Book Summary of Mindset by Carol S. Dweck
Jay Gallagher
Introduction
Your Ability to Learn, Adapt, and Grow Depends on Your Perspective
Your body’s physical traits are more or less totally predetermined from birth, from the shape of your cranium to the size of your foot. You can get plastic surgery or break a bone, of course, but generally speaking, human people have relatively little influence over the physical characteristics of their bodies.
But what about skills in the mind and body, like playing basketball, creating art, or solving mathematical problems? Are they acquired or inherited? Today, the majority of scientists concur that being a concert violinist requires years of practice in addition to having a musical temperament.
Our thinking has a significant impact on how we view ourselves and others. Our perspective influences the things we believe we can achieve.
The idea of a fixed or growth mindset is based on two extremes. People with a growth mindset believe they can become virtuosos of anything if they work hard enough, in contrast, people with a fixed mindset feel they are born inherently skilled at some things but completely incapable of others. People with a fixed mindset have a harder time growing their skills.
People with a growth mindset are always evolving, open to learning new things and actively participating in relationships. For them, change is a constant in all parts of life.
People with a fixed mindset, on the other hand, frequently allow their binary way of thinking to block their development. They hide their heads in the sand or point the finger at others when they fail at anything. Instead of focusing on improving their relationships, they wish for everlasting love.
Whether we think we can learn, adapt, and grow or not depends on our perspective.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 1
The Fixed Mindset Believes That a Person's Talents are Constant
People with a fixed mindset think that talent is king. They believe that a person’s skills are predetermined from birth; they are either naturally brilliant and skilled or foolish and incompetent, and they will remain that way.
This type of thinking is embodied by large corporations like Enron and McKinsey, whose HR departments spend a lot of money scouting out so-called naturals at universities. They count on the graduates they hire to immediately improve business performance with their exceptional skills. However, because the graduates are so gifted, they receive little training and are not expected to advance in their positions or take on new responsibilities.
Because of this, their supervisors continually assess them: Are these graduates truly as brilliant as we assumed, or do their mistakes show that they lack the talent to do the task?
People with a fixed mindset believe that since imperfect personnel can never improve, it’s best to fire them as soon as possible.
People with a fixed mindset think they can only perform tasks for which they naturally possess aptitude, and that practice does not necessarily lead to perfection. They believe others are constantly scrutinizing them because they are eager to label others and themselves as good or terrible at anything. They consequently feel compelled to demonstrate their abilities and intelligence at every opportunity.
They feel that everything about them is on the line and that one mistake could permanently label them as stupid, inept people. To maintain their egos and prove that they are truly as amazing as they believe they are, they seek affirmation from others continually.
The fixed mindset believes that a person’s talents are unchangeable.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 2
The Growth Mindset Allows for Development and Growth
When assigned a challenging arithmetic problem at school, kids with a growth mindset are up for the challenge and want to practice more problems just like it at home. They understand that learning increases as they solve more tasks.
For kids that have a growth attitude, the opportunities in life are virtually endless. It’s challenging to pinpoint their current level of intelligence, let alone forecast what it might be tomorrow. These students recognize that their grades just serve as a snapshot of their current situation, but they are adamant that they can learn more through tenacity, hard effort, and dedication.
Furthermore, they want to experience the joy of pushing oneself to the limits of their growth potential rather than competing with other students for the best marks or to outperform them. They practice nonstop and are well aware that practice – and the occasional failure – are the only ways to get better at anything, whether it be music, athletics, writing, or painting.
Those with a growth mindset seize every chance to pick the brains of industry experts. They constantly study how they may eliminate their flaws and limitations and reevaluate and abandon old tactics.
They support their partners in their relationships to keep growing and improving. They play sports with the understanding that they are supporting the team. When someone runs a business, they respect their employees, are appreciative of the work they do, and want their candid feedback, regardless of how uncomfortable the information may be. Problems are welcomed and viewed as challenges rather than insurmountable hurdles by those with a growth attitude. They actively invest their efforts in making both their own lives and the world around them better.
The growth mindset allows for development and growth.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 3
Fixed Mindsets Seek Validation
Growth Mindsets Seek Advancement
Chrysler Motors was on the verge of bankruptcy when Lee Iacocca was appointed CEO. He just managed to save the company because of his quick thinking and concern for his workers.
However, his behavior dramatically changed after that. He began to take his success for granted, brag about his superiority, and focus more on his own image than the success of the business. His only goal had become to get people’s favor.
Iacocca’s rigid mindset is obvious. He categorizes everything as either “good” or “bad,” and he feels people judging him and putting him in either category—a winner or a loser. And because he wants to succeed, he puts more effort into making himself seem smart and competent than towards finding ways to advance the business.
Compare this to Lou Gerstner, who assumed control of IBM just before the company was ready to fail. The organization was wasting time on internal conflicts rather than concentrating on customer service and teamwork because of the fixed-mindset workplace environment. The company was not fulfilling client needs because everyone was putting their own interests first.
Gerstner worked to reverse that by dismantling the organization’s hierarchies, emphasizing teamwork, and rewarding individuals who helped their coworkers. He elevated himself to the same level as his staff and opened up channels of communication across the organization. This made it possible for him to quickly develop personal contact with as many staff as possible.
Because of his growth attitude, Gerstner was able to establish a brand-new culture that valued collaboration and growth. The emphasis shifted from personal success to collective growth. He was able to achieve long-lasting success at IBM based on this idea.
A growth mindset seeks development, whereas a fixed mindset seeks acceptance.
