Thinking with a growth mindset builds resiliency while improving internal motivation, productivity, and the employee experience.
How do we think about individual performance? Let’s use public speaking as an example. “I’m too shy to be a great public speaker” is a common phrase we’ve all heard or thought about ourselves. “My shyness affects my ability to speak publicly, but I’m getting better the more I practice” is another way to approach performance, but it isn’t most people’s go-to assessment.
Between the two thoughts, one is clearly more supportive, yet most people default to the first line of thinking. You know, those thoughts that are a touch critical and not overly helpful? The first thought belongs to a school of thought called the fixed mindset, whereas the second is part of a growth mindset.
A growth mindset is a line of thinking that views intelligence as a trait that can be improved and developed when people choose to do so. When people’s abilities are dynamic, there’s an opportunity for continuous growth. Opposingly, the fixed mindset believes that everyone gains their abilities at birth, so each person’s abilities are fixed. To be clear, a growth mindset doesn’t ignore people’s limitations. It instead creates a frame of mind that encourages learning and resilience.
To someone with a growth mindset, failing is learning. Failures are temporary ways to see what not to do next time around. Looking at failure in this way builds resiliency. You’re more likely to attempt a task again when you don’t fear failure or see it as a personal attack against your character.
People with a fixed mindset feel the need to constantly prove they never fail — which isn’t realistic. Other people’s success may threaten these individuals since they attribute their lack of success to personal failure. They feel the need to compete with others instead of with their past selves.
It’s hard to change the way you approach intelligence. However, these tips can help you ease the transition.
The growth mindset has been applied in multiple fields, including education and corporate environments. Their findings span multiple aspects of the workplace:
Carol Dweck, a Standford University Psychologist, was the first to research the benefits of a growth mindset. She conducted a study on the enjoyment of learning among students. The instructor taught both groups a series of tasks, but one group’s lesson was prefaced with neuroplasticity—the idea that the brain consistently evolves. This message communicated to students that they could improve their abilities by learning. The students who learned about neuroplasticity had higher enjoyment levels when learning and better performance.
Dweck states that "What was important was the motivation. The students were energized by the idea that they could have an impact on their minds."
We can apply this concept to the enjoyment of work. It’s easier to embrace new challenges and enjoy performing tasks when you’re approaching everything with a growth mindset instead of a fixed one. Overall enjoyment of work is essential to a positive employee experience.
It’s easy to get frustrated with your performance and ultimately burn out when you view every setback as a failure instead of a learning opportunity.
In a study titled “Effects of Intrinsic Motivation on Feedback Processing During Learning,” a growth mindset correlated with increased motivation and mistake correction. These individuals also have less brain activity when given negative feedback on their performance. Both intrinsic motivation and identifying mistakes are contributing factors to productivity. A growth mindset improves both areas, making people more productive.
Enjoyment of work, reduced burnout, and intrinsic motivation are all factors that affect the employee experience. But to make a lasting effect on employee experience, an organization’s entire culture needs to promote growth mindset principles.
When the entire company adopts a growth mindset, employees are “47% more likely to say that their colleagues are trustworthy, 34% more likely to feel a strong sense of ownership and commitment to the company, and 65% more likely to say that the company supports risk-taking.”
Organizations can create a growth mindset culture by not punishing failure, providing learning opportunities, celebrating progress the same way they do achievements, and discussing failure publicly.
A growth mindset isn’t an airy-fairy concept that claims that everyone is a genius. It’s about your approach to intelligence and learning, both of which are proven by research. A growth mindset lets you learn from failure and become resilient in facing challenges. Your motivation, productivity, and overall enjoyment of tasks improve with a growth mindset. Workplaces that adopt a growth mindset are conducive environments for meaningful work; they’re more innovative and less risk-averse overall. If you’re interested in other ways to create a positive employee experience, check out our Measuring Employee Experience E-book for more information!
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