Growth-mindset is making a strong comeback as a concept. The previous wave was about 10 years ago. I’m not surprised, as topics appear and re-appear every now and then. Interestingly though, I notice a nuance about the rhetoric of growth mindset now. In the previous wave it was described as a secret weapon that the more ambitious and successful of us – both personally and organisationally – adopted and used. Now it is often presented as a MUST – a mandatory and inevitable change in the way we think. It is presented almost like a panacea for our problems in modern world. Considering the increasing pace of change it is justifiable that unless we continually grow, the world outgrows us. However, there is something that bothers me about this. Before I dig into the incongruency I have found, let’s look at what the growth mindset is about.
As we tend to think in polarities or opposites, we often describe growth mindset through its opposite – fixed mindset. Fixed mindset could be described with a simple statement ‘That is how things are’. Growth mindset could be summed up in the question ‘Is this how things really are’? Fixed mindset presents a stable, firm, unchanging truth about something. Growth mindset questions the present truths in order to find new truths that perhaps serve our purposes (and whole humanity) even better. What bothers me about the recent discourse of growth mindset is that we seem to have become fixed in it. Growth mindset is presented as a firm, stable, unchanging truth about how to find the best solutions. Unless we continually question, if this is how things really are, we are in danger of neglecting useful ideas and beneficial options. Unless we keep looking in unusual places, we may miss genial solutions. Unless we keep learning, we will fall off track with little option to ever get back on. We either grow or stay behind.
Is this really true? Is growth mindset really the answer to all our problems? Do we always need to look in unusual places for answers? Are firm beliefs really outdated? Is stability rightfully overrated? Is there no other way but to keep expanding?
Perhaps the answer to these questions also lies in opposites. Perhaps we need to stop and stand still for a while to know where and how to move forward. Perhaps we need to look back and ponder, before we look ahead and wonder. Perhaps we need to go back and revisit some old truths that still apply instead of inventing new ones. Perhaps we need to unlearn old skills, before trying to acquire new ones. Perhaps we need to review existing inventions, before we set out to invent something new.
There is nothing wrong in finding new truths, new ways, new ideas, new inventions. Nothing wrong in wanting to grow. Growth and change are inseparable of all life. Becoming fixed about growth is where we unintentionally cut ourselves short. Growth mindset questions even itself. It accepts that change may be incremental, but not linear. It is willing to make twists and turns in each direction to serve its purpose. It is equally curious about the old and the new. It does not neglect the past as a resource, it considers the old as an equally valid option as the new. It appreciates moving on as much as standing still. It looks for growth, not necessarily expansion. It seeks truth as much as it seeks meaningful effort. It adapts to changed needs and explores all potentials. It teaches us empirically that the one who is more flexible has more options.
The key to adopting growth mindset is in shifting your mindset (obviously). I invite you to play a game “What’s my mindset?” by reading the following three statements and checking whether this apply to you or not.
- Things change and I can change things.
- There is always a solution, and I will make an effort to find it.
- I have all the resources present to find relevant answers and solutions.
If you nodded ‘yes’ to all three statements, you have reason to believe that you are growth-minded. If you waivered, you are welcome to reflect on what prevented you from saying yes and thus, you also have reason to believe that you are growth-minded. This was just a little game, and there are many ways to describe and adopt growth mindset. There are no rights or wrongs when it comes to growth. Our growth is often not apparent to others and can sometimes only be detectable in hindsight. Perhaps the most important aspect of adopting growth mindset is making an effort to become aware of how you grow and what you need to grow. Then follow your path, and you are not in danger of becoming fixed, not even in your growth.
I wish to conclude that growth mindset is the way forward, even if sometimes forward means backward and can feel like a stand-still. It seems like a right time to go back to redefine growth mindset in order not to become fixed with it.