The Executive Mindset: Developing a Growth Mindset for Continued Success

Two children are faced with a complex puzzle.

Both struggle, but one child becomes so frustrated he declares, “I’m just stupid!” and throws the pieces on the floor. Another continues to try pieces in places they don’t fit, not finding any that fit, no matter how many times he tries. Undeterred, he grins and declares that he loves a challenge. 

Psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., developed her renowned theory of fixed and growth mindsets after conducting puzzle experiments like these with young children. She was surprised by young people who appreciated tackling – and failing at – challenging puzzles. 

“I always thought you coped with failure or you didn’t cope with failure. I never thought anyone loved failure. Were these alien children, or were they on to something?” she wrote in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Dweck determined children who appreciated failing had growth mindsets, where they believed that qualities like intelligence and talent were not fixed and could be improved through hard work. In other words, these children, through trial and error, along with overcoming challenges, could make them develop valuable qualities, whether they were innately gifted or not.

An individual with a fixed mindset, on the other hand, believes individuals have inborn talents that they can display, along with weaknesses that they should avoid demonstrating at all costs.

While they might think they can improve at puzzle-solving (or piano or math) to some degree, individuals born with an ability will always stay a step ahead. Failures are because they are stupid or untalented, not because they didn’t work hard enough or plan correctly. 

“A ‘fixed mindset’ assumes… success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled,” summarizes Maria Popova of The Marginalian.

Dweck’s experiments were with children, but adults can benefit just as much from a growth mindset. Why is this way of thinking so crucial for executive success?

 

? A growth mindset encourages you to work harder.

Individuals who believe their characteristics are fixed will only take opportunities that let them show off their gifts and avoid their weaknesses.

The first child in the example above, for instance, didn’t think he’d ever get better at puzzles, no matter how hard he worked. 

Individuals with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe they can improve at whatever interests them through hard work. So, they’re more likely to be driven by their passions and career development goals. 

“If you think that your talents can be developed with hard work, you’ll be more likely to push them forward… If you think talent is innate, then you won’t hustle quite so hard,” wrote Drake Baer for Business Insider.

 

? Fostering a growth mentality means you have to take real risks.

Individuals might shift between having a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

When they’re afraid to try something because they think they might fail, they demonstrate a fixed mindset. When they take a risk anyway, even if they’re likely to fail, they operate from a growth mindset perspective. 

Dweck says encouraging risk-taking is important in fostering growth mindset mentalities – and organizations should encourage their employees to tackle projects that will almost certainly end in failure.

“Organizations that embody a growth mindset encourage appropriate risk-taking, knowing that some risks won’t work out. They reward employees for important lessons learned, even if a project doesn’t meet its original goals. They support collaboration across organizational boundaries rather than competition among employees or units,” she wrote for Harvard Business Review.

 

? A growth mentality means focusing on effort and outcomes, not on “innate characteristic” praise.

Many adults with fixed mindsets were likely praised for their talent or intelligence as children and young adults.

Perhaps you were told, “You’re so smart!” or “You’re so good at math!” 

If that type of praise rings true for you, you might still imitate that kind of praise (or critique) in assessing your successes and failures. 

For instance, if you close a complex business deal, you might tell yourself, “Well, that proves that I really am smart.” Or, if you fail at something you don’t think you’re good at, you might say, “I guess that shows that I’m still not athletic.” 

This type of thinking is so commonplace for many of us that we may not even recognize the alternative. Dweck’s advice for children can be applied to adults, too. The key is to focus on your effort and consider precisely what you did well and need to work on in performing a task. 

“But the vast majority of the students praised for their effort wanted the challenging task. They wanted something they could learn from, and they weren’t worried about making mistakes,” explained Christine VanDeVelde in an article summarizing Dweck’s study of the difference between praising children’s intelligence and rewarding their effort.

 

Developing Your Growth Mindset for Continued Success

 

If you believe that your talents are fixed, you’ll start making decisions that bolster your self-conception rather than help you develop as an executive.

If you have a growth mindset, however, you’ll educate yourself, take risks, and identify your development priorities, rather than just believing you are good at some things and terrible at others. 

So, changing what you believe about yourself and your abilities is the first step to developing a growth mindset. This unfixed mentality can then unlock potential you didn’t recognize you had. 

Read more in our article “How a ‘Growth Mindset’ Can Help You Unlock Your Potential.”