Book Summary of Mindset
Key Principle 4
Failures are Perceived as Negatives by Those with Fixed Mindsets and as Positives by People with Growth Mindsets
For those with a fixed worldview, failure has severe consequences. Consider Sergio Garcia, a golfer. He fired one caddy after another in fits of wrath when he was having a rough day. Once he even blamed his shoes, so in a fit of rage he pulled them off and tossed them at a passerby.
Fixed-minded people do not think they can learn from their mistakes. They believe that one setback proves they will always be losers, invalidating and devaluing all of their prior victories.
People with a fixed mindset make excuses, lie, lose interest, or turn a blind eye in order to protect what little self-confidence they do have. They don’t ask for assistance, they don’t examine their weaknesses, and they surely don’t try to improve via practice. They regard themselves as a finished item rather than as an ongoing process.
Even Michael Jordan, a hall-of-famer in basketball, went through phases in his career where he didn’t dunk every ball he touched. He missed a good 26 shots that could have been game-winners. He repeatedly practiced the shots he missed instead of burying his head in the sand, though. His shooting skills were the greatest on the court by the end of his career.
It’s clear that Michael Jordan had a growth mindset. Instead of criticizing his colleagues or the court’s surface, he focused on honing his own abilities.
He reviewed his errors, worked even harder than before, and sought other people’s counsel. He was adamant that if he worked hard enough, he could turn his setbacks into triumphs.
Failures are perceived negatively by those with fixed mindsets; positively by people with growth mindsets.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 5
Those With a Fixed Perspective Shy Away From Challenges,
While Those With a Growth Attitude Welcome Them
In life, there are many things we can only do through effort. However, when faced with a challenging scenario, those with a fixed perspective only see dangers since the more time and effort they put into something, the less justification they have for failing. Additionally, they think that natural talent has immense influence, and that talented people shouldn’t need to work as hard.
People with a fixed perspective can’t improve themselves since it makes them doubt their own abilities, therefore they steer clear of challenging situations. They don’t want to risk embarrassing themselves.
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, a violinist, demonstrated this sort of conduct. She began receiving praise at the young age of 10, but by the time she was 18, her fingers were stiff, and she held the violin poorly. She had an overwhelming fear of failing every time she attempted to learn something new to the point where she stopped bringing her violin to lessons and stopped playing altogether.
Such a mindset would have left star Christopher Reeve permanently paralyzed from the neck down, as was predicted by medical professionals following his tragedy. But because he had a growth attitude, he actively managed his circumstances as opposed to just accepting them.
After a rigorous training regimen, the unthinkable happened: in defiance of all prognoses, he moved his hands, then his legs, and then his entire upper body.
People who have a growth mentality can undertake actions that are purposeful because of challenges. More effort is expended in battling against and rewriting their fate the more defeated they are. They work to make the impossible feasible, much like Reeve.
A fixed mindset avoids challenges, while a progressive mindset welcomes them.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 6
Childhood Role Models Have a Big Impact on our Thinking
What elements influence whether someone has a growth or fixed mindset? What elements decide whether someone achieves their potential or lives a life of inertia?
At birth, mindset development starts. Babies are born with a growth mindset; they desire to learn and develop as much as they can every day.
Whether a child retains this drive to develop or finally develops a fixed worldview depends greatly on the adults in that child’s environment, who are typically his or her parents. In other words, parents serve as good role models for their kids. While parents with a fixed mindset constantly judge their children, telling them what is right or wrong, good or bad, parents with a growth mindset constantly support their children and urge them to keep learning.
Teachers are significant role models for kids and have an impact on their mindsets. Many teachers have the opinion that a student’s performance cannot be changed, that strong kids will always perform well, and inferior students will always receive Cs or Ds. As a result, weaker students will acquire a stuck perspective.
But good educators—those who have a strong conviction that their students are capable of learning anything—handle the circumstance in a different way. They demonstrate to their students’ various approaches to studying Shakespeare or math. Their less capable kids adopt a growth mentality, improve their grades, and stop thinking of themselves as being “stupid” by nature.
Role models we had as childhood frequently had a big impact on our thinking.
Book Summary of Mindset Key Principle 7
Everyone Can Adopt a Growth Attitude and Make the Impossible Attainable
When cultivating their own thinking, no one should be a victim of their environment. The brain can be exercised just like any other muscle, therefore if we want a growth mindset, we can gradually teach ourselves to think that way.
An illustration would be if you unintentionally dropped a plate on the floor. I’m so clumsy might be the first fixed thinking. Thoughts like “Oh well, these things happen” can encourage people to develop a growth mindset if they are aware of this reaction and desire to change it. The next time, I’ll tidy things up and exercise greater caution.
Developing a growth mindset offers a wonderful opportunity to ask for help, to be honest about our shortcomings and mistakes, and to create workable, detailed strategies for accomplishing our objectives.
It’s critical to realize that a stuck mindset is challenging to overcome. Over the years, it has probably developed into an emotional crutch since it shields us from failure, earns us respect from our parents and spouses, and builds our self-esteem. It provides us with constant comfort, therefore giving it up can be unpleasant.
Final thoughts
This book’s main takeaway is:
Through their faith in inherent skill and their dread of failure, people with fixed mindsets prevent themselves from growing personally. Instead, those that adopt a growth mindset put in a lot of effort and training to eventually reach their full potential. We can cultivate a growth mindset by challenging our own beliefs and attitudes.
- A growth mindset seeks development, whereas a fixed mindset seeks approbation.
- Failures are perceived negatively by those with fixed mindsets; positively by people with growth mindsets.
- A fixed mindset avoids challenges, while a progressive mindset welcomes them.
- A development mentality can be adopted by anyone to achieve the seemingly unattainable.
