Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Pathwise’s Synopsis of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

About the Author

Carol S. Dweck earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University. She worked at the University of Illinois, Harvard’s Laboratory of Human Development, and Columbia University, where she was the William B. Ransford Professor of Psychology. Dweck is currently the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, where she teaches developmental psychology and theories of the self. Dweck is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dweck is a leading researcher in personality, social, and developmental psychology. Her research focuses on the self-conceptions people use to structure their identity, which will, in turn, guide their behavior. She wrote a scholarly book called Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development, named Book of the Year by the World Education Fellowship. She has also published in outlets such as The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. 

Sources: Wikipedia and “About the Author” section of the book

Our one-sentence book summary

Our mindsets impact our life achievements – those with a growth mindset flourish because they know they can develop their abilities; those with a fixed mindset become stuck as they believe abilities are unchangeable.

Publisher’s Summary

“After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment.

In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love—to transform their lives and your own.”

Source: Book Jacket

Detailed Summary 

Introduction

• Psychology studies show beliefs have power over what people want and whether they achieve it. We are aware of some beliefs but not all. Recognizing and changing them, no matter how simple, can have a profound impact on our behavior.
• In this book, Dweck covers how one belief, our mindset, guides most of our lives, and she teaches how to change it.
• In this edition, Dweck added descriptions of recent research to chapters five, seven, and eight. These studies provide evidence for the existence of organizational mindsets influencing success, introduce the concept of a false growth mindset interfering with development, and help clarify misunderstandings about the growth mindset.
  

Chapter 1 – The Mindsets

• Trying to decipher why human beings are so different, experts have claimed two opposing views at the extremes of a continuum. On one end, some claim that there’s a physical basis for our capabilities. On the other end, some believe our experiences dictate our success.
  • Most modern experts now understand it is not genes or environment alone, but rather a combination of both that influence our development.
• Like these views, people are unconsciously set on one of two mindsets: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.
  • Dweck’s 30 years of research have shown that our mindsets affect how we live our lives, determining what we accomplish and who we become.
  • The fixed mindset refers to when people believe qualities are unchangeable. This perception creates an urgency to prove to ourselves and others that we have a given degree of intelligence or moral characteristics.
  • In a growth mindset, traits like intelligence, personality, and character are basic qualities that we cultivate through effort, strategies, and the help of others.
  • While people differ in terms of the talents, aptitudes, interests, and temperaments with which they were born, a growth mindset allows us to change and grow them.
• When having a bad day, people with the two different mindsets have distinct views on the situation and, therefore, different reactions.
  • E.g., in a research study, people with a fixed mindset became extremely disappointed and even reported considering quitting school if, on their first midterm, they got a C+. When exposed to the same scenario, people with a growth mindset reported greater intentions to spend more time studying.
  • Another distinction was that people with a fixed mindset labeled themselves unintelligent or similar, but people with a growth mindset were ready to take the challenge and keep working.
• People’s perceptions about risk and effort come from their mindsets. Those who believe their qualities are static feel shame upon failure, but those who believe qualities can improve, perceive failure as a setback or a challenge. They enjoy the learning process.
• Research suggests that people are bad at estimating their capabilities. However, those with a fixed mindset misestimate their performance and ability the most. If you believe you can improve, you are open to feedback. You even welcome it, because you need it.
• A fixed mindset makes you concerned with how others will judge you. The growth mindset focuses on improving. The good news is that you can change your mindset.

