One of the harder parts for me of working on a Growth Mindset has ironically been, maintaining a Growth Mindset view of my development and progress. Especially as I report here and to an online community I am engaged in, on my progress. My other posts have maybe shied away from the vulnerability of my challenges, but I feel I must be open about the process (all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly). For me, I have always loved to learn, so the concept of Growth Mindset is one I very much relate to. I think when I was younger, the mindset was more fully ingrained and I had more willingness to try new things, and see failure as an opportunity for learning. I do see in my past, times when I was doing things more for the achievement itself, and perhaps not just purely "learning motivated", but I still enjoyed them because of the learning and was willing to take risks and try new opportunities and have fun with the process. But as I have grown older, I have found that this has changed a bit. I work in a very traditional, very large company. Our culture does not reward failure or embrace risks or mistakes as part of a learning process. We tend to be pretty risk-averse. I am a more creative person, and have over the last five years started to feel the pressure of not being aligned with the more limited mindset of "keep it between the hedges" (a popular phrase around the office), and having to spend inordinate amounts of time seeking certainty and making sure everyone is aligned before being able to act and learn. In fact, the process of action is so laborious, it really hinders our decision making capability, because we have to limit our options and innovative risk because it is just too time-consuming and resource intensive to act. So we tend to stick with "tried-and-true" options and partnerships. We consider only a few, easily vet-able, risk minimized options. This is limiting. And stifling. More than once I have been negatively reinforced for doing something in an action-oriented, learning approach. For being flexible and not marching doggedly towards a narrowly defined goal that limits scope to safe place. Indeed, I find it is worse around certain supervisors who don't see to trust me, or that seem to be more afraid of failure. It bleeds over. My newest assignment for example, feels limiting because my boss is hyper-focused on negative judgement from above and around them, and values process and defined structure over the flexibility needed to innovate or be creative. Also, again being self-reflective and honest, I also tend to shut-down a bit on my willingness to lean-into a growth mindset when I get too much on my plate, which is VERY much the case with this current role/ supervisor. These are not excuses, but reflections deriving from my new self awareness. So my relationship with the Growth Mindset has been inconsistent. At times, I find myself paralyzed to act because I am afraid of the negative repercussions, at others, i find that the lack of action and not trying things so that we can LEARN and iterate is stifling and I try to find ways toI But I find myself being hard on myself about my progress. Even outside of work, I can be somewhat limiting in my own approach towards my own growth in this area, because I get frustrated that it doesn't come more easily at times. Because I do find in myself a fear of failure. Interestingly, to be completely open about my experience, a lot of the definition of failure in my personal pursuit doesn't come from others, it comes from within--from some expectation or unrealistic view of what "should be" or how things "should look". No one is shaming me from the outside, but I am comparing myself to others, and to the view on Social Media, and to my own internal standards which as I am slowing working to address them as part of this growth process, prove to be very arbitrary indeed. What has worked well for me, as I have struggled in this learning process, is to keep asking myself, "What can I learn from this?" "Where can I influence things differently, in my own perceptions or expectations? In my actions or approaches?" I also ask myself, "What parts of what you are doing are motivated by fear?" This quickly sheds light on limiting beliefs and behaviors that may be hindering a growth mindset. Lastly, what I have learned over the last several weeks of my course work and last many months of my new role is, that I have to be patient with myself and realize THE STRUGGLE IS MEANINGFUL! It teaches me something even when it is hard, or even when I don't do a growth mindset "right" every time. Beating myself up only limits what I can do, seeing it as a step in the process that sheds insight on myself and my decisions empowers me to be more growth oriented. I am thankful to the challenge to focus on a growth mindset. I see its value and I see how the fixed-mindset sometimes limits me. I am enjoying the learning and development (however slow) that I can see taking shape in my life!
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I found a Harvard Business Review article discussing some misconceptions abuot growth mindset, but what struck me most was this introductory paragraph about company cultures of growth mindset v. fixed mindset and the impacts: "When entire companies embrace a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive far greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation. In contrast, people at primarily fixed-mindset companies report more of only one thing: cheating and deception among employees, presumably to gain an advantage in the talent race." (1) - Carol Dweck, HBR, 2016 The diction is striking... "empowered and committed" v. "cheating and deception". It is interesting because one can see how the latter can happen. If your view is fixed-mindset, and you operate in a competitive company environment there is not much left to do, but act to survive and that can lead to the "advantage" seeking behaviors described. It reminds me of a quote by Simon Sinek he uses in several talks I have listened to, where he says, "In the military, they give medals for people who are willing to sacrifice themselves so that others may survive. In business, we give bonuses to people who sacrifice others." (2) That "zero sum mindset" would not only make for an awful work environment (in my opinion), but also may speak to why we see some very negative and amoral decisions that can come from some companies. The other side, speaks to the power of a growth mindset approach for an organization, collaboration, innovation, empowerment, commitment, are all great benefits that benefit the bottom line. Interestingly, as I have moved in my company over my decade-plus-long career, I find that this can be heavily influenced by direct supervisors or business unit leadership. While we talk of overall company culture, individual leaders can have a great impact on the extent to which the growth or fixed approach is prevalent on their team or in their projects. (1) Dweck, C. (2016, January 13). What Having a "Growth Mindset" Actually Means. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means (2) Simon Sinek Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/simon_sinek_568109 My biggest barrier to fully embracing the Growth Mindset is self doubt and fear of judgement.
