Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

by Carol S. Dweck

Should we try to restrain our admiration for their successes? Not at all. It just means that we should keep away from a certain kind of praise—praise that judges their intelligence or talent. Or praise that implies that we’re proud of them for their intelligence or talent rather than for the work they put in. We can appreciate them as much as we want for the growth-oriented process—what they accomplished through practice, study, persistence, and good strategies. And we can ask them about their work in a way that recognizes and shows interest in their efforts and choices.

“You really studied for your test and your improvement shows it. You read the material over several times, you outlined it, and you tested yourself on it. It really worked!” “I like the way you tried all kinds of strategies on that math problem until you finally got it. You thought of a lot of different ways to do it and found the one that worked!” “I like that you took on that challenging project for your science class. It will take a lot of work—doing the research, designing the apparatus, buying the parts, and building it. Boy, you’re going to learn a lot of great things.” “I know school used to be easy for you and you used to feel like the smart kid all the time. But the truth is that you weren’t using your brain to the fullest. I’m really excited about how you’re stretching yourself now and working to learn hard things.” “That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it.” “That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.” “You put so much thought into this essay. It really makes me understand Shakespeare in a new way.” “The passion you put into that piano piece gives me a real feeling of joy. How do you feel when you play it?”

What about a student who worked hard and didn’t do well? “I liked the effort you put in, but let’s work together some more and figure out what it is you don’t understand.” “We all have different learning curves. It may take more time for you to catch on to this and be comfortable with this material, but if you keep at it like this you will.” “Everyone learns in a different way. Let’s keep trying to find the way that works for you.” (This may be especially important ...

Speed and perfection are the enemy of difficult learning: “If you think I’m smart when I’m fast and perfect, I’d better not take on anything challenging.” So what should we say when children complete a task—say, math problems—quickly and perfectly? Should we deny them the praise they have earned? Yes. When this happens, I say, “Whoops. I guess that was too easy. I apologize for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can really learn from!”

children need honest and constructive feedback. If children are “protected” from it, they won’t learn well. They will experience advice, coaching, and feedback as negative and undermining. Withholding constructive criticism does not help children’s confidence; it harms their future.

Children as young as toddlers pick up these messages from their parents, learning that their mistakes are worthy of judgment and punishment. Or learning that their mistakes are an occasion for suggestions and teaching.

Don’t judge. Teach. It’s a learning process.

Many parents think that when they judge and punish, they are teaching, as in “I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.” What are they teaching? They are teaching their children that if they go against the parents’ rules or values, they’ll be judged and punished. They’re not teaching their children how to think through the issues and come to ethical, mature decisions on their own. And chances are, they’re not teaching their children that the channels of communication are open.

It’s not that growth-minded parents indulge and coddle their children. Not at all. They set high standards, but they teach the children how to reach them. They say no, but it’s a fair, thoughtful, and respectful no. Next time you’re in a position to discipline, ask yourself, What is the message I’m sending here: I will judge and punish you? Or I will help you think and learn?

When parents help their children construct growth-minded ideals, they are giving them something they can strive for. They are also giving their children growing room, room to grow into full human beings who will make their contribution to society in a way that excites them.

growth mindset is about believing people can develop their abilities. It’s that simple. It can have many repercussions, but that’s what it is at its core.

You don’t get a growth mindset by proclamation. You move toward it by taking a journey.

How Do You Pass a Growth Mindset On? You would think that once adults adopted more of a growth mindset they would automatically pass it on to kids. It would simply ooze out in their words and deeds. That’s what we thought, but it’s not what we’re finding. Many adults are not passing on their growth mindsets. How is that possible?

First, no surprise, it’s the praise. Parents’ praise molds their children’s mindsets. It’s interesting that this doesn’t necessarily line up with the parents’ mindsets. Even parents who hold a growth mindset can find themselves praising their child’s ability—and neglecting to focus on their child’s learning process. It can be hard to shake the idea that telling kids they’re smart will build their confidence.

Second, it’s the way adults respond to children’s mistakes or failures. When a child has a setback and the parent reacts with anxiety or with concern about the child’s ability, this fosters more of a fixed mindset in the child. The parent may try to gloss over the child’s failure but the very act of doing so may convey that the failure is an issue. So, although parents may hold a growth mindset, they may still display worry about their child’s confidence or morale when the child stumbles. It’s the parents who respond to their children’s setbacks with interest and treat them as opportunities for learning who are transmitting a growth mindset to their children. These parents think setbacks are good things that should be embraced, and that setbacks should be used as a platform for learning. They address the setback head-on and talk to their children about the next steps for learning.

Third, passing on a growth mindset is about whether teachers are teaching for understanding or are simply asking students to memorize facts, rules, and procedures. Research is showing that when teachers care about deeper understanding and work with students to achieve it, then students are more likely to believe that their abilities can be developed. One study found that when math teachers taught for conceptual understanding, gave feedback that deepened students’ understanding, and then allowed students to revise their work (to experience and show their deeper understanding), their students moved toward a growth mindset in math. These students believed they could develop their basic mathematical ability.

Think of something you need to do, something you want to learn, or a problem you have to confront. What is it? Now make a concrete plan. When will you follow through on your plan? Where will you do it? How will you do it? Think about it in vivid detail. These concrete plans—plans you can visualize—about when, where, and how you are going to do something lead to really high levels of follow-through, which, of course, ups the chances of success. So the idea is not only to make a growth-mindset plan, but also to visualize, in a concrete way, how you’re going to carry it out.

Mindset change is not about picking up a few pointers here and there. It’s about seeing things in a new way. When people—couples, coaches and athletes, managers and workers, parents and children, teachers and students—change to a growth mindset, they change from a judge-and-be-judged framework to a learn-and-help-learn framework. Their commitment is to growth, and growth takes plenty of time, effort, and mutual support to achieve and maintain.

The