Chapter 2 – Inside The Mindsets

• Research on brainwaves has shown differences in how people process feedback. The brains of people with a fixed mindset appeared the most attentive when feedback reflected on their ability. They paid attention when the researchers told them their right and wrong answers. But, when they were presented with information to help them learn, they showed little interest. The opposite was true for people with a growth mindset.
• The CEO disease refers to the idea of being the perfect leader. Not every CEO suffers from it. Many leaders know how to confront their shortcomings regularly. But all CEOs face the dilemma of choosing short-term strategies to boost company stock performance and appear successful, or working for long-term improvement, risking stock performance and their own appearance.
• People with a growth mindset don’t just seek challenges, they thrive on them. They say things like, “This is challenging. This is fun.”
• People with a fixed mindset don’t just need to look smart, they have to become flawless right away. They need immediate perfection. If they’re not great on the first try, they might not continue trying. They want the ability to show up without any learning.
  • People with a fixed mindset most likely gave one exam or test the power to measure their intelligence as something that won’t change. The test defined them.
• Elvis Presley, Lucille Ball, Charles Darwin, and Michael Jordan are famous individuals who were once told they had little potential for their fields. And it may have been true. The reason they are famous today is they valued effort and worked hard to improve their skills. People with a growth mindset know potential takes time to flourish.
• Fixed-minded people focus on success rather than growth. They become stuck with ideas of being special, different, and better than others. The self-esteem movement encourages this way of thinking. The problem emerges when being special translates to being better than others. We’re accidentally teaching children that they are more valuable or superior to others.
• People with a fixed mindset feel hubris when they succeed. In their way of thinking, they are superior. But when they fail, instead of perceiving it as an unsuccessful action, they transform into failure as their whole identity (“I am a failure”).
  • People with both mindsets experience pain upon failure, but only a growth mindset allow us to deal with and learn from it. In a fixed mindset, failure can become permanent.
  • In a fixed mindset, lacking ability means you really are a failure, so it becomes hard for people to cope. Some people will protect their self-esteem and look for others with whom to compare themselves, making sure the other person is doing worse than they are. Others will seek someone or something to blame or make excuses. The problem is that you can learn from your mistakes only if you don’t deny them.
• Studies show that fixed-minded people are more likely to suffer from depression. While growth-minded people can still become depressed, they are more likely to take action, face their problems and keep up with their responsibilities. They cope with determination.
• Some of us believed the narrative that either we have ability or we need to make an effort, as if they were mutually exclusive. Believing in fixed traits means that effort is for those who aren’t really smart or talented.
  • A person with a fixed mindset thinks that things come easy to geniuses. A person with a growth mindset knows even geniuses work hard to achieve their goals.
• There are two main reasons why people with a fixed mindset reject effort:
  • They believe geniuses don’t need effort.
  • Admitting effort takes away their ability to say, “I could’ve been… if I really tried.”
• Some people with a fixed mindset might not hold the idea that effort means low ability but still show other behaviors that emerge from this mindset: putting their talent on display, thinking they are superior, and having a low tolerance for mistakes, criticism, or setbacks.
• Even if people tend to have a fixed mindset, they aren’t always in that mindset. All of us have a mix of both mindsets, depending on the area. Some people think intelligence can improve, but that personality is fixed, for example.
• The growth mindset allows people to do what they want regardless of the outcome. In a fixed mindset, people will focus on the product.
• Growth mindset does not mean that everything that can be changed should be changed. Sometimes we need to accept imperfections.

Chapter 3 – The Truth About Ability and Accomplishment

• The low-effort syndrome is the result of a fixed mindset individual facing a difficult transition and perceiving it as a threat. Adolescents are particularly susceptible, as many focus on using their resources in protecting their egos rather than learning. With a fixed mindset, a common way to protect the ego is not trying or exerting as little effort as possible.
• College is another transition that leads to the low-effort syndrome. When preparing for an exam, most students read their textbooks and notes, and try to memorize as much as possible. If they do poorly on a test, those with a fixed mindset would argue they studied, so therefore the subject matter is not their strength.
  • Those with a growth mindset study differently. Instead of memorizing, they look for underlying themes, go over their mistakes until they understand them, and focus on learning – not on preparing for the exam.
  • Even if the textbook or lectures are boring, students with a growth mindset remain motivated to learn.
• Prodigies are children who are born with heightened abilities. Through relentless pursuit, they usually become highly accomplished. Often, we believe that the gift is the ability itself. But what feeds it and keeps it alive is constant challenge seeking.
  • In cases of both prodigies and non-prodigies, interests can become strong abilities. What one person can learn, almost everyone else can learn, but they need the appropriate resources and conditions to learn.
  • Test scores can tell you where you are, but they can’t tell you where you will end up.
• Because intelligence is so multifaceted, when they think about it, most people are open to the idea that we can develop our intellectual abilities. But when it comes to art or sports, we think that those at the top possess a gift that the rest of us simply do not.
  • We can all develop our arts and sports abilities. “Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training” (p. 70).
• Praise and positive labels, although they’re usually well-intended, can have negative effects. In a research study, Dweck gave students a series of questions. When they were done, her team praised half of the students for their ability and the other half for their effort. Results show that praising them for their ability activated a fixed mindset. When asked, these students did not want to take on another, more challenging task. Of the other half, 90% of them agreed to try another challenge.
  • In the same study, when they were asked to explain why they didn’t want to do another task, those who were praised on their ability said it was not fun anymore. Those who were praised on their effort said the most difficult problems were the most fun. And they actually performed better than the other group.
  • When they were asked for feedback (to give to students at other schools), they had to tell what their scores were. Those in the ability-praised group were more likely to lie about their results.
• Negative labels are also damaging. When people have stereotypes present in their minds (e.g., by responding to a question about gender or race before answering an exam), they are more likely to do worse than those whose stereotypes aren’t salient at that moment.
  • Research suggests that worries about confirming the stereotype take up mental resources, limiting the individual’s power to perform well on tests. This phenomenon is most common among people with fixed mindsets because they believe that such traits are stable, and the message resonates.
• “When we are given a positive label, we’re afraid of losing it; and when we’re hit with a negative label, we’re afraid of deserving it” (p. 76). People with a growth mindset see prejudice for what it is: someone else’s view of them. So, they’re better able to confront them with confidence and their view of their abilities unharmed.

