Developing a Mindset of Gold🏆
Developing a Mindset of Gold🏆
A Flyby Book Club Review
Welcome to the final book club review of the year (2023).
This month's book was Mindset by Carol Dweck. One that was truly mind-blowing.
This post is a nifty 9-minute read. I tried to keep it shorter than usual and will continue shortening these posts going forward.
First, a quick poll:
Alright, let's get into it.
I'd say this is probably one of the most important books anyone can read. That’s why it’s on my list of Top Six Books for New Entrepreneurs.
Whether you are an entrepreneur or not, this book smacks a solid shift in orientation that can send you soaring to your highest potential.
So, check it out if you haven't already.
Mindset is about the two types of mindsets that people can pick up. The fixed mindset and growth mindset.
A fixed mindset is one that suggests ability (knowledge, skill, talent, personality) is fixed and can't be improved.
A growth mindset says that all these areas (including ability in the arts, sports, business, science, anything) can be improved with the right effort and attitude.
A fixed mindset puts people in a lack.
People with a fixed mindset keep trying to defend their fixed traits. For someone who believes they are naturally talented, learning new things or improving their skills would be a blow to their ego. Why would you need to improve something you are already naturally good at? This keeps them from reaching their full potential and causes them to always be defensive in order to try and make themselves look good and feel better. Other people tend to not get along with them either.
A growth mindset puts people in abundance.
People with the growth mindset treat everything as a challenge, as an opportunity to learn, grow and better themselves. Mistakes are part of the process and can show us areas we would need to work on and improve. Scale this attitude over time with focused effort and optimizing strategies, and you will no doubt reach greater and greater heights. It's also worth noting that the growth mindset applies to everything, from math to art, to sports, to social skills. Anything can be improved upon.
The author doesn't dismiss "talent" altogether. Some people do start out with a certain advantage in certain areas, but unless they keep putting in the work to grow, they will reach a plateau and be surpassed by someone with a growth mindset in that field. Think tortoise and hare, except the tortoise is also increasing its speed as it learns more and becomes faster and faster.
"Do people with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but they believe that a person's true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it's impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training."
Personally, I do think this is very much possible, as long as you are following your inclinations and climbing the right mountain, and not just doing something to prove a point or live someone else's best life. It would just be a matter of going all in on whatever you want to be great at and genuinely enjoy doing (with the right strategies, of course).
The one "talent" growth mindset people have is being able to figure out how to construct this mountain for themselves:
"Howard Gardner, in his book Extraordinary Minds, concluded that exceptional individuals have "a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses." It's interesting that those with the growth mindset seem to have that talent."
Really, the difference comes down to defending what you know (since you think it can't be changed) or challenging yourself to improve (since everything can be improved).
This belief gives us a love for learning, growing, and self-improvement in all areas.
And that is all you need to reach the top of your potential while enjoying the climb.
"You can see how the belief that cherished qualities can be developed creates a passion for learning. Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it's not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives."
Amen.
Let's go through a bunch of areas the book covers where this applies (it has more as well, so read the book for the whole story).
Sports
"Did you know there was once a strong belief that you couldn't physically train for golf, and that if you built your strength you would lose your "touch"? Until Tiger Woods came along with his workout regimes and fierce practice habits and won every tournament there was to win."
The same concept applies to sports. Talent is overrated, yet that's what most people (including many experts) think is what makes a difference. In some sports, genetics (e.g., height, body type) can make a difference, but other than that, it really all comes down to effort and practice. The best athletes are the ones who love the practice and are continuously improving. The growth mindset ones. That's what puts them at the top of the top. In the fixed mindset, one tends to start off ahead but then hit a plateau, fearing effort as it would be seen as a challenge to their "natural ability and gifts." Thus never reaching their full potential.
The book gives several examples of both mindsets in various athletes across different sports. Check it out if you are into sports; I found it to be a super fascinating read.
"Are there sports you always assumed you're bad at? Well, maybe you are, but then maybe you aren't. It's not something you can know until you've put in a lot of effort. Some of the world's best athletes didn't start out being that hot. If you have a passion for a sport, put in the effort and see.
Sometimes, being exceptionally endowed is a curse. These athletes may stay in a fixed mindset and not cope well with adversity. Is there a sport that came easily to you until you hit a wall? Try on the growth mindset and go for it again."
The concept is repeated here in the sports context, but really, as we've seen, it applies to everything:
"Athletes with a growth mindset find success in learning and improving, not just winning."
It's about character and the mindset of a champion, that is, the mindset of learning, improving and focusing on reaching your highest potential. Scale this to other areas of life, and you'll become a solid growth mindset all-rounder.
Business
Of course, this plays out big time in the business world.
The book covers different CEOs and leadership styles in detail, and no surprise, the growth mindset leaders were thriving, empowering their colleagues, and focused on evolving as a unit, whereas the fixed mindset ones were always trying to cover their mistakes, make themselves look good, and prove their worth, thus leading to people not wanting to work with them and profits going down.
