Growth Mindset Versus Fixed Mindset…

Are you of the mindset that your skillsets are adaptable, malleable, improvable, changeable? Or do you think that if you don’t already possess certain skills or talents, you can’t really learn them, you can’t do too much to change them – that’s just the way it is?

Let’s explore these ways of thinking, and how they can potentially impact your daily work life and professional path.

Growth Mindset depicts how one views setbacks and challenges. The terms Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset were coined by Stanford researcher and professor Carol Dweck, Ph.D. Essentially, her research showed that having a growth mindset involves believing that skills, abilities and intelligence are something that people can nurture, develop and improve over time. Whereas retaining a fixed mindset is believing that talent and intelligence are something you either have or you don’t, and that you won’t improve no matter how hard you try.

Embracing a growth mindset, especially in times of change and challenge in the workplace can be difficult. However, welcoming a growth mindset can lead to better adaptability, resilience and perpetual learning – especially among an intergenerational workforce, in which many of us work in today’s business space. This outlook can help foster a more cohesive and inclusive work environment.

In addition, by being more open-minded to changes, you’re further able to recognize and understand that there are a myriad of opportunities for your own personal development and improvement. You believe that your abilities are not set in stone, that there is always room for improvement. By embodying a growth mindset you’re able to realize that challenges, obstacles, setbacks, constructive criticism, mistakes and failures are part of the learning process.

Furthermore, by adjusting your thinking to be more adaptable, you’ll likely be better equipped to seek new ideas, grow, discover and move forward. And, being flexible and receptive can potentially ameliorate your company’s growth and bottom line.

If you’re wanting to pivot from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, here are some ideas to put into practice:

• Change the word can’t to (a form of) can.
  • I can’t figure this out.
    • I haven’t figured this out yet.
  • I can’t do this.
    • I can’t do this yet.
  • I can’t, I’m going to fail.
    • I can, I’m going to learn as I go.
  • I can’t comprehend this, it’s just not how my mind works.
    • I can learn to gain an understanding of how this works.
  • I can’t change.
    • I can evolve.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’ – Wayne Dyer