Chapter 4 – Sports: The Mindset of a Champion

• The idea of “a natural” emerged from sports – an industry that, despite all evidence, believes in innate talent as the sole factor that will determine an athlete’s success. Such is the strength of the belief that scouts and coaches search for naturals when recruiting. But innate talent isn’t everything.
  • In boxing, experts use physical measurements (fist size, reach, chest expansion, weight, etc.) to distinguish potential. Muhammad Ali didn’t pass these measurements. He was not a natural. Sonny Liston, his adversary, was a natural. But Ali’s brilliance was his mind. He studied his opponent and spent time getting to know him in and out of the ring. He figured out how to beat him, and he did.
  • Michael Jordan wasn’t a natural either. He was cut from his high school team. But he is probably the hardest-working athlete in the history of basketball. He was devastated when he was cut, but he trained constantly. He impressed his coaches as he worked harder than anyone else. For him, success was on the mind.
  • Babe Ruth was not a good hitter. But he had discipline and a love of practice.
  • Wilma Rudolph, the fastest woman on Earth and winner of three gold Olympic medals, nearly died of polio, pneumonia, and scarlet fever when she was four. She had an almost paralyzed left leg. But she was determined. At age twelve, she walked normally and decided to train for the track. She lost every race she ran until she didn’t. And then she continually won.
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee won every heptathlon she competed in between 1985 and 1996. She had talent, but she wasn’t the best. She practiced as much as possible until she started winning. She won her second to last medal in a world championship during an asthma attack and her last medal in the Olympics with a hamstring injury.
• Some naturals appear to have talent from the start. But for many of them, this becomes a curse. As they get carried away with their superiority, they never learn to practice, work hard, or deal and cope with setbacks.
  • Pedro Martinez (baseball) and John McEnroe (tennis) are examples of athletes with amazing talent who never developed character. Enmeshed in their greatness, whenever something went wrong, they lost focus, were unable to cope, couldn’t improve on their weaknesses, and blamed others for their failures.
• Athletes with a growth mindset find success in doing their best and improving, consider setbacks motivating and informative, and take charge of the process.
  • E.g., Michael Jordan might have lost some stamina with age, but to compensate, he worked even harder on his moves.
• With a fixed mindset, people don’t take charge of their abilities and motivations. They expect their talent to carry them through. They perceive themselves as a finished product, rather than a work in progress, so they can’t put effort into practice. Instead, they seek validation.
• All sports, even individual ones like tennis or golf, require teams. Diana Nyad, the woman holding the open-water swimming record of over 100 miles, spends months training.
  • She swam 102.5 miles with the help of fifty-one people: guides measuring winds and currents, divers looking for sharks and obstacles, experts guiding her nutrition, trainers helping her through shivers, nausea, hallucinations, etc.
• The somebody-nobody syndrome is the belief that “If I win, I’ll be somebody; if I lose, I’ll be nobody.” This idea is ingrained in athletes’ fixed mindsets. Worrying about being a nobody will rarely motivate and sustain anyone. Athletes with a growth mindset focus on self-development and self-motivation and acknowledge responsibility.

