The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionise your Thinking and Make Wiser Decisions

by David Robson

‘If you have the fixed mindset, you are all the time trying to find out where you stand in the hierarchy; everyone’s ranked. If you’re at the top, you don’t want to fall or be taken down from the top, so any sign or suggestion that you don’t know something or that someone knows more than you – it’s threatening to dethrone you.’ And so, to protect your position, you become overly defensive. ‘You dismiss people’s ideas with the notion that “I know better so I don’t have to listen to what you have to say.” ’ In the growth mindset, by contrast, you’re not so worried about proving your position relative to those around you, and your knowledge doesn’t represent your personal value. ‘What’s more, you are motivated to learn because it makes you smarter, so it is a lot easier to admit what you don’t know. It doesn’t threaten to pull you down from any kind of hierarchy.’