Positive Career Monday #1 Growth Mindset

Published on Apr 20, 2012

Professor Carol Dweck has reduced student aggression and other behavior problems in American high schools and increased adults' willingness to compromise in the Middle East by teaching about the malleable nature of people's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. She discussed her recent research as part of a briefing for nonprofit and corporate leaders at "The Science of Getting People to Do Good" conference at the Center for Social Innovation of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In his 2002 essay that relied on Dweck’s work, Gladwell cited one of her best-known experiments to argue that Enron may have collapsed precisely because of the company’s talent-obsessed culture, not despite it. Dweck’s study showed that praising children for intelligence, rather than for effort, sapped their motivation (see sidebar). But more disturbingly, 40 percent of those whose intelligence was praised overstated their scores to peers. “We took ordinary children and made them into liars,” Dweck says. Similarly, Enron executives who’d been celebrated for their innate talent would sooner lie than fess up to problems and work to fix them.

Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer says Dweck’s research has implications for the more workaday problem of performance management. He faults businesses for spending too much time in rank-and-yank mode, grading and evaluating people instead of developing their skills. “It’s like the Santa Claus theory of management: who’s naughty and who’s nice.”

Published on Oct 10, 2012

A video that explains the difference between a person who has a growth mindset and person who has a fixed mindset. All design and animation was done by me.

Stay Curious. (by Michael Graham Richard)

Criticism and negative feedback are sources of information. That doesn’t mean that all criticism is worth integrating or that nothing is never taken personally, but at least the Growth Mindset individual knowns that he or she can change and improve, so the negative feedback is not perceived as being directly about them as a person, but rather about their current abilities.

Published on Nov 18, 2012

The way we understand our intelligence and abilities deeply impacts our success. Based on social science research and real life examples, Eduardo Briceño articulates how mindset, or the understanding of intelligence and abilities, is key. When students or adults see their abilities as fixed, whether they think they're naturals or just not built for a certain domain, they avoid challenge and lose interest when things get hard. Conversely, when they understand that abilities are developed, they more readily adopt learning-oriented behaviors such as deliberate practice and grit that enable them to achieve their goals. But this belief is itself malleable, and there are clear actions we can all take to establish a growth mindset and enable success for our children, our peers and ourselves.

Highlights:
What would you suggest to a parent who wants to develop a growth mindset? Is it too late for an adult to change his or her own mindset?

Carol Dweck:
It's never too late to change your mindset. Mindsets are beliefs—powerful ones and ones that shape our motivation—but beliefs can be changed.

Parents should know that there is more and more new scientific evidence in support of the growth mindset. Research from cognitive psychology and neuroscience is showing that fundamental parts of intelligence can be developed and that the brain has an amazing capacity to learn and form new connections throughout life. Much new research from psychology is showing that genius and great creative contributions grow out of passion and dedication. They do not simply come from gifts we are born with. Finally, research with adults has shown that adults can learn a growth mindset and that when they do, they are more effective in many endeavors.

your job doesn't define who you are but it's what you do

Release date: December 26, 2007

World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea–the power of our mindset.

Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success–but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn’t foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to raise their grades, as well as reach our own goals–personal and professional. Dweck reveals what all great parents, teachers, CEOs, and athletes already know: how a simple idea about the brain can create a love of learning and a resilience that is the basis of great accomplishment in every area.