Growth Mindset
What is the growth mindset?
"Someone with a growth mindset views intelligence, abilities, and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort. On the other hand, someone with a fixed mindset views those same traits as inherently stable and unchangeable over time." (Harvard Business School Online)
A growth mindset is important because it can help people:
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Develop a love of learning
People with a growth mindset are more likely to enjoy learning and seek out new challenges.
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Be a good teacher
Teachers with a growth mindset are more likely to take responsibility for their practice, use growth mindset language, and have high expectations for their students.
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Learn and grow
People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve their skills and abilities through effort and hard work. They are more likely to challenge themselves, try new things, and persist through failure.
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Cope with challenges
People with a growth mindset are better able to handle setbacks and see them as opportunities to learn. They are more resilient and creative problem solvers.
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Be successful
People with a growth mindset are more likely to achieve their goals and accomplish what they value. They may reach higher levels of achievement than their peers.
Carol Dweck
Developing a Growth Mindset
According to Scott Jeffrey, these are the 4 steps of learning.
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Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence (Ignorance)
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Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence (Awareness)
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Stage 3: Conscious Competence (Learning)
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Stage 4: Unconscious Competence (Mastery)
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"The first stage of unconscious incompetence is where we don’t know what we don’t know. You don’t know how awkward it feels playing the guitar until you pick one up and try to strum a chord.
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In stage 2, you start learning the basics of guitar and realize you can’t even hold the instrument correctly. No matter how hard you try, your fingers can’t press down hard enough on the frets. Similar to Stage 1, we still don’t fully know what we don’t know. But we are becoming aware of our ignorance.
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To reach conscious competence, you must first welcome or at least work through the uncomfortable feelings that accompany conscious incompetence. However, by Stage 3, you have at least observed periods of progress. Your confidence in your abilities is growing. You are experiencing increasing levels of competence in your abilities.
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Stage 4 is defined by mastery. The real magic occurs at this final stage of alchemical transformation. From total darkness, awkwardness, discomfort, and frustration experienced in stages 1 and 2, through the herculean efforts of consistent practice in stage 3, emerges a new level of being. To achieve mastery, however, you must come to trust your prior training and practice so the skill can become automatic." (Jeffrey, S. 2024)
Communicating "YET" to others.....
When we look at how to apply ‘yet’ to others, we can start sharing this concept by radiating it from our lives. When we believe in ourselves, others will see the possibilities and maybe even call on us to help them unlock their potential. Our personalities and attitudes are contagious. How we act towards each other plays a big part in the lives of people around us. The coworkers we hang out with or talk to daily, the people we encounter as we run errands, and even the barista at the coffee shop we go to often all receive the vibes we put into the universe. You know those people you have experienced that were pessimistic and a “Debbie downer.” You turn and walk away from them. You try your best to avoid any interaction with them. Their ‘yet’ does not match yours. However, being that light and exuding that mindset becomes your path. The talk you talk. The light you shine. Then, hopefully, you can help others change their mindset from fixed to growth.
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You will become unstoppable when you unlock your potential with a growth mindset. The doors and windows in life will open. You will not hold yourself back from what-ifs. You will be able to focus on great things and achieve them. You will be able to conquer anything you set your mind to.
Growth Mindset
How will the growth mindset influence or impact the way you approach your work in this course and the program?
I have often tried to keep a growth mindset as I go through life. By keeping this approach, I will be able to keep an open mind to what others bring to our meetings, papers, and class conversations. While I may not agree with everyone, we will be able to have rash conversations, see things from another's point of view, and hopefully learn things we didn't see before in a new light. I plan to keep an open mind to learn things I did not fully understand before and try to grow further in my education. That one day I might be able to share my knowledge with more people in any position that I hold.