Chapter 5 – Business: Mindset & Leadership

• People with a fixed mindset think that, like “naturals” in sports, there are people who were born to lead businesses.
• Companies that put too much faith in talent end up with a culture with a very low tolerance for mistakes, making workers seek the appearance of extraordinary aptitude and forcing everyone in the organization into a fixed mindset.
  • An environment that values people because of their innate talent leads to people having difficulty learning, especially when their image is threatened.
• Good leaders and great companies usually have a growth mindset. They invest time and resources in human development. They seek constant improvement, are capable of noticing mistakes and correcting them, and ask for frank feedback.
• Fixed-mindset leaders think that some people are superior and others are inferior. CEOs with fixed mindsets regularly validate their superiority, using their companies as a platform.
  • In a study, a common trend among fixed-minded CEOs who sought a reputation of greatness was setting their companies up to fail upon their leave so that it would appear like it was they keeping it successful.
  • Another common tendency was for fixed-mindset leaders to think geniuses didn’t need teams. They just needed people to carry out their ideas.
  • Growth-mindset leaders were concerned with employee growth and mentoring.
• Lee Iacocca worked at Ford for a very long time. He was shocked when he was fired because he always thought he was different and smarter than everyone else. He had a fixed mindset. He became CEO of Chrysler, a Ford rival, and helped it out of bankruptcy. He declared himself a hero, but in a short time, Chrysler was in trouble again.
  • Fixated on proving his worth after getting fired, Iacocca dedicated company resources to enhancing his image, instead of investing in new car design, manufacturing improvements, or worker development.
  • He was worried that others would get credit, so he would disregard employees’ ideas. When problems arose, he blamed others and made excuses. E.g., when Japan’s vehicles started selling in America, he demanded the government impose tariffs and quotas to stop them, rather than focusing on his company’s growth.
  • Iacocca later recuperated from the CEO disease and worked on developing environment-friendly vehicles.
• Other similar cases of fixed-minded CEOs include Albert Dunlap, Kenneth Lay, and Jeffrey Skilling. These men were so focused on others’ perceptions of them that they failed to see reality. For instance, Lay and Skilling were leaders at Enron, a company that recorded millions of dollars in profits on a business before it generated any revenue.
• Steve Case of AOL and Jerry Levin of Time Warner merged their companies. But, they both had fixed mindsets. They took more credit than they deserved, intimidated people, and cultivated an image of extraordinary intelligence. Rather than collaborating to save their companies, they competed for personal power.
  • In 2002, AOL Time Warner ended the year with a loss of almost one hundred billion dollars – the largest yearly loss in American history.
• The previous examples are fixed-minded people who didn’t set out to do harm. But at pivotal times, they opted for what built up their images over what would serve long-term corporate goals.
• In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins argues that companies that didn’t get to be great had leaders who became the main focus. With everyone focusing on making the boss happy and being afraid of getting him upset, companies wouldn’t grow.
• Growth-minded CEOs are different. Jack Welch took over General Electric in 1980, a time when the company was valued at $14 billion. Twenty years later, it was valued at $490 billion. Welch focused on the employees. He went to the assembly line to hear what workers had to say.
• Lou Gerstner was the CEO of IBM. When he was hired, the company had a difficult culture. There was no teamwork or concern for the consumer, and the business was suffering. He believed in personal growth and in creating the culture that would foster it.
  • He opened up communication through the company, visited as many offices as possible to talk about strategies to strengthen the company, and disbanded management committees. Finally, he focused on the customer.
  • By the time Gerstner retired in 2002, IBM’s stock had increased 800 percent and became the number one company in its industry.
• Anne Mulcahy took over Xerox in 2000. In 2004, Fortune named her “the hottest turnaround act since Lou Gerstner.” She was a learner. She took the time to understand everything about the company. She also worried about morale and development, so she constantly worked on Xerox’s culture.
• In a study, researchers had over 30 groups of three people collaborate and manage a made-up furniture company. They divided the 30 groups into two categories, those who had a growth mindset and those who tended toward a fixed mindset. Their results suggest that growth-minded people had less difficulty communicating, learning from their mistakes, adapting, and solving problems.
• Groupthink refers to when everyone in a group begins to think alike. It often comes out of a fixed mindset and can lead to bad decisions, as no one disagrees or takes a critical stance. Groupthink occurs when:
  • People put all of their faith in one person such as a talented leader,
  • A group gets carried away by a conviction that they are brilliant and superior,
  • A leader punishes disagreement causing people to remain silent, or
  • Workers dedicate their time and resources to seeking validation from their leaders.
• Research suggests that companies thrive when they hire growth-minded individuals. It also argues that we can train leaders, managers, and employees to believe in growth. To create such an environment, leaders should:
  • Present skills as learnable,
  • Share the importance of learning and perseverance,
  • Provide feedback that motivates learning and future success,
  • Present managers as resources for learning.
• Dweck’s research suggests that people who are in growth-mindset working environments are more trusting of their company, value it more, and feel a greater sense of empowerment and commitment, compared to employees in fixed mindset environments.
  • In a similar research study, supervisors with a growth mindset were more likely to give positive reviews to their employees compared to fixed-minded supervisors. Growth-mindset supervisors perceived their teams as more collaborative and committed and were more likely to believe they had the potential for management.

