Mindset

Many bad movies use the phrase 'there are two types of people in this world...', typically followed by something horrifically corny. However, if you were watching a movie starring Carol Dweck (there isn't one), you might actually find what she has to say of some use.

In her book 'Mindset', her main focus is on the 2 types of mindset we hold regarding just about anything. They are:

A fixed mindset fundamentally means that you believe you get what you're given. You have a fixed set of abilities, talents, growth potential etc. You believe that if you're a B- student, could never earn passive income or if you are a 15 handicapper (you golf, right?), that's where you should stay. It means that you don't really push yourself for more, because baby, you were born this way.

A fixed mindset is a bit of a curse. It means you view yourself and the world in terms of fixed abilities. You might believe that sports giants like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, tech giants like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates were just 'born that way', ignoring all the pain and suffering and failures and endless hours of work it took to achieve what they did. They were rich, they had it easy, they were lucky. Spin it however you wish, whatever keeps you in that rigid structure of thinking.

You might see feedback as personal criticism, or an attack on your identity.

You might see obstacles as evidence that what you're attempting is beyond your capabilities, or a sign from the universe that this just isn't right for you.

You might attribute the success of others as down to luck, nepotism, or blind chance.

This is a very limited way to live your life. It assumes you have no, or very little, capacity for change. It robs you of learning, of growth, of change. Fundamentally, it is incredibly disempowering.

I do not recommend it.

Is there any benefit? Pfff, perhaps. You could argue that if you stick to what you know, you limit your potential for catastrophe or hurt. If you never try, you never fail drastically, right? But is that really true? If you don't believe you're capable of new skills (and subsequently don't attain any) then what happens when you lose your job, you get made redundant, your company downsizes? You have no diversification of skills, you are a 1-trick pony, and the market wants versatility, and adaptability. The world is changing faster than ever before, new skills are the name of the game.

A fixed mindset is not the easy route. It is not the safe route. It is not devoid of strife. Life is struggle. Life is challenges and obstacles and setbacks. That's kind of the point, and the key component of this is choosing a struggle that is worthwhile.

And let's not forget Freud:

“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”

Aha, option two.

Option two is the fun one. Option two says you do have capacity for change. It says that you are a 'SpaceX' rocket ship of potential, and can be, do, become anything you wish. Ok, that was a bit dramatic, but you see my point. If you believe you can change, then your fundamental perspective of life is different. You take on challenges, you ask embarrassing questions because in that moment, you gained more than you lost.

A growth mindset means seeing everything as feedback. If it didn't work, why? What did I learn to help me improve next time? Feedback is not viewed as an attack on self, it is useful data that increases your chance of success the next time. Influenced by Thomas Edison, you have successfully found a way that doesn't work, you have excluded one avenue of thought.

Great, my next attempt will be better.

The great philosopher Hegel created the notion of the 'dialectic'. It's a startling thing. It resolves contradictions. It modern parlance, it is essentially:

• Thesis: the original idea
• Antithesis: you test that idea in reality, you gain feedback
• Synthesis: you use the feedback to improve/modify your idea into a new thesis

And so it goes, until you achieve/get where you want.

To reference Thomas Edison:

“I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

Growth mindset extraordinaire.

I think about these two principles often.

I recently had to give a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation to a Zoom call of around 40 doctors, almost all of them more senior than me, with multiple consultants. If I were to look at this from a fixed perspective, I might have thought:

• I am junior to them, therefore they will judge me.
• I am junior to them, therefore they already know what I'm teaching/presenting.
• If this goes badly, it could damage opinions of me. It could negatively influence my career prospects.
• I don't know that much about this topic, so I shouldn't even do it!

(Just writing this creates anxiety!)

If I were to view this same event from a growth mindset, I could think:

• Perfect, a very knowledgeable audience to gain feedback from.
• This is an opportunity to test my own knowledge, and see where my weak points are.
• Whatever happens, I will learn.
• Whatever happens, I will be a better person/doctor for it.
• I'm lucky to have the attention of so many senior clinicians, let's enjoy the process.
• Maybe my senior colleagues will see what a passion I have for the topic, and will be impressed by my willingness to learn, and make an extra effort to teach me.

Notice how it's my decision which perspective I take into the same event?

Which one do you think made me feel better?

Which one do you think will make me a better doctor?

Carol Dweck emphasises that no one is in camp one or camp two completely.

We likely exist on a spectrum and have fixed mindsets in some areas, and growth in others. Maybe we're learning an instrument, and we realise that essentially, the more we practice, the better we become. Maybe we go to the gym, and we notice that we can run a little further or lift a little more over time. However, maybe in your job you don't actively try new things because 'this is who you are', you feel that your position befits your intellectual ability.  

All I want you to take from this article is that the way we view situations is our decision. Some perspectives leave us disempowered, and others stimulate excitement and possibility that leads to significantly more interesting places.

And fundamentally, it's a choice.

To read more, check out 'Mindset' on Amazon.