The success of any individual or business organization largely depends not only on the concept of a positive attitude towards various aspects of life or business but most importantly on the ability to embrace new concepts and changes and be willing to learn new things.
I realized that the people or students who struggle in business, work, at home, or within relationships are those afraid of pushing out of their comfort zones.
Definition of Growth Mindset
Let us begin by going back to the original concept of growth mindset.
According to Dweck, people’s mindsets (whether fixed or growth-oriented) play a much wider role in their lives than only deciding what they believe about themselves. Mindsets can determine how students play the game and feel about their talent (or lack of it). And that is just a small selection of examples; Dweck’s description of the influence and demonstration of mindsets is endless.
What seems to bind all these examples together is the choice that people, knowingly or unknowingly, make. This choice is very simple, yet has far-reaching consequences on the way we lead our lives: Should I consider my abilities to be natural, bound to stay the way that they are? Or are they cultivated and can they grow, even if it is not easy to increase them?
In Nitin Nohria’s publication, the centenary special of Harvard Business Review (managing oneself), he asked thirty business leaders from global corporations what were the most significant things that they had learned about leadership in their careers. What did they answer? What were the skills that made their careers succeed? It turns out that how their thoughts interpreted their abilities was the key factor that they credited to their own and their organization’s growth.
The Benefits of a Growth Mindset
Availing of a growth mindset means that one is open to learning, to new experiences, to developing in-depth understanding, and especially to adapting to change.
People with a growth mindset generate better results in business. They are more accepting of the technological change that we all face and more agile and prepared individually to take on the much higher expectations that an organization will have of continuous improvement by its human capital. For a business, of course, the scale of an improvement and the fact that the effect can be cumulative over time can mean profound differences in their value relative to others.
The core process in our transition from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is learning. When the pay-offs from learning are high, learning becomes much more attractive to us, much easier to take on, and more sustainable within and between individuals and in the organizations in which they work. When the pay-offs from learning are high, we acquire something not just for the immediate circumstance but also for the longer term from applying our learning, and also to our agility in the future as we become more effective at processing new information, adapting better to change, and more readily find creative competitive advantages.
Personal Development
As people often demonstrate in life, it is necessary to improve oneself successfully and continuously develop individual qualities. Personal development allows the individual to, among other things, gain a sense of meaning and realization in life, change his/her attitude towards other people, become open to changes, think about life and careers, change, solve problems, learn, find motivation, get satisfaction and live in harmony, become successful and believe in oneself. Also, a person needs this so that he/she can adapt quickly and correctly to the outside world, strengthen internal resources, develop self-knowledge and self-awareness, and know oneself and know not only own opportunities, but also be able to assess lies.
The way of being and thinking will be determined by these abilities, understanding, learning, perception, intelligence, mental strength, subtlety, imagination, emotions, level of desires, will, experience, belief, personality.
Resilience and Adaptability
The importance of having a growth mindset in life and any line of business has become increasingly popular today due to what it can bring to the table.
A growth mindset is, in one sense, the belief that intelligence can be developed. In other words, one improved. Especially through hard work, good strategies, and the help of others. This belief in one’s innate and potential ability to achieve, as well as the understanding of personal growth and potential change, enables the development of characteristic perseverance, resilience, and adaptability.
Resilience and adaptability are remarkably prominent qualities of a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset derive a great sense of value from experimenting.
They see challenging problems (as opposed to plain easy ones) as mysteries to be grasped and massage the dimensions of their abilities.
No matter how many mistakes they encounter or how many blows or kinks life throws their way, people with a growth mindset persevere. They tackle more and save their energy for stretching, expanding, and producing advancement of their chosen goal. As they thrive equally on the accumulation of these acquired properties, it moves forward one good step at a time. Having a growth mindset and embracing the educational experience of learning is the clincher of all clinchers when it comes to resilience and mental toughness.
Cultivating a Growth Mindset
It cannot be denied that, to a certain extent, a person’s mindset is somewhat innate. However, recent psychological research suggests that mindsets are not absolute and can be altered in positive directions through favorable interventions. This indicates that addressing these pervasive mindsets will help individuals and organizations optimize their abilities yield better outcomes and thrive.
In the seminal research conducted by Carol Dweck, the psychology of mindsets is explored. In such work, the theory of two types of mindsets is formulated: one is the fixed mindset, and the other is the growth mindset.
I firmly believe that the cultivation of a growth mindset is a lifelong journey, beginning with the faith and belief that success is within one’s control.
Dweck uses the two concepts of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset to describe the abilities of people. In the fixed mindset, the belief prevails that basic qualities such as intelligence or talent are strictly fixed traits. On the opposing side, the growth mindset is based on the concept that basic abilities can be developed through devotion and constant work.
Self-Reflection and Awareness
A growth mindset is not something we have or do – it reflects who we are and how committed we are in moving forward in our personal and professional lives. We can say a growth mindset is not a destination as much as it is a journey. It is one pathway in life we can engage in – actively and intentionally each day.
A growth mindset is a lifelong journey for both our own personal and professional development. It is built on a commitment to ongoing learning as a leader and as a human being, to give of ourselves in service to others in both our personal and professional lives day in and day out.
Some see a growth mindset as an all-encompassing way of life. For them, self-reflection and awareness are two of the critical tools of the trade. To consider and use their feedback to better tailor their services in support of others. We can say having courageous conversations is a further expression of using a growth mindset in support of others – for mutual interests and benefits. To challenge and support, not put others down when offered in the right way, for the right reasons.
Applying a Growth Mindset in Business
People who operate from the model of a growth mindset thrive in business. Why? Because they believe that their intelligence, skills, and abilities are not fixed. They know that their talents and capabilities can be developed through dedication and consistent work.
What’s more, a growth mindset creates the pathway for resilience and persistence in entrepreneurs and their teams. When we believe that dedication and constant work are the powerful tools within our command, we keep trying and trying. We press on when the going gets tough. We maintain our resolve in the face of significant setbacks and difficulties, knowing that ability can be developed, that growth can be pursued and that learning never stops.
What are some of the features of a growth mindset as it’s applied in business?
– People with a growth mindset in the business world are willing and desirous to be constantly learning new and better ways to do things. They eagerly embrace new ideas, are willing to test and try new methods, and know that failure may happen, but then pick themselves up to start over again, with hope and expectation of coming out stronger and more skilled than before.
– People with a growth mindset take in feedback and input in varied forms (verbal, written, body language) with the enthusiasm of a student. They know that this is information they need to optimize their success and the success of the team and company. It’s information that provides ample evidence about where to look for growth opportunities.
– Those with a growth mindset in business thrash out their differences and queries to gain clarity and understanding, rather than to create an alliance that wins and one that comes out the loser. These people approach problems and challenges with curiosity, rather than viewing them as dead-ends or reasons to question or give up their self-worth.
– Growth mindset businesses understand that they are a work in progress. They notice when they have gotten stuck and understand they need to shake the cobwebs off and shift direction if they are going to continue to grow and prosper. Consequently, growth mindset entrepreneurs fear only one thing: they atrophy.
Conclusion
Several critical factors underpin the ability to adopt a growth mindset perspective including the willingness to try new things and to take risks in considering what might be or what could be done and why. Equally crucial is the recognition and acceptance of one’s limitations and the desire to improve them.
Recommended strategies to create the mindset include focusing on learning and growing, using feedback from others, giving feedback to others and refining one’s thoughts. Another factor which may be equally important, however, is the type of environments that are constructed.