Chapter 6 – Relationships: Mindsets in Love (Or Not)

• In a study, researchers asked participants about breakup experiences. They found that those with a fixed mindset felt judged, labeled, and rejected. They were less likely than growth-mindset people to heal the wound and reported a greater desire for revenge.
  • For people with a growth mindset, the experiences, although hurtful, provided them with an opportunity to learn. E.g., one participant said that how his relationship ended taught him about the importance of communication.
• As a society, we perceive people with good social skills as “charming” or “cool,” and good relationships as having “chemistry.” But interpersonal abilities are not fixed. People can learn and improve relationships.
• For fixed-minded people, their personal traits are static. But this belief also applies to the other person and to the relationship itself. Two main problems emerge from this belief:

1. 1. The idea that if you have to work hard, it wasn’t meant to be.

• • • In a growth mindset, people believe that in lasting relationships, partners work together through their differences. But fixed mindset individuals think that if people are compatible, harmony should come easily and naturally.
    • Fixed-minded people tend to engage in “mind reading,” assuming what other people think or meant, instead of having open communication. They also believe that good couples should agree on everything.

1. 2. The idea that relationship problems are character flaws.

• • • When people with a fixed mindset face problems with their partners, they believe they are dealing with a character flaw. Sometimes, this is enough for them to want to end the relationship. Other times, they don’t work on supporting their partner in improving or learning, leading to disconnection.
    • Fixed-minded people assign blame to a character flaw (instead of pointing to the specific action). Given they perceive the problem as a fixed trait, they can’t solve it.
• People with a fixed mindset have difficulty forgiving others because they feel rejected. But sometimes, it also comes from the perception that, if they forgive the person, they must admit part of the blame. Such a mindset impedes blame acceptance because, for them, it means accepting a character flaw.
• In a fixed mindset, people are easily drawn into competing with partners or friends. This mentality leads to the notion that the lower the other person is, the better one will feel.
• People with growth and fixed mindsets can both be shy, although it is more common for the latter. Shyness emerges from a fear of judgment and embarrassment. Growth-mindset people see social interactions as challenges worth overcoming and as learning experiences. Fixed-mindset people prefer avoiding new social interactions, fearing the risk of rejection.
• Bullying is judging. It is also about establishing social status by demonstrating who is more powerful. Although they don’t necessarily have to have low self-esteem, most bullies do get a self-esteem boost when they demean others.
• Bullies are prone to fixed mindsets. They believe some people are superior and others are inferior. But, a fixed mindset also plays a role in how the victims react.
  • When people feel deeply judged and rejected, it’s common for them to get furious and wish for retaliation. In her research, Dweck found that this is especially true when individuals have a fixed mindset.
  • In describing her research findings on a study about bullying and mindsets, Dweck explains: “When we hear about [school shootings], we usually think it’s bad kids from bad homes who [would commit such a violent act]. But it’s startling how average, everyday kids with a fixed mindset think about [vicious] revenge” (p.170).
  • Participants with a growth mindset didn’t perceive being victims of bullying as a bad reflection on themselves, but rather a psychological problem of the bully.
• School cultures tend to promote a fixed mindset. Many schools tolerate and accept it. The problem is that, even if a victim doesn’t have a fixed mindset, prolonged bullying instills it.
• Some schools have created programs to reduce bullying. A particularly successful one is that of Stan Davis, a therapist and school counselor who focuses on teaching collaboration and self-improvement. His main approach is to teach students the growth mindset.

