MINDSETS by CAROL S. DWECK

CHAPTER ONE

MINDSETS

To know why people adapt to failure, a test on pupils was run, using both a simple and a hard puzzle. Another question was asked; Why do people differ? The reasons were many and a few being background, family, and environment, among others. The basic drivers of these are; convincing yourself and convincing others that you can do it. 

The slightest situations humans go through put them in perpetual sorrow when they can't create a mindset to rise up, do better, and take risks. It is also a difficult thing to do self-estimation and evaluation that will be precise particularly for those who don't have a growth mindset ("I can" mindset), but it's the other way round for those with productive mindsets. 

CHAPTER TWO

INSIDE THE MINDSETS

Mindset is like a world you live in. You can decide to change it, or remain rigid. And that leads to the two types of abilities; the rigid (trying to prove smartness) and the changeable (susceptible to change). Therefore, humans should not be classed by affluence and achievements, but by their availability to learn. 

People that are not easily stretched, face challenges in marriage, sports, and leadership. People with a fixed mindset give up easily,  while the ones with a growth mindset believe there's still hope to do better.

And no matter what comes, one has to prove to oneself that he/she is special irrespective of the circumstances and what people say. Unlike people with a growth mindset, the ones with a fixed mindset take undue advantage of their success and believe it's a talent. 

Fixed mindset people easily give excuses for their failures and believe the effort is not required for success. But this is the other way for the growth mindset people, who appreciate any form of effort.

Trying something prevents excuses and gives one a chance to be better, by being knowledgeable, the good thing remains the fact that is one's mindset can be changed if the person realizes the danger and what he or she is missing out on based on his/her present mindset. 

CHAPTER THREE

THE TRUTH ABOUT ABILITY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT

In academics, growth mindset students figure out why they failed and work on it, but fixed mindset students prefer to mourn over the failure and play the blame game. Whereas, the solution is believing you can do it and giving it all it takes even when it gets tougher, till you get it right. 

Humans are not all born with the same ability, but they can achieve the best if they all work towards it. Therefore, some might just learn some things with natural ability, while others might need to be diligent to learn it. One of the major things that ruin an individual is praise, on the platform of talent, but praise, on the platform of encouragement and hard work, helps a lot. 

And making people feel they don't belong doesn't solve a problem, but both sides affect only a fixed mindset person. In short, the growth mindset lets people; even those who are targets of negative labels.

CHAPTER FOUR

SPORTS: THE MINDSET OF CHAMPION

Sport is one of the facets of life that believes in talented champions based on their looks and skills, but some won't still be champions because their mind does not support this. To make this work, training is one of the keys. Sports stars like Lenny Dykstra, Babe Ruth, Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan, Wilma Rudolph, Tiger woods, and Maury Wills,  realized the place of champions mindset and it paid out for them. Character is also one of the factors that define a winner. And until one admits his errors and works on it, one might remain a failure.

A character could also be referred to as one's will to win, and it helps them reach the top and stay at the top, unlike Darryl Strawberry, Mike Tyson, and Martina Hingis, who couldn't sustain their success.

What is success?

Growth mindset: Success is learning, improving one's self, and doing one's best.

Fixed mindset: Success is establishing one's superiority.

What is failure?

Growth mindset: Failure is an awakening to improve, be determined, and do better.

Fixed mindset: Failure is the limit where success can't be possible anymore.

People with a growth mindset take note of their success steps and continue in it to avoid fatigue, but eventually what brings the best out of a team is more than the solo act of the superstar but the even contribution of the superstar and the team members to become a champion.

CHAPTER FIVE

BUSINESS: MINDSET AND LEADERSHIP

One of the few ways to ruin a company is setting fixed mindset leaders over its affairs based on the "talent selection".

How does this affect the company?

1. Taking the wrong decisions.
2. Solo or selfish decision making, instead of productive teamwork.
3. Ego (bossing over others, not wanting to take blames for actions, and trying to bury the better development from others, so as to always take the credit).

But the involvement of great growth mindset leaders like Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner and, Anne Mulcahy (who pays attention to the workers, encourages hard work, and is always there to listen). It will be easy to fish out the fixed mindset staff who are not willing to change for better so the ready minds could be exposed to a learning atmosphere.

Great leadership is not gender-based, there used to be only men who held key positions in the world of great businesses but now there are women adding values to this sphere too. A fixed mindset believes that “People have a certain fixed amount of management ability and they cannot do much to change it”. In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe that people can always evolve to managing others.

”We-thinking" is when a whole team relents and trusts the decision of a leader, which is mostly loved by fixed mindset leaders, but growth mindset leaders appreciate healthy oppositions for better suggestions. 

