AssistKD Book Review

The book review looks at 'Mindset' by Carol Dweck and its relevance for business analysts and business change professionals.

The Fixed Mindset versus the Growth Mindset

The first three parts of the book 'Mindset' are focussed on understanding the two main mindsets which shape our beliefs and determine whether we reach our full potential or not. These are the 'fixed' mindset and the 'growth' mindset.

At an overview level, people with a fixed mindset believe that you have a fixed amount of intelligence or talent which can't be changed and that you're stuck with the hand you've been dealt with in life. These people avoid challenges because they don't want to look bad and have a desire to always look smart. In the face of obstacles, they can get defensive and give up easily as they see effort as pointless and believe that those who achieve great things only do so because they are born with special talents. They feel threatened by the success of others and ignore constructive criticism.

Conversely, those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. This outlook provides them with a strong desire to learn - seeing applied effort as the path to proficiency. They embrace challenges, persist in the face of obstacles, accept any constructive criticism as opportunities to improve and are inspired by the success of others.

As a result, those with a fixed mindset tend not to achieve their potential, whereas those with a growth mindset do.

In her book, Dweck highlights that we are all a combination of both mindsets and will have certain triggers that push us into a fixed mindset. To illustrate how these mindsets can be identified, Dweck describes studies she conducted with children as young as kindergarten age where the mindset can already be visible. Children with a growth mindset loved difficult maths questions and were delighted with the challenge these offered. Whereas those with a fixed mindset gave up, and some even lied and said that they already had them at home when they were offered to take some tricky questions home to practise!

The Impacts of the Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset in Business... and in Life

The middle chapters focus in on the impacts of the fixed and growth mindset in business, relationships, sports, coaching, teaching and parenting – areas that are relevant to everyone's life.

Each chapter has an abundance of examples to further describe the concepts and reinforce the impact that having a growth or fixed mindset can have on any given situation. There are also opportunities for you to work out what you might do in certain scenarios and compare this to the anticipated outcome of someone with a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset.

How to Develop and Nurture a Growth Mindset

The final chapter provides an overview of the steps you can take to develop and nurture a growth mindset. I'll let you discover them for yourselves. Carol Dweck highlights the importance of remembering that cultivating a growth mindset is not a quick fix…it's not something you can create and then forget about – a plan is required for maintaining your growth mindset and ensuring new habits and behaviours stick. Dweck provides plenty of examples on how people often change temporarily, only to find they revert back to a fixed mindset and problems come back…with some additional pain as they battle with knowing that things can be different but only with continuous, applied practice.

The Growth Mindset Illustrated Through Relatable Examples

I love that there is an in-depth description of the fixed and growth mindsets based on research and science, written in an accessible and relatable way. It is great to know that there is scientific evidence to demonstrate how the application of a growth mindset actually motivates people to succeed.

The book's concepts are made relatable by the many examples of successful people included to support the evidence. These examples are inspiring and offer insight into how success has been achieved and concludes that the growth mindset is what allows them to maintain their success in the long term.

Michael Jordan, for example, was not a natural to begin with – he was disciplined and worked hard – overcoming his early rejections to go on to be one of basketball's greats. Carol Dweck also provides examples of those who are born with innate talent. Whilst they can achieve great success, often the early praise they receive about their skills and talent leads them to develop a fixed mindset and so they don't apply as much effort on improving their talents, and tend to lack the resilience to cope well with setbacks. (You cannot be serious, ahem, John McEnroe).

It's important to understand the theory behind the mindsets, but this is definitely a book that you can dip in and out of to support you as and when you need it. It can make you feel uncomfortable at times as it highlights recognisable traits. But now I know I can do something about them.

The tips and hints for parenting has had an incredible influence in our household too. A small shift in the words that you use ad the praising of effort and choices rather than intelligence and talent can make an incredible difference and build resilient children who are keen to learn and see mistakes as opportunities to learn.

Key Takeaways from Mindset by Carol Dweck

• There is so much learning to be taken from reading this book that can be used in all areas of your life.
• Talent and intelligence aren't gifts, you need to work for them. With the right strategy and enough effort and time you can get better at anything.
• One of the key steps is to help others on their journey too. If you're not ready to leap into the book there are plenty of TED talks by Carol Dweck where she talks about the research that underpins her book and will help you to grasp the concepts and principles within it.
• There is also some more information on Dweck's website to support in lots of different contexts: https://www.mindsetworks.com/Science/Default
• A growth mindset doesn't fix everything – you still have problems, but now have a different way of thinking to get through them, learning and improving as you go.
• You need a growth mindset maintenance plan.
• It's liberating to know that EVERYONE has the power to improve by changing the way that they think.

AssistKD works in partnership with Matthew Syed consulting. Three of our trainers are qualified to run the Mindset Advantage development programme, the only psychometric tool available today designed specifically to measure and build a growth mindset at an individual, team and organisational level.  As change management experts, we are proud to offer this revolutionary programme to our clients as part of our consultancy services.