8 Tips to Develop a Growth Mindset in Your Team
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 9:49 am
ccording to Harvard Business Review , people working in organizations with a developed growth mindset are 34% more engaged in the company and loyal to it. Almost half of employees of such companies believe that they contribute to innovation and are proud of their employer.
In the following article, we will answer the questions: what is the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset, whether your company needs this approach and how to develop this mindset in your team.
What is growth mindset?
The difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset was first presented by psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University in 2010.
Let's look at the definitions:
Fixed mindset – the belief that every person has a certain level of intelligence and/or talent, and these traits are constant and unchangeable.
Growth mindset – the belief that anyone can continue to grow their skills through learning, persistence, and motivation. Success is determined not by innate talent or intelligence, but by personal commitment to growth.
With a fixed mindset, a person believes that potential is “predetermined” from birth and cannot be developed beyond a “predetermined” level. For people with a growth mindset, potential is unlimited.
Carol Dweck in her book Mindset shows the difference between the two approaches using the example of the word “yet.” Where a person with a fixed mindset thinks, “I can’t do this georgia mobile phone numbers database another with a growth mindset says, “I can’t do this…yet .” This formula focuses on potential, on what we can achieve if we just try.
With this approach, every obstacle becomes a learning opportunity. People with a growth mindset recover quickly from setbacks, recognizing them as part of the process.
According to Dr. Dweck, companies should more often develop a corporate culture that focuses on broadening the skills of everyone, rather than just recognizing the best employees. Dweck believes that when entire companies adopt a culture of development, their employees feel empowered, more supported in acquiring new skills, and more determined to propose new solutions.
Former Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes that the philosophy of development is a shift from “I know everything” to “I want to know everything .” At Microsoft, Nadella introduced this approach as “hypothesis testing.”
Instead of, “I have an idea ,” the manager says, “I have a new hypothesis, let’s test it .” If testing requires a disproportionate amount of resources, the team moves on to the next idea. Nadella emphasizes that if a hypothesis doesn’t work, it’s okay to admit failure.
How to develop a development mindset in a team?
#1. Include Learning in Your Work Goals
The types of goals you set for your team affect how they behave and think. Goals based solely on outcomes, such as company revenue, push employees into a fixed mindset. This approach lacks flexibility: either you meet the plan or you don’t.
Learning-based goals may seem less beneficial at first glance – unfortunately, you have to factor in the cost of team mistakes. However, this approach allows you to move away from the traditional “work as you work” method to adopting a growth mindset: looking for new, perhaps riskier solutions and getting used to seeing failures as growth points. In the long run, this approach pays off more.
The theory is confirmed by the example of Chrysler: in the 1980s, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and was forced to take out a government loan for 20 years. When management introduced the principles of growth mindset, the team created a new minivan model.
Prototype and implementation of the first Chrysler minivan
Prototype and implementation of the first Chrysler minivan
The success and profits were so great that Chrysler was able to pay off the loan 8 years early. The team abandoned the traditional goal of producing as many cars as possible of proven models, developing an entirely new, risky model - and succeeded.
#2 Support your team in the face of setbacks
Risk aversion is the typical behavior of someone stuck in a fixed mindset. To help your team break out of this trap, it’s important to show your teammates that they can make mistakes and the company won’t hold them accountable.
This is perfectly illustrated by the example of former Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who sent a letter of support to the team that organized the controversially failed project. In 2016, the company launched a bot on Twitter called Tay, which was supposed to show the possibilities of artificial intelligence by talking to users online about a given topic. Unfortunately, the bot had to be removed after 16 hours because users provoked it into racist and discriminatory statements.
The company immediately shut down the project and apologized to users, and Nadella urged employees to take criticism appropriately, showing "sympathy to all those who have suffered because of Tay." Nadella also emphasized that he always stands by his team and that one flawed hypothesis will not stop them from trying to change the world.
As a leader, work on your patterns of behavior in the face of failure. If someone on the team has made a mistake, it is easiest to pass the task on to someone else, but this is a sign of a fixed mindset. Instead, ask your colleague how you can support them now and in the future, or what they need. Perhaps additional training or help from the team? Teams only become stronger when employees have the opportunity to grow.
#3 Encourage your team to step out of their comfort zone
Professor Dweck's research shows that people with a growth mindset cope better with problems, while those with a fixed mindset tend to avoid difficulties and give up more quickly.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law shows that there is a U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and performance. Tasks that are too easy cause boredom, while tasks that are too difficult increase anxiety and demotivate. The best performance is achieved when task difficulty is moderate.
If you want to equip your team with a growth mindset, encourage them to step out of their comfort zone. At the same time, don’t cross the line beyond which tasks gradually become too difficult and unachievable. If they become too much of a challenge, this can lead to a decrease in motivation, giving up on trying to do them, and developing a fixed mindset.
#4 Create a culture of mutual feedback
Leaders often believe that a feedback culture is well-developed if they provide feedback to the team themselves. However, this process should be mutual. Only dialogue can "unlock" a development mindset in the team.
