A mindset is a pattern of thinking or behavior of one or
more individual or groups of individuals. An individual
acquires a mindset through interaction with social,
economic and cultural environment. Much of what we
understand of personality comes from “mindset that
propels or prevents a person from fulfilling hid potential.
As a learned behavior, it exerts strong motivation or
demotivation within an individual or group of individuals
to carry on or adopt new attitudes and behaviors.
According to Dweck (2005), there are two kinds of
people, (Growth mentality versus Fixed mentality)
that distinguish them according to their attitudes
towards failure.
A Fixed Mindset sees individuals
abilities as innate traits and sees
failure as a lack of basic skills needed.
This is clearly not the case. No one at 50
would have the same IQ as when they
were 10. If that is the case, something
went wrong . Dweck (2005) said that
individuals with fixed mindset, consider
the primary objective in life the titles of
their abilities, and not true learning.
When they experience setbacks, they
take those setbacks as reflections of their
innate capacity, becoming defensive and
helpless.
A fixed mindset
undermines a person’s ability
to cope with challenges or
criticism such as loss of a job,
live up with the expectations
committing mistakes and so
on. People with fixed mindset
consider challenges tedious
and feel easily frustrated
On the other hand, individuals with malleable
mindset value learning and growth and react
to adversity with increased change efforts,
strategies and resiliency .
Growth conscious-people people see
challenges and a way to create opportunities .
Growth mindset people lead a less stressful,
and successful life.
Neuroscience Evidence of Growth
Scientific
Mindset research of the brain
corroborates the growth mindset
theory. Neuroscience data show that
the brain is malleable, also referred to
as “plasticity of the brain. The brain
functions like a muscle, as a person
thinks, the brain expands as more
neurons interconnect among the
brain cells. As the brain expands and
its volume grows, more person is able
to think deep. Until now, neural
studies have shown that intellect is
the sum of mental effort, in this
sense, the growth mindset holds the
In education, studies have
confirmed that growth
mindsets have a positive
impact on student
performance. Highlighted
how educators can
improve student
achievement by creating a
culture of growth mindset.
These include exposing
students to neuroscience
evidence of brain
malleability,
Promoting the right
strategies and advice,
seeking help from others
when necessary and
changing how students
interact with others .
Other comparative
studies also confirmed
the importance of
creating an environment
that is conductive to
growth mindset in
relation to growth.
CHALLENE Avoid challenges
GES
Embrace
CHALLENEGES
OBSTACLE Give up easily
S
Persist in the face of
setbacks
EFFORT See effort as fruitless
or worth
See efforts as the path
to mastery
CRITICISM Ignore usefull negative
feedback
Learn from CRITICISM
SUCCESS Feel threatened by the
OF success of others
OTHERS Find lessons and
inspirations in the
As a result, they may plateu early and success of others
achieve less than their full
As a result, they reach-ever higher
potentialachieve less than their full
levels of achievement.
potential
All this gives them a greater sense of
All this confirms a deterministic view
of the world free will
GROWTH MINDSET AND
INTUITION
INTUITION can be an important business tool.
Decision-making consist mostly of two modes,
perception and insight.
Perception is slow, rational, mindful, thoughtful, and
deliberate thinking.
