Why is everyone talking about Mindset?
By Kate DowlerWe reflect on Carol Dweck’s famous book Mindset, and how the power of a growth mindset can drive more creative outcomes.
Starting a new business has led me to think a lot about mindsets this year. In particular, the way your mindset influences how you tackle a new challenge. When should you stick with tried and tested ways of doing things, and when is it better to take risks and try something new?
Growth vs. fixed mindset
Dealing with challenges is one of the cornerstones of Carol Dweck’s famous book Mindset, which summarises her life’s work into the impact of mindset on success and achievement. She challenges the conventional wisdom that it is innate ability or talent that brings us success and proposes that the most important factor is whether we approach our goals with a fixed or growth mindset.
In the growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and challenge, and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.
In contrast, in a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like intelligence or talent are fixed traits, and that these qualities are more important than effort in determining success. They focus on proving these traits, striving for perfection and avoiding situations which might lead to failure.
It’s a simple message, but one that has very broad reach and relevance, and there’s wealth of examples in the book of individuals who have triumphed through taking a growth mindset, from sports personalities to teachers to CEOs – definitely worth a read.
It got me thinking about the importance of a growth mindset in creativity. How does this way of looking at the world help you get to better outcomes? Three particular things stand out:
Try harder
It’s not terribly sexy or what people want to hear, but one of the best ways of getting to great ideas is to try harder. There is a pervasive myth that flashes of creativity and breakthrough thinking come in an instant – Eureka! or lightbulb moment. This hides the fact that most great ideas come from perseverance and hard work.
And it’s not just about trying the same thing again and again, it’s about taking new approaches, experimenting and being comfortable with making mistakes. As Edison famously once said “I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
With this approach, it’s the process which becomes the truly creative part, not the outcome. This realisation is powerful as it allows us to be inspired by focusing on how we do things, rather than being limited by the ideas we currently have on the table.
It’s easier said than done - the importance of iteration is well known, but in practice it is often restricted by overly rigid innovation processes. Designing in the ability to iterate is critical and goes hand in hand with a growth mindset approach to innovation.
Free your mind
Mindset can have a big impact on how people think creatively. Many people have a fixed mindset when it comes to their creative ability, that it’s something you have or don’t have. But the truth is, like everything else, it’s as much about practice as inherent ability. Simply recognising that you have creative ability is the first step on the journey to creative mastery.
At a group level, fixed mindset thinking can leave people feeling afraid to speak up, through fear of making a mistake or revealing weakness. This, amongst other factors, can lead to groupthink, when everyone starts thinking alike. In creative workshops, it’s key that people feel able to contribute creatively. A well-designed session is one that creates an environment that encourages contribution, honesty and risk-taking.
And being growth minded doesn’t mean not being willing to challenge new ideas, far from it, it means incorporating constructive debate and feedback from a diversity of perspectives and experiences.
Creative culture
There is a whole chapter in Mindset which talks about organisational mindsets. Dweck describes how some companies have a fixed mindset, or “culture of genius”, where employees either “have it” or they don’t. Others embody more of a growth mindset, or “culture of development”, where the belief is that people can grow and improve with effort, mentoring and good strategies.
I’ve worked in both types of environment – they feel very different. Growth mindset, or development-focussed companies are more likely to support risk-taking, welcome creativity and encourage innovation from different parts of the business. However, elements of a fixed mindset culture are common, especially in large organisations, and can be one of the biggest challenges when trying to drive insights, ideas and concepts forward internally.
We spend a lot of time with clients working out how best to make sure the outputs from the work we do has maximum impact internally. This could be through the way we collaborate with internal teams, through the way in which the outputs are delivered, or through specifically helping to create a culture of creativity. More on this here...
What are your thoughts outside the book?
In today’s ever-changing and volatile world, it’s likely that having a growth mindset will be increasingly important, both for individuals and organisations. A love of challenge is one of the reasons we started INDUSTRY of Us, so we’re advocates!
What elements of fixed and growth mindsets do you recognise from your work? How do you use mindsets in creativity?