback rather than using it as an opportunity for growth.
Growth Mindset
While individuals with a growth mindset exhibit a distinct set of traits, reflecting a more adaptive approach to learning and personal development. These characteristics include:
- Embracing learning opportunities and viewing the learning process as a continuous journey.
- Recognizing the power of hard work and forging new networks to expand their knowledge and skills.
- Engaging in constructive self-talk and welcoming constructive criticism as valuable tools for self-improvement.
How to develop “Growth Mindset” organizations?
Growth mindset is clearly a better approach to learning, well-being, self-development and organisational success, so how can business leaders and entrepreneurs incorporate the principles into their own brand?
1. Instil Learning & Development (L&D) Culture
The foundation of a growth mindset is really that anything can be learned as long as we’re prepared to put in the time and the work. It pushes back on those fixed mindset beliefs around talent or ability which instruct that we’re either good at something or not, end of story.
This takes on particular relevance for teams when we look at it through the lens of learning and development. Research tells us that 94% of employees would stay longer in an organisation if companies invested in their development. Personal development is a huge priority for employees and one way we can enable a growth mindset in our teams is by making it clear that anything can be learned — and mastered.
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2. Redefine Failure
If someone fails at something in our team we may think the easiest thing is to get someone else to do that particular task in future. However, that’s showing all the hallmarks of a fixated mindset, right? We’re effectively saying ‘they’re not good at that’ rather that ‘they’re not good at that… yet.’
A better way to approach it would be to ask that colleague how s/he could support them in that task next time. What do they need? Additional training, support from the team, something else? It’s only when employees are able to push through failures that overall teams become stronger and more resilient, but for that to happen we need to create those opportunities for development.
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3. Stretch Beyond Comfort Zone
When we have a fixated mindset we may avoid challenges. However, as the past couple of years have made particularly clear, even if we don’t want to find challenges, they usually manage to find us! We all need to be braced for change because we never really know when we’ll next need to flex out of our comfort zone. That’s why it’s so important for teams to feel like they’re being stretched.
In short, if we want to equip our teams with a growth mindset, we need to push them a little bit beyond what they think they’re capable of. Because a great team is one that exists in that sweet spot, where they’re being challenged into growth through the work they do each day.
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4. Promote a Feedback Culture
Leaders probably think feedback culture is great but possibly only when they’re the ones dishing out the feedback, right? However, it’s only when we create a real culture of dialogue — top down, bottom-up, peer-to-peer, frontline to backoffoice, that we can really unlock a growth mindset in our teams.
Forbes put it like this: “When leaders normalize a thirst for input, feedback and guidance from multiple sources, it signals that the focus is on learning and growing (versus judging or being judged) and on valuing diversity (not just relying on the usual “experts”). It sends the clear message that we’re all learning and working on ourselves all the time, and that’s key to a growth mindset.
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5. Ask “Silly” Questions
A team with a fixated mindset may not want to ask a ‘stupid’ or a ‘silly’ question in front of their peers in case they’re judged negatively for it. With a fixated mindset, we believe we have a fixed amount of intelligence or expertise, and we continually want to prove it. As leaders, when we instil a growth mindset in our teams, however, we create that questioning culture where everyone feels like they’re able to challenge or question the status-quo. What that does is empower our teams to work smarter.
It may be calling out clunky processes that take too much time or asking why we always do something that way — rather than trying this way. The great news is when we create that open dialogue that we’re then able to really mine the talents of your team — a win-win, right?
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Bottomline
In a nutshell, growth mindset means that we thrive on challenge, and don’t see failure as a way to describe ourselves but as a springboard for growth and developing oour abilities. Your intelligence and talents are all susceptible to growth. After studying the peoples’ behaviour, the term “growth mindset” came about. Simply put, this mindset means that we believe in our ability to become better through hard work, and help from others.
With a growth mindset, we recognise that we’re all learning, growing, evolving, adjusting, aligning and realigning all the time. At Insights, we recognise that due to the power of adaptability, we are constantly changing; putting in energies to power through challenging times like the recession and pandemic. This ability to adapt and step up is what makes us resilient, showing that we as individuals, like the world, are not fixed — and need to tap into a growth mindset now more than ever.
About the Author
Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.
