Growth Mindset: how to Develop Growth Mindset

Technology is changing the way we work, and even the work we do. Adaptability has always been a key ingredient to workplace success and even more so with increased automation, AI and globalisation. Companies that focuses on growing and evolving will always have an edge in this competitive environment.

Remember the days when you wind up the dial on a disposable camera before taking a picture? Does the commercial with the song “what a wonderful world” sounds familiar to you? This is the Kodak commercial which captured the attention of many in those days. Kodak was one of the leading player in the photography industry, each photography process was a way of making money. You could photograph the BBQ session using a Kodak Instamatic, Kodak film and Kodak flash cube. And then you would have to processed it at the Kodak shop and get prints made with Kodak chemistry on Kodak paper.

Today, Kodak is no longer around. During the same time, Apple then known as a computer company reinvented their “computers” into a portable music player, and then into a mobile phone, and then started the mobile camera snapping trend we see everywhere now.

Companies that stuck to a fixed status quo lost their competitive edge and have a hard time catching up. What’s true in the global scale is also true at the personal level.

What must we do to ensure we are always growing and evolving? The key is to become a Growth Mindset person.

Key Lines · 3-5 buckets or topics you’ll cover in your story

Recognizing the Growth Mindset

In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Dweck describes the simple, yet impactful differences between the two mindsets:

Growth Mindset: People with a growth mindset believe in developing skills through learning and experimenting things and ideas. They take every failure as an opportunity to grow to become better with their abilities such as talent and intelligence.

Fixed Mindset: Those with a fixed mindset believe the opposite. They feel their abilities such as talent and intelligence are fixed from birth. Because of this, they’re more likely to seek out opportunities and situations where these views are affirmed (like doing the same job over and over to receive praise) and believe that talent alone—not effort—is the source of success.

What does it mean for you?

Let’s look at an example to further explain the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset.

Let’s say you’re running a small team with two engineers on your team, each with a different mindset.

The fixed mindset member will be more likely to stick to “business as usual”. They’ll try to use techniques and languages they know have worked in the past. And will be averse to trying new things because they want to rely on their talents alone.

The growth mindset member, on the other hand, believes that the best work comes from trying new solutions. They’ll be more likely to search out opportunities to test new and forward-looking solutions, without fear that:

1. They won’t be good at it right away (and it will take work)

2. It might not be the right choice, but they’ll learn from it anyways and become a better engineer in the long run

I don’t know about you, but I know who I will want on my team.

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