What Is Or Isn’t Growth Mindset.

 I was on a tour yesterday and ran into a young lady whose pre-algebra teacher did the growth mindset videos from Jo Boaler, I know that some people are confused about the term growth mindset as defined by Carol Dweck. In a nutshell, a growth mindset is one where the person believes that their talents can be developed through hard work, feedback, and the use of good strategies while some with a fixed mindset believe that only someone with innate gifts.

Unfortunately, the basic idea has been taken by the general public, twisted, adjusted, and changed it. So today, we’ll look at how people have begun interpreting growth mindset since the term has become such a buzz word in education and industry

Some people believe they have always had a growth mindset because they have always been flexible and / or have a positive outlook. This is referred to as a false growth mindset because they do not understand what a true growth mindset is. In addition, most people are a combination of fixed and growth mindset simply because a pure growth mindset does not exist. The mixture changes over time based on experiences.

Other people believe a growth mindset involves praising and rewarding effort but it does not work in school, nor does o]it work in industry.  Unfortunately, outcomes matter in both situations. If we are going to reward people, we need to reward them for effort, learning and process because unproductive effort is not a good thing. It does not produce a desired outcome. It is important for people to understand that the process which includes asking for help, trying something new, analyzing set backs to move forward effectively.

Espousing growth mindset is not enough to change anything. Most places have mission statements describing what they want to do in wonderful terminology but they have not implemented any policies to help folks attain those goals. They encourage risk taking knowing people might not reach the goals and they also reward people when they learn something even though the project goals were not met. They are willing to support collaboration throughout the organization instead of encouraging competition. They want every member of the organization to grow by providing opportunities.

These are the three area where misconceptions abound but even if all of these misconceptions are cleared away, it does not pave the way for growth mindset. This is because of a persons fixed mindset triggers such as received criticism, comparing ourselves poorly to others, or certain challenges. 

This is a general overall look at the topic. Monday, I will look at growth mindset and what can be done from the start of the year to encourage it.  Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear.