Book Review: Mindset By Carol Dweck

Talent isn't passed down in the genes; it's passed down in the mindset.

When do praise become counter-productive to our growth? This is a question I like to ask myself whenever I'm doing any type of work. For there are times when I notice that praise, especially those that pertains to one's talents, seem to have the opposite effect. It makes one insecure, defensive, and reluctant to anything that may undermine the approval of others on one's abilities. 

Failures are interpreted as a lack or a defect. It becomes a threat to one's self-image that is formed by the constant praise and the belief in one's "specialness".

                                      

In light of educating myself on this subject, I read this book. I have known about this book for years now but I was only able to read and finish it last month. It's a Psychology classic, 264 pages long, and it's been widely read since it's inception in 2006. It still garners reception until today. It is a staple in the field of developmental psychology and is considered "one of the most influential book written about motivation"¹. 

Its author, Carol Dweck, a Psychology professor at Stanford University, is regarded as a leading researcher in the fields of personality and Social Psychology.

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As stated in the book's introduction part, the book was first conceived when Dweck and her students were able to discover a psychological pattern on people's attitude towards motivation and growth. What they discovered was the two mindsets, labeled as:

1. The Fixed Mindset: A belief that one's abilities are carved in stone. That one's initial talents and present aptitudes determine future success. The belief that either one has "it" or not.

2. The Growth Mindset: A belief that one's basic qualities and talents are things that can be cultivated through effort, strategies, and help from other people. It is effort rather than bare talent that ultimately decides success.

The Fixed Mindset

The fixed mindset is that part of us that quickly decides we can't do a thing even if we haven't tried it yet. It's that doubt that seeps in our mind whenever we want to try something new. This fear and reluctance to open ourselves to new experiences creates a self-fulfilling effect: we hold ourselves back in doing things that will make us learn and grow.

It's also that part of us that judges other people especially beginners. We decide whether a person will be successful at something based on his or her first attempt. It's rooted in the "talent myth"². There are athletes and creatives who weren't able to realize their potential because of unsolicited criticism caused by this kind of mindset. Paralyzed by criticism and self-doubt, people will be reluctant to things that will put their talents and abilities to question. There will be avoidance of challenges and new experiences even if, in hindsight, they are conducive to one's growth.

Carol Dweck surveyed students, businessmen, and athletes in order to study the nature of the fixed mindset. In her cases, she identified that fixed mindset is prevalent in universities, in sports and in businesses-pretty much anywhere in life. I myself am guilty of being in this mindset. In order for us to break free from having a fixed mindset, the book posits shifting our focus on our efforts to change and to our capabilities to grow beyond our self-projected limitations. Hence:

The Growth Mindset

The growth mindset is on when we think we can do something even if the odds are against us. We feel confident and ready to take on challenges. It is the mindset that value efforts made than bare talent. The idea of the growth mindset argues that a person exerting great effort trumps a talented person who isn't working hard. Having this mindset makes us see that our abilities and personalities aren't as "fixed" as we think they are. That instead, they can be changed and honed through time and consistent work. People with the growth mindset embraces challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, and are willing to learn from criticisms. All because they understand that it is only by doing so that they will be able to truly grow. Carol Dweck argues that it's this kind of mindset that makes great people. People who are able to tap and realize their full potential.

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The initial intention that I had in reading this book was to gain insights on how to cope with challenges at work, relationships and in personal development. But as I continue to read, I learned more than I expected. For instance, I had insights on the importance of proper parenting of children.

On Parenting

Children, unlike adults, have flexible and malleable minds. They are sensitive to everything that they experience and will absorb them like a sponge. This is regardless of whether these experiences are pleasant or traumatic. They don't have the filter, backed up by years of experience, that us adults have when interpreting the world. They mostly rely on their parents for their moral judgments and attitudes. The value of parenting then is to guide these young people in learning to think for themselves and help in interpreting life experiences in a mature way. In this regard, Carol Dweck argues that developing a growth mindset in children is a great help.

Praising children's intelligence harms their motivation and performance.

In her examples, children with the growth mindset were not only able to excel at school but were also open to opportunities to learn more. They embrace challenges instead of avoiding them knowing that their parents or teachers are there to assist them when they fail. To them, failure is not fixed but rather, it is considered as a step that must be taken in order to get where they want to in life. In contrast, children with the fixed mindset are timid, tend to avoid challenges, and are in a constant state of fear and complacency. It is surprising to read that those children whom we mostly consider "geniuses" and "prodigies" are the most prone to having the fixed mindset. The insight here is that by praising children on how special or talented they are, they'll have a tendency to create an inaccurate self-image. A self-image that promises success and entitlement to approval. They'll consider themselves "naturally special" and that by their solely being one, everything  they want and need will be given to them as their specialness permits.

The Fixed mindset is very tempting. It seems to promise children a lifetime of worth, success and admiration for just sitting there and being who they are.

Real growth requires real effort. This is a fact of life that children with the fixed mindset will soon face. And this is why parenting is crucial in such case. Carol Dweck suggested that it is children's effort and desire to learn that must be praised rather than their talents. Doing so gives children a frame of mind grounded in the real process of growth and keeps them malleable. The focus shifts from self-image preservation into the effort that must be taken in order to grow. Motivation in the growth mindset is constructive rather than defensive. Children feel free to fail knowing that their very effort to try, even if they had not succeeded, is a marker of progress.

What's amazing about this is that any of these mindsets, if developed early in childhood, is carried unto adulthood where the stakes are much higher. And as Carol Dweck explained, those with the growth mindset are still the one to thrive and become successful in their fields. They become better parents, mentors, and teachers themselves. Mired in the reality of real world effort, they continue to seek opportunities for growth and fulfills their full potential. This remains the case, as Dweck explained, across different domains such as in relationships, sports, and even in the field of business.

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The Fixed Mindset Reframed

In the last chapters of the book, Carol Dweck shared that the fixed mindset is not a behavior to demonize and criticize but something that must be accepted, understood, and transformed. It is a defense strategy of our psychology to maintain our inward equilibrium. Sometimes, we can't help developing one throughout the course of our childhood and adulthood. In this regard, several techniques are given to handle our tendencies to have fixed mindsets. 

Remember that your fixed mindset persona was born to protect and keep you safe.

Firstly, we must acknowledge and accept our fact of having one. We must observe ourselves: our feelings, our thoughts, and our actions and come to terms with its effects on our lives. We must be careful however not to judge ourselves if we do have one. The goal is to simply notice our fixed mindset when it arises and know what triggers it. For most people, the triggers are stress, perfectionism and feelings of being threatened.

Second, we must give our fixed mindset a name. A persona, in order for us to label and pin it down. Varying examples in the books shared that people labeled their fixed mindset persona as a man or a woman. I would posit that it can even be an animal. We are free to decide. Does your fixed mindset persona arises when you are in a corporate environment? Name it after someone who reminds you of the fixed mindset at your workplace. Does it make your head hurt as if you're hearing screeches? Name it after an animal whose screech has the same effect to you. The goal is to visualize it as something concrete.

Lastly, we must "educate it and take it to our journey towards growth"³. Being aware of having a fixed mindset is the best action in order to resolve it. We must develop the capacity to advise ourselves, or rather, talk to our fixed mindset persona, in a way that makes us see the bad effects of it in our lives. Our doing so will steer us into the direction of self-understanding and maturity, and will eventually lead to our having of a growth mindset. 

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Conclusion

The reading of this book will be of great help to students and teachers, parents, or leaders of any kind. It will help in realizing that talent alone does not amount to success. And that more than talent; persistence, resilience, and effort serves as the real markers of success and growth. By sharing this realization to young people, they'll be aware of the mind's tendency to establish self-limiting beliefs which can be damaging if left unchecked. It will make them know the actions that will grow them best, thus paving the way to the realization of their potentials.

In my present life, this book has made me aware of my tendencies to derail my growth. It made me conscious of actions which I blindly committed in the past not knowing that they are causing me harm. The practice of having a growth mindset has opened me up to take actions which I formerly wouldn't take because I had a fixed mindset. The book has made me rethink the path of my growth and the role of failure in it. Choosing to have a growth mindset assures that I keep walking my life's path even if I'm faced with setbacks and challenges. It makes me resilient, active in pursuing my growth, and focused on my life's long term goals.

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Notes:

¹ From the book's blurb by Po Bronson, Author of Nurture Shock.

² The idea that natural talent comes to a rarified few who are born gifted.

³ Quoted from the book at page 260.