Chapter 7 – Parents, Teachers, & Coaches: Where Do Mindsets Come From?

• Words and actions send messages. These can be either, “You have permanent traits that I will judge,” or, “You are a developing person, and I am committed to helping you grow.”
  • In a child’s mind, a message like, “You’re so brilliant, you got an A without studying!” can translate to “I should quit studying, so they keep thinking I’m brilliant.”
• Research suggests that praising children’s intelligence trumps motivation and performance. Parents think that praising children helps them become confident, but when anything goes wrong, it makes children doubt themselves. Parents instead should focus on teaching them to love challenges, learn from mistakes, and enjoy making an effort.
  • Praise itself is not a problem, it becomes a problem when it judges intelligence or talent as it implies that you’re proud of your kids’ ability rather than the work they put into a given activity.
  • Instead of fixed traits, show interest in their efforts and choices, and appreciate them for their practice, persistence, and good selection of strategies.
• Be careful, not just about what you say to your children, but about what you say about others in front of them. Absolutist comments about others’ abilities or intelligence send kids the wrong kind of message and nourish a fixed mindset.
• Society has inculcated the idea that, to protect children’s self-esteem, we must keep them from failing. But this tendency is harmful in the long run.
  • E.g., your daughter participated in a gymnastics competition and didn’t win any medals.
    • If you tell her that you thought she was the best, you’re lying (which she knows), and you’re offering no solution or improvement strategies.
    • If you tell her she was robbed of a prize, you’re placing blame on others.
    • If you tell her that the competition or gymnastics aren’t that important, you’re teaching her to devalue things at which she isn’t naturally good.
    • If you tell her she has the ability and she will surely win next time, you’re telling her she doesn’t need to work hard.
  • What you need to tell her, with the appropriate words, is that you understand her disappointment, but that she didn’t deserve the win. The other girls practiced a lot more and harder, so if this is something that she really wants, she has to work hard as well. And you can offer strategies to help her.
    • Children need honest and constructive feedback.
  • In a growth mindset, children believe their parents are encouraging good learning habits. They also feel helped. In a fixed mindset, children think their parents judge them. In some cases, the message they receive is that they need to earn their parents’ love by fulfilling their parents’ aspirations for them.
  • Many educators think that for children to develop a healthier self-esteem, they need to lower standards so that students can succeed. But lowering standards leads to poorly educated students who feel entitled to easy work and lavish praise. However, simply raising standards without giving students resources to reach them also leads to poor preparation and reduces motivation for learning.
  • Teachers with a fixed mindset tend to assess students’ beginning performance and then label those who are smart and those who struggle. They don’t believe in improvement, so they don’t create an atmosphere for it.
  • Benjamin Bloom studied over 120 world-class experts in several fields, from music and sports to math and neurology. He found that in most cases, their first teachers were especially warm and accepting. Rather than judgment, they created an atmosphere of trust.
  • As teachers, it is important to be positive, but delusion is never helpful. Those who celebrate failure limit students’ potential. Children need to know if they are behind, but they also need help in setting a plan that will help them catch up.
  • Great teachers foster a love for learning. They teach children to think for themselves and to work hard.
    • When students notice others can do or understand things that they don’t, they perceive an overwhelming gap. Some teachers will reassure students by telling them they’re fine just where they are. But a growth-minded teacher will tell the student the truth and then will provide her with the tools to close such a gap.
  • Fixed-minded teachers think of themselves as a finished product whose job is just to impart knowledge. After a year, they get bored of having to do the same thing over and over again. But growth-minded teachers see their job as an opportunity to learn, both about what they teach and to whom they teach.
  • In recent years, Dweck found out about the spread of a false growth mindset. There are three main misunderstandings:

