Carol Dweck is the psychologist who popularized the concept of the “Growth Mindset.” Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is the result of her career studying what she calls the two mindsets: the Growth Mindset and the Fixed Mindset.
This book really resonated for me. I definitely grew up with a fixed mindset. (Which, in case you couldn’t tell by the names, is the bad one!) This book really helped me understand the implications of that and what’s necessary to adopt a growth mindset.
Let’s start with definitions.
“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.”
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”
The result is that people with a fixed mindset don’t want to work. “It’s startling to see the degree to which people with the fixed mindset do not believe in putting in effort or getting help.”
This is because “Effort is for those who don’t have the ability…If you have to work at something, you must not be good at it…Things come easily to people who are true geniuses.”
In the fixed mindset, you have to protect your status by not trying or working. If you ‘are smart,’ you shouldn’t have to work hard—it should come easily and naturally. “Nothing is harder than saying, ‘I gave it my all and it wasn’t good enough.’ The idea of trying and still failing—of leaving yourself without excuses—is the worst fear within the fixed mindset.”
This was me in school. I was smart. Not working hard protected my ego, allowed me to maintain that self-image. If I wrote a paper in 30 minutes and got a B+, that proved how smart I was. That’s much more impressive than working hard and getting an A. If I got a C (or worse!), it didn’t matter—I only spent 30 minutes on it. Of course I would have gotten an A if I had spent more time and put in more effort. But I couldn’t allow myself to put in that effort, because what if I worked for 3 hours and didn’t get an A? I would no longer be ‘smart.’ It was more important to protect my ego and maintain that self-image than to work hard and actually learn. There was no incentive to work hard—in fact, I felt a disincentive: all I could do was meet expectations (of course I would expect to get an A if I work hard) or fail (god forbid I worked hard and got less than an A).
Which are you? “If you had to choose, which would it be? Loads of success and validation or lots of challenge?” It’s not all or nothing: “People can have different mindsets in different areas.” But generally we think about the world one way or the other.
How does one develop a fixed mindset? A lot of it comes from how we are praised as kids. It’s so natural as a parent to tell your kids they are smart. That’s what I heard a lot. But that develops a disincentive to try things that are hard. “As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, some of them become afraid of challenges. They become afraid of not being smart.”
It’s important to praise children for their effort rather than some innate trait like talent or intelligence. “Praising children’s intelligence harms their motivation and it harms their performance.” I am very diligent about this with my niece and nephew. When they do well on a test, or they do well reading me a book, it’s never, “Wow, you’re so smart!” It’s, “Wow, I’m so impressed at how hard you worked at that!”
“So children with the fixed mindset want to make sure they succeed. Smart people should always succeed. But for children with the growth mindset, success is about stretching themselves. It’s about becoming smarter.”
This relationship to effort—to trying and working hard—is what really differentiates the fixed and growth mindsets.
“In the fixed mindset, effort is not a cause for pride. It is something that casts doubt on your talent.”
“In one world, effort is a bad thing. It, like failure, means you’re not smart or talented. If you were, you wouldn’t need effort. In the other world, effort is what makes you smart or talented.”
“People in a growth mindset don’t just seek challenge, they thrive on it. The bigger the challenge, the more they stretch. And nowhere can it be seen more clearly than in the world of sports.”
A couple of studies really stuck with me.
“In one study, seventh graders told us how they would respond to an academic failure—a poor test grade in a new course. Those with the growth mindset, no big surprise, said they would study harder for the next test. But those with the fixed mindset said they would study less for the next test. If you don’t have the ability, why waste your time?”
“College students, after doing poorly on a test, were given a chance to look at tests of other students. Those in the growth mindset looked at the tests of people who had done far better than they had. As usual, they wanted to correct their deficiency. Bust students in the fixed mindset chose to look at the tests of people who had done really poorly. That was their way of feeling better about themselves.”
Boy, does that ring true!
How do we develop a growth mindset?
“The first step is to embrace your fixed mindset. Let’s face it, we all have some of it. We’re all a mixture of growth and fixed mindsets and we need to acknowledge that. It’s not a shameful admission…But even though we have to accept that some fixed mindset dwells within, we do not have to accept how often it shows up and how much havoc it can wreak when it does.”
Dweck suggests that you give your fixed-mindset persona a name. ‘Roger is rearing his ugly head again.’ Let them be something in your life that you acknowledge and deal with.
I used to believe in innate talent, but I have come around to the view that it’s all about hard work and deliberate practice. Mozart and Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters and the Polgar sisters all started young and worked diligently. There are some genetic attributes that make some of us pick something up more quickly than others, which is routinely mistaken for innate talent or skill. But this evens out very quickly as people who are less naturally inclined put in the effort to build expertise.
I know this. But I don’t yet feel it. I know that what makes me a good writer or bridge player is not that I was born with it—it’s all the work I’ve put into it over decades of practice. But I still struggle with the fixed mindset. I don’t enjoy criticism—even constructive feedback—particularly of my writing. I don’t want to put in the work necessary to improve.
Acknowledging the problem is the first step to solving it. I know the whole worldview I’ve had my entire life is wrong. I don’t want to believe it anymore. But it’s in there deep. I’m working on it. One step at a time.
Thanks for your honesty Adam…
I’ve worked hard in academics but never let on how many hours I studied so I would look “smart “.
I’ve just gone back to playing f2f.
I get nervous and afraid of looking stupid when I play against the better players
I can “save face” when I play in BBO and don’t score well .. but at the bridge Club there are a lot of egos ( and I have a sensitive one as well 😉. )
This superb book changed how I view life. I was the poster child of fixed mindset. This book opened my eyes and I’ve since then tried to see the error of my old ways and develop a growth mindset.
Admittedly I haven’t actively applied this to bridge (yet). But the idea that it is possible to level up is verily growth mindset.
And when you go down in a cold contract and the peanut gallery has a gala time at your expense? Fixed mindset: “I suck. I will never get good at this game.” Growth mindset: “Let me identify why I went down. Maybe I need to practice more hands. Or get more sleep or work on my stamina …”