For example, Google practices “cross-feedback”: managers regularly hold one-on-one meetings with employees, and every quarter, team members fill out surveys assessing their interactions with their manager. And it works: According to statistics , companies that have implemented employee feedback have a 15% lower turnover rate.
In the following article, we will answer the questions: what is the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset, whether your company needs this approach and how to develop this mindset in your team.
What is growth mindset?
The difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset was first presented by psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University in 2010.
Let's look at the definitions:
Fixed mindset – the belief that every person has a certain level of intelligence and/or talent, and these traits are constant and unchangeable.
Growth mindset – the belief that anyone can continue to grow their skills through learning, persistence, and motivation. Success is determined not by innate talent or intelligence, but by personal commitment to growth.
With a fixed mindset, a person believes that potential is “predetermined” from birth and cannot be developed beyond a “predetermined” level. For people with a growth mindset, potential is unlimited.
Carol Dweck in her book Mindset shows the difference between the two approaches using the example of the word “yet.” Where a person with a fixed mindset thinks, “I can’t do this georgia mobile phone numbers database another with a growth mindset says, “I can’t do this…yet .” This formula focuses on potential, on what we can achieve if we just try.
With this approach, every obstacle becomes a learning opportunity. People with a growth mindset recover quickly from setbacks, recognizing them as part of the process.
According to Dr. Dweck, companies should more often develop a corporate culture that focuses on broadening the skills of everyone, rather than just recognizing the best employees. Dweck believes that when entire companies adopt a culture of development, their employees feel empowered, more supported in acquiring new skills, and more determined to propose new solutions.
Former Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes that the philosophy of development is a shift from “I know everything” to “I want to know everything .” At Microsoft, Nadella introduced this approach as “hypothesis testing.”
Instead of, “I have an idea ,” the manager says, “I have a new hypothesis, let’s test it .” If testing requires a disproportionate amount of resources, the team moves on to the next idea. Nadella emphasizes that if a hypothesis doesn’t work, it’s okay to admit failure.
How to develop a development mindset in a team?
#1. Include Learning in Your Work Goals
The types of goals you set for your team affect how they behave and think. Goals based solely on outcomes, such as company revenue, push employees into a fixed mindset. This approach lacks flexibility: either you meet the plan or you don’t.
Learning-based goals may seem less beneficial at first glance – unfortunately, you have to factor in the cost of team mistakes. However, this approach allows you to move away from the traditional “work as you work” method to adopting a growth mindset: looking for new, perhaps riskier solutions and getting used to seeing failures as growth points. In the long run, this approach pays off more.
The theory is confirmed by the example of Chrysler: in the 1980s, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and was forced to take out a government loan for 20 years. When management introduced the principles of growth mindset, the team created a new minivan model.
Prototype and implementation of the first Chrysler minivan
Prototype and implementation of the first Chrysler minivan
The success and profits were so great that Chrysler was able to pay off the loan 8 years early. The team abandoned the traditional goal of producing as many cars as possible of proven models, developing an entirely new, risky model - and succeeded.
#2 Support your team in the face of setbacks
Risk aversion is the typical behavior of someone stuck in a fixed mindset. To help your team break out of this trap, it’s important to show your teammates that they can make mistakes and the company won’t hold them accountable.
This is perfectly illustrated by the example of former Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who sent a letter of support to the team that organized the controversially failed project. In 2016, the company launched a bot on Twitter called Tay, which was supposed to show the possibilities of artificial intelligence by talking to users online about a given topic. Unfortunately, the bot had to be removed after 16 hours because users provoked it into racist and discriminatory statements.
The company immediately shut down the project and apologized to users, and Nadella urged employees to take criticism appropriately, showing "sympathy to all those who have suffered because of Tay." Nadella also emphasized that he always stands by his team and that one flawed hypothesis will not stop them from trying to change the world.
As a leader, work on your patterns of behavior in the face of failure. If someone on the team has made a mistake, it is easiest to pass the task on to someone else, but this is a sign of a fixed mindset. Instead, ask your colleague how you can support them now and in the future, or what they need. Perhaps additional training or help from the team? Teams only become stronger when employees have the opportunity to grow.
#3 Encourage your team to step out of their comfort zone
Professor Dweck's research shows that people with a growth mindset cope better with problems, while those with a fixed mindset tend to avoid difficulties and give up more quickly.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law shows that there is a U-shaped relationship between task difficulty and performance. Tasks that are too easy cause boredom, while tasks that are too difficult increase anxiety and demotivate. The best performance is achieved when task difficulty is moderate.
If you want to equip your team with a growth mindset, encourage them to step out of their comfort zone. At the same time, don’t cross the line beyond which tasks gradually become too difficult and unachievable. If they become too much of a challenge, this can lead to a decrease in motivation, giving up on trying to do them, and developing a fixed mindset.
#4 Create a culture of mutual feedback
Leaders often believe that a feedback culture is well-developed if they provide feedback to the team themselves. However, this process should be mutual. Only dialogue can "unlock" a development mindset in the team.
For example, Google practices “cross-feedback”: managers regularly hold one-on-one meetings with employees, and every quarter, team members fill out surveys assessing their interactions with their manager. And it works: According to statistics , companies that have implemented employee feedback have a 15% lower turnover rate.