Taking on challenges, showing persistence, and admitting and correcting mistakes which are the major attributes of successful business have been ruled out because of the desire to praise workers of this generation. In the field of negotiation, it has been observed that people with a growth mindset negotiate better than people with a fixed mindset.

Finally, a growth mindset environment involves;

1. A place that presents skills as learnable.
2. A place that conveys the organization's values, learning, and perseverance, not just ready-made genius or talent.
3. A place where there is feedback, in a way that promotes learning and future successes.
4. A place where managers are resources for learning.
5. A place where leadership is learnable.

CHAPTER SIX

RELATIONSHIPS: MINDSET IN LOVE (OR NOT)

When a breakup happens in relationships the response of each party is determined by their mindset. A fixed mindset sees this as hurts, a hurt that hurts their ego and they always long for revenge. 

While the growth mindset learns from their previous and tries to be better. A fixed mindset believes that his qualities, the partner's, and the relationship qualities can't be changed, while a growth mindset believes it is possible to develop all these traits.

Mind-reading is a part of relationships people don't pay attention to and has ruined lots of relationships. Trying to imagine without being sure, when all one needs to do is to ask when one is not clear enough. 

Agreeing on everything will be like asking for too much but having dialogues on issues will bring about the agreement not by imagining the agreement.

A fixed mindset prefers to ignore flaws in the relationship rather than trash it out and be better because every individual has his/her own flaws. So, it's left for the pair to work on it instead of believing there's someone with a perfect character out there.

It is a wrong mindset on the fixed part for a partner to think the spouse won't change, but it has to be willing. For instance, the spouse has the potential to change and not imagine he/she will change.

A fixed mindset person will never allow you to take the blame but blame your spouse for every fault, and this resulting in bitterness, but a growth mindset makes you identify the fault and work on it instead of according to blame. 

When one tries to outsmart the partner in his/her field, it results in an unhealthy competition which is one of the characteristics of a fixed mindset. 

Relationships can be an avenue for development if the two parties have a growth mindset, but in most cases, people with a fixed mindset will prefer to bring one down to polish their pride while a growth mindset will prefer to complement others so, in the long run, they both have your pride intact.

BULLIES AND VICTIMS: REVENGE REVISITED 

The bullies are usually always the set of people that look down on others and thereby harassing them based on the setback or circumstances in the victims. The reaction of the victims to this is determined by their mindset. A fixed mindset will crave revenge while a growth mindset person would see it as a psychological fault on the bully. But, prolonged bullying with no help can change the mindset of the victim, and the basic solution to this is to go against bullying and make the victims accepted.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND COACHES: WHERE DO MINDSET COMES FROM?

 Most parents have instilled a fixed mindset into their children by the way they commend them, most parents commend the results instead of commending the work put into it, but the better way is to commend the effort put into the success and not the success itself. Teachers should not also judge students based on the results, b but advice them to put the effort into their academics.

Parents, teachers, coaches, and guardians should not be too possessive in the life a child chooses. They should be willing to guide with love. That is why a fixed mindset student will see a successful student as the one with good grades and other visible traits, while a growth mindset student will see a successful student as the one who is ready to grow in all facets of life. Fixed mindset teachers believe that they're perfect already while growth mindset teachers believe they can still learn more even as teachers.

It is possible that a false growth mindset is could be mistaken for a growth mindset. A growth mindset is not flexibility and praising hard work alone,  but readiness to grow talent by acknowledging the process, hard work, focus, and perseverance. And the only way the growth mindset could be passed from adults to kids is through action.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHANGING MINDSETS

To change one's mindset is not an immediate action, it dawns on them gradually till it has a full grip. The cognitive method, where you try to see more to every situation you face, and not be afraid to face challenges is one way. Another method is 'brainology' where the students are being taught about the functionality of the brain and how it influences their fields.

How the growth mindset sets in:

1. The first dilemma sets in when your expectation has been disappointed and you feel like a failure.
2. The fixed mindset reacts by trying to weigh you down even when you try to console yourself with a reason.
3. The fixed mindset reacts to counter while the growth mindset reaction tells you to try again with a better approach and more effort and it will work out well. These procedures apply to various aspects of our lives which include academics, finances, sports, and so on.

The steps to actualize these above are:

1. It starts by accepting that we all have both mindsets.
2. Then are we learning to recognize the trigger to our fixed mindset: Failures? Criticism? Deadlines? Disagreements?
3. And understanding what happens to us when our fixed mindset “persona” is triggered.

Importantly, we can gradually learn to remain in a place of growth mindset despite the triggers, as we educate our persona and invite it to join us on our journey.

Ideally, we will learn more and more about how we can help others on their journey too.

Photo credit: Amazon

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