Organizations themselves can have a fixed or growth mindset; this comes from the culture and whether failure is encouraged or reprimanded. Some fixed-mindset organizations never admit to their mistakes, costing them their reputation and also financially. One such example in the book was Enron. A company that went from boom to bust.
This is in contrast to growth mindset organizations, where employees feel like they want to be part of the team, have a sense of belonging, and feel a personal sense of dedication to the mission.
If you've ever wanted to quit a job, chances are there was fixed mindset management in place, and if you ever plan on hiring people, make sure to build in a growth mindset culture, starting with leadership. Check out the book for details on this.
If you are an entrepreneur starting out, this mindset is even more of a top priority. It’ll point you in the direction you need to go rather than trying to keep up appearances. And if you are flying solo, then this is even more important, as you will no doubt have some gaps in your knowledge. But the growth mindset will help you learn how to cover them over time, know the areas you might need to eventually hire for and embrace the challenge. 🔥
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
―Joseph Campbell
It's the same with launching a product.
If it doesn't take off, someone with a fixed mindset would get defensive and blame the market for "not getting it" or come up with some other reason, such as bad timing or lack of capital, or perhaps put themselves down for creating a lame product. Not true. With a growth mindset, you would know that the launch is just the first step. Then it's about getting feedback, learning from it, improving your product, perhaps trying different marketing strategies and creative ways to spread the word and keep going till you are able to shape your product into something that is a success, even if this means pivoting entirely. We discussed this in detail in Making Hits📀💥.
Relationships
This book covers relationships as well; while this isn't the core theme of this newsletter (or is it?), this passage was too valuable not to share:
"So far, having a fixed mindset has meant believing your personal traits are fixed. But in relationships, two more things enter the picture—your partner and the relationship itself. Now you can have a fixed mindset about three things. You can believe that your qualities are fixed, your partner's qualities are fixed, and the relationship's qualities are fixed—that it's inherently good or bad, meant-to-be or not meant-to-be. Now all of these things are up for judgment. The growth mindset says all of these things can be developed. All—you, your partner, and the relationship—are capable of growth and change."
🤝
As far as parenting goes, it's about the language and attitude towards development. This same thing applies to teachers and coaches as well. We saw this a bit last week in a tennis lesson, with the two different styles of coaching and how failure and success were viewed (winning vs improving).
I also found it interesting to learn about how much impact praise had on development and how the style of praise impacts a child's mindset. Praising ability (e.g., smart, talented, fast) puts them in a fixed mindset. Praising effort (e.g., practice, work, strategies) puts them in a growth mindset.
Here are some examples of praising effort from the book:
"I like the way you tried all kinds of strategies on that math problem until you finally got it. You thought of a lot of different ways to do it and found the one that worked!"
"I like that you took on that challenging project for your science class. It will take a lot of work—doing the research, designing the apparatus, buying the parts, and building it. Boy, you're going to learn a lot of great things."
"I know school used to be easy for you and you used to feel like the smart kid all the time. But the truth is that you weren't using your brain to the fullest. I'm really excited about how you're stretching yourself now and working to learn hard things."
"That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it."
Now, if only we could go back in time and give this type of feedback to our younger selves. But, it’s never too late to start now, and begin again.
The same applies to coaching and how feedback is given.
Developing the Growth Mindset
Can the growth mindset be developed? Absolutely. According to the book, just knowing that this mindset exists is enough to break people out of the spell of the fixed mindset.
"One day, we were introducing the growth mindset to a new group of students. All at once, Jimmy—the most hard-core, turned-off, low-effort kid in the group—looked up with tears in his eyes and said, "You mean I don't have to be dumb?" From that day on, he worked. He started staying up late to do his homework, which he never used to bother with at all. He started handing in assignments early so he could get feedback and revise them. He now believed that working hard was not something that made you vulnerable, but something that made you smarter."
What's important to remember, though, is that it's not just about working hard at a problem or project but having the attitude of continuous improvement, trying new strategies, experimenting, and stepping out of your comfort zone. This is the growth mindset and, in terms of entrepreneurship, a necessary prerequisite for innovation.
As the author suggests, developing a growth mindset is a journey and a process itself. We all have a fixed mindset in certain areas; the first step is becoming aware of when it shows up and then replacing it with a mindset of growth over time. One that is rooted in lifelong learning, embracing challenges, persisting in the face of setbacks, welcoming effort in pursuit of mastery, learning from feedback, finding inspiration in others doing great things, and encouraging them as well.
In the end, the question to remember is this:
What would you like to have? Loads of validation of what you already know to be true and what you are good at? Or loads of challenge, learning, and breaking through the barriers of what you thought was possible?
For me, it's definitely the latter.
It's the beginner's mind, the challenge, the pursuit of greatness by embracing the process, the practice, and the tiny moments, all colliding together into the sudden symphony of excellence and creativity.
Right here in the present moment.
💥
Happy New Year, everyone. 🎉
Let this year be full of growth, learning, and meaningful challenges. Because that's what moves us forward.
Onwards.
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