1. 1. 1. People think that being flexible and open-minded means having a growth mindset. But these are not the same. You can have an open mind, but might still have difficulty cultivating your abilities.
      2. People also believe that a growth mindset is about effort and praising effort only. Effort is part of the process, but effort alone isn’t enough. A student might be working very hard, but with the wrong strategies, they might not improve.
         • Praising effort can also backfire if the child didn’t put effort into their work.
         • Effort isn’t a consolation prize either. If you are going to praise something, make sure it’s the whole process (strategies and others’ help included), tying it to the outcome. Children need to understand that it was through engaging in the process that they learned.
      3. People think a growth mindset is the same as telling kids they can do anything. But telling them they can do anything is an empty reassurance if no one helps them gain the necessary skills and find the resources needed to make progress.

• For simplicity matters, Dweck writes in terms of some people having one mindset or the other. But she explains that we all are a mixture of the two. Our job is to understand and define the circumstances that trigger our fixed mindset.

Chapter 8 – Changing Mindsets

• Changing mindsets is not easy. It’s a process that requires us to accept that sometimes we will make mistakes. Our fixed mindset might take over from time to time. Feeling and acting differently will come from new beliefs displacing old ones.
• Our minds are constantly monitoring and interpreting our surroundings and experiences. Sometimes, these interpretations go awry or become extreme, and then we react with anxiety, depression, anger, or hubristic pride. It is our mindset that frames these interpretations.
  • The main distinction between the two mindsets is not whether we monitor ourselves or not. Those with a growth mindset do it, but they don’t have an internal monologue constantly critiquing them. They’re sensitive to positive and negative information, but they are more attuned to the learning possibilities behind them than are fixed-minded people.
• Simply learning about the growth mindset can lead to shifts in the way we think. It can mobilize people and help them persevere.
  • Dweck has developed workshops that help students change their mindsets. With her team, she also developed Brainology, an interactive program that helps develop a growth mindset among students.
• People hold fixed mindsets because, at some point, it served them a purpose. It gave them mental guidelines about who they are. It provided a formula to maintain their self-esteem. That’s why changing mindsets is difficult. It’s not easy to let go and take the risk of “losing” who we are. But a growth mindset will help you become a better you.
• When seeking behavioral or habitual chances such as losing weight, research suggests that vowing is useless. What we need is a concrete plan that we can visualize – a when, where, and how that facilitate follow-through.
  • In cases of losing weight, quitting smoking, or controlling our anger, people with a fixed mindset focus so much on willpower that they disregard strategies that can help them improve. They think willpower is something people either have or don’t have and fail to understand that willpower needs help too.
  • Growth-minded people understand that self-control is learnable through practice, useful strategies, and the development of habits. They also know they need to plan.
• Dweck explains that fixed-minded people sometimes use growth-minded strategies but warns that using them without an honest mindset change can backfire.
  • E.g., a parent might try to teach their child to be more empathetic or helpful. When the child’s behavior shifts accordingly, in the fixed mindset, the parent will stop using the strategies, thinking the child has changed and is now empathetic and helpful, so the behavior will continue. When it doesn’t, the parent gets frustrated and angry and more punitive.
• To teach children a growth mindset, the best approach is to shift your family values and model them to your kids.
• Among children, lack of effort is not always a problem. Sometimes, it’s too much effort focused on the wrong cause and the reliance on incorrect strategies (e.g., children and teens staying up past midnight studying). They aren’t loving the process of learning, but rather trying to prove themselves.
• To change mindsets, follow these steps:

1. Embrace your fixed mindset. We all have some degree of it, and we need to acknowledge it.
2. Learn to recognize what triggers your fixed mindset. It is usually failure, criticism, rejection, deadlines, disagreements, stress, etc.
3. Give your fixed mindset a name. Understand what happens when our fixed-minded persona takes over. Who is this persona? What does it make you feel, think, and do?
4. Educate your persona so that you gradually learn to remain in a growth mindset despite the triggers.
5. Learn about how you can help others.

• “For your growth mindset to bear fruit, you need to keep setting goals – goals for growth” (p. 262).

Source: Diagram developed by Nigel Holmes, referenced in Carol Dweck’s Mindset, p. 263.