Self doubt is a tough one for me because when things get more challenged, my confidence starts to falter, as if external events or complex challenges are somehow a reflection of me. One way I have started to work on this, is to be aware of my own negative self-talk. I think Carol Dweck would refer to it as my "Fixed Mindset Persona" voice. I actually started paying attention to the negative ways I talk to myself or beat myself up over small things. This over time, I think, undermines my confidence and willingness to try new things or take risks. In fact, I found that I say things to myself that I would never say to a friend and even a stranger! I am not sure when the habit started, but I definitely am hard on myself. I tried writing the negative things down one day, but had to throw it away because it was even more negative feeling in print! All in though, the awareness has helped. As I have become more aware, I have started in turn, to focus on a more positive, empowering self talk. Also I have been redirecting the negative (when it pops up) to positive. What I find, is that when I go for longer periods with less negative self-talk, I feel more confident and capable. I lean in more to challenges and am less hindered by a fear of failure or self doubt. The other trick I have developed for helping to address self-doubt and fear of failure is a small mantra, "There are very few things in life that you can do, that can't be undone." This helps me keep things in perspective and be more open to risk taking that opens new opportunities. It is powerful when we can start to the world as full of opportunity and possibility. When the fear of failure and the panic of self-doubt don't shackle us to a small and safe box, but instead we have freedom to explore, and adventure and try! One of my more powerful experiences in strengthening my Growth Mindset, is using Carol Dweck's recommendation to add tehe word "yet". On my team when we start to speak in absolutes or have trouble seeing the possibilities, we add the word yet to the sentence and it changes our perspective immediately...
Some examples: "The LMS is not set up well-enough to integrate with the other systems... YET" "I cannot figure out how to make the logistics work... YET" "We don't have enough information... YET" "We are struggling to make the integration with the programming team work... YET" "We cannot get the data structure where we need it for dashboard reporting... YET" All of these are actual examples from our team over the last several weeks as we have been practicing challenging our fixed mindsets. In fact, we now refer to it more easily as "fixed mindset thinking"... as in "sounds like we are falling into the trap of fixed mindset thinking here, let's take a step back..." What has been most exciting for me, however, is the fact that it really has opened up more possibilities and innovative thinking. In one instance, it made us take a step back and re-evaluate our assumptions, where we uncovered an assumption we could challenge and make new progress. In another, it helped us recover a meeting that was spiraling into negativity and limitations. This one is simple, yet powerful! I love when small things, lead to great impacts. This has been one that has been easy to implement and try, and that has yielded great results already in helping our team and moving our culture towards a growth mindset. My Experience
What I am most excited about in the Learner-Centric approach of the Digital Learning and Leading program I am in, is the creativity it allows. I enjoy trying new things and doing things in different ways. The COVA approach empowers me to make choices in how I learn and select authentic and meaningful learning experiences. It allows the learning to be customized. I also love what I have learned about adopting a Growth Mindset and "failing forward". As a recovering perfectionist and achievement seeker, I had left authentic and genuine learning (which I LOVED when younger) for meeting other's expectations, definitions of success, and awards. None of which are as fulfilling as a truly connected and engaging learning experience. Nor do they engender growth or a willingness to take risks. Instead I used to only step forward or take risk when I was sure I could do it perfectly. I only wanted to do something if there was a gold star at the end. I was terribly afraid of failure, so I kept running faster than my legs could stay beneath me to avoid it. Now I see that risk, looking silly, making mistakes are all learning opportunities, as are feedback, criticism, and failure. "What would you do if you could not fail?" the famous colloquialism asks, I think the better question is, "What would you do if... you were not afraid of failure/ Could learn and growth from your failure?" So much more is possible when we lose our fear of trying new things, taking risks, and making mistakes. When we are willing to "put skin in the game" it makes a huge difference in how we approach the world and how much we can learn. My most powerful learning experiences have come from mistakes, or risks. Who I am today, would not exist without them! But, overtime, I stifled that. Now I choose to embrace it and know that as I progress in my educational journey and continue in my professional roles, I will benefit from a learning view of the world and willingness to "go all in" and learn from what comes! This article goes into great depth about the evolution of Growth Mindset and how it came to be:
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=32124 I found the read an excellent context-setting resource for the book. Another great resource is the organization Carol Dweck founded called MindsetWorks. Although it is a program oriented at traditional school educators, I found the pages describing the concept and especially the science to be extremely valuable: https://www.mindsetworks.com/Science/Default Lastly, as I have a vested and personal interest in looking at Growth Mindset outside of school/ child contexts, I loved this article: https://fs.blog/2016/02/carol-dweck-growth/ ... and Carol Dweck's Google Talk that pointed to not only attempting to use Growth Mindset Theory on Middle Eastern challenges, but also in making connections between it and the concept of "shame". I am a big Brene Brown fan, and when I read Dweck's book, I had a similar thought around the connection between the desire we have to avoid shame (and the emotional limitations we place on ourselves relative to that), and the growth/fixed mindset paradigm. Avoidance of shame, and the powerful behavioral impacts of attempting to avoid it feel a lot like behaviors of a fixed mindset around avoiding failure. This could potentially explain why some instances trigger greater fixed mindset behaviors than others (i.e. the level of emotional impact and vulnerability required in a given situation or risk, impacts the extent to which a person may be more or less likely to take on a more fixed view. All theoretical/ speculative, but fascinating! I can see that there could be some powerful insights in looking to research that could combine these concepts. I feel inspired to think about this as an opportunity in the future for potential future grad school/ research work. |
AuthorHi, my I a name is Lauralee Roddy. I am a working professional in the Learning and Capability space of Change Management. I have worked for over 10 years in the Energy Manufacturing industry, but in my heart have always had a love for education. I am now going to school part time to get a Masters in International Relations and another in Digital Learning and Leading. ArchivesCategories |