Mindsets: Developing Talent Through a Growth Mindset

Center for Confidence

Growing Success

September 18, 2008

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures… I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.”

- Benjamin Barber

Mindsets

• Fixed Mindset: Intelligence is a fixed trait

…Myth of the “natural”

• Growth Mindset: Intelligence is a malleable quality; a potential that can be developed

…Talent is a starting point

Mindsets

• Which mindset is correct?

• Which mindset is most popular?

• Do people hold the same mindsets across domains?

• Are the mindsets related to people’s ability?

• Are the mindsets themselves fixed or can they be changed?

What Do Mindsets Do?

What Do Mindsets Do?

GoalsLearning is Most Important:

“It’s much more important for me to learn things in my classes than it is to get the best grades.”

Looking Smart is Most Important:

“The main thing I want when I do my school work is to show how good I am at it.”

Pre-Med Study

Scott Forstall & The iPhone

Question “Who was the Union general at the battle of Gettysburg?”

* Subject

typesresponse and confidence

1.5 s 2 s

* Correctanswer

1.5 s

Ability-Relevant Feedback

Learning-Relevant Feedback

1 s

Paying Attention to Learning

or

The Fixed Mindset Leader

What Mindsets Do

Effort BeliefsEffort is positive: “The harder you work at something, the better

you’ll be at it.”

Effort is negative: “To tell the truth, when I work hard at my school

work it makes me feel like I’m not very smart.”

Do Geniuses Work? Or Does it Just Come Naturally?

Anne Mulcahy: CEO of Xerox

What Mindsets Do

StrategiesResilient: “I would work harder in this class from now on.” “I would spend more time studying for the tests.”

Helpless: “I would spend less time on this subject from now on.”“I would try not to take this subject ever again.”“I would try to cheat on the next test.”

Math Achievement

7272.5

7373.5

7474.5

7575.5

7676.5

77

Fall Year1

Spring Year1

Fall Year2

Spring Year2

FixedGrowth

growth

fixed

Fixed MindsetNo Good Way to Recover from Failure

• Choose to repair self-esteem by looking at work of people who had done worse

• Choose to repair self-esteem by re-enacting strengths vs. repairing weaknesses

Negotiations(Kray & Haselhun)

Negotiators with a growth mindset:

Showed superior negotiation strategies

Were undaunted by setbacks

Were better at finding common ground

Consistently outperformed those with a fixed mindset

How are Mindsets Communicated?

Messages We Send

How Are Mindsets Communicated?

Intelligence Praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be smart at this.”

Effort (Process) Praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried really hard.”

Effects of Intelligence vs. Effort Praise

• Mindset: Fixed vs. Growth

• Goals: Looking smart vs. Learning

After Difficult Trial:

• Confidence: Low vs. High

• Motivation: Low vs. High

• Performance: Decreased vs. Increased

Number of problems solved on Trial 1 (before failure) and

Trial 3 (after failure).

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

Trial 1 Trial 3

Effort PraiseControl PraiseIntelligence Praise

Num

ber

of P

robl

ems

Solv

ed

Lying Students who misrepresented their scores

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Intelligence Control Effort

Type of Praise Given

Changing Mindsets

Math Grades(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck)

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

Before After

Control

BraInology

Percent Identified as Increasing in Motivation

9

27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Control Growth

• Replicated several times

• Reduced gender and race gaps in achievement

Brainology

5 Computer Modules

Teachers’ Guide

Visit to Brain Lab

Mad Scientist

Brain Experiments

The Learning Brain

Have you changed your mind about anything?

• My favorite thing from Brainology is the neurons part where when u learn something there are connections and they keep growing. I always picture them when I’m in school (khadija)

• Yes … I imagine neurons making connections in my brain and I feel like I am learning something. (biggie)

Changing

Mindsets

in

Organizations(Peter Heslin & colleagues)

Before Workshop

• Fixed mindset managers don’t notice improvement--first impressions last

• Fixed mindset managers don’t mentor their employees as much--people can’t change

• Fixed mindset managers can’t take criticism

Mindset Workshop for Managers

• Scientific article and video on how the brain grows with learning throughout life

• Exercises to instill a growth mindset

After

After receiving a growth mindset workshop, managers showed greater:

• Openness to employee change• Willingness to mentor and higher quality of

mentoring• Openness to critical feedback

ConclusionThe belief in growth allows individuals

to:• Embrace learning

• Welcome challenges, mistakes, and feedback

• Understand the role of effort in creating talent

At the organizational level, a growth mindset organization:

• Portrays skills as acquirable

• Values passion, effort, improvement (and teamwork), not just natural talent

• Presents leaders as mentors vs. judges

Thank you!

Mindset Workshop

• What is an area in which you once had low ability, but now perform quite well? How were you able to make this change?

• Who is someone in your life who dramatically improved their performance? What did they do that enabled them to improve?

• As a manager, what are at least 3 reasons why it’s important to believe that people can develop their abilities?

(Include implications for both yourself and the employees you manage.)

• Write an email to a struggling protégé about how abilities can be developed.

Mindset Workshop

Sometimes it’s hard to believe certain people can develop their abilities beyond a certain point.

• What are 3 instances in which you observed someone learn to do something that you thought this person could never do?

Why do you think this occurred?

What could have been the implication of your belief that they couldn’t do it?

Growth LeadersFinding New Streams of Revenue

• Identified 50 mid-level mgrs. who achieved breakout results

• Each had very varied early career experiences

• Deep belief in learning and change

What a company doesn't know is far more important than what it does know