Carol Dweck is one of the leading experts on Mindset and it is interesting to see that she has now just completed a more detail bit of research on the subject of Mindset.
When we run the mindset sessions on our NextGen programmes, we always get a mixed reaction from the audience, almost as polarising as the Brexit vote.
So many of the young today seem to have such a fixed mindset, as they pass through the rigid institution of school or college. We challenge them as to whether their intelligence can change. Most are of the view that it can not. However, when we ask them to research the definition 'intelligence' we see them broaden their mindset about it and realise it means much more than just getting 10/10 in the maths test.
A growth mindset is one of the keys to success. Entrepreneurs especially have to believe they can succeed and nearly always have a growth mindset. You have to be positive and you have to believe. We have to fight the negative thoughts in our brain. We have over 60,000 thoughts a day and 75% of them are negative.
Carol's latest study reinforces her earlier research on Mindset - the key to success is trying. The Fixed Mindset person is less likely to try things that might be hard. The Growth Mindset is prepared to work hard, put the hard yards, 'deliberate' practice and believe they can be successful.
So that throws up a whole other debate on Mindset and Entitlement. We are starting to see a very entitled younger generation of Gen Ys and Millennials grow up. The question is, are they going to put the hard work in and try? Alternatively, just give up? I hope we see much more of the former.
Through years of research, Dweck has found that a growth mindset—the idea that you can improve your intelligence, your skills, and even your personality through hard work—is key to success in a lot of areas. Kids with a growth mindset do better in school. Companies that encourage a growth mindset are more productive. And couples who share a growth mindset have happier, healthier relationships. Dweck’s most recent study, released last month, only reinforces her earlier research. She studied 168,000 10th-grade students in Chile and found that low-income students who have a growth mindset performed roughly as well as students with a fixed mindset whose families earn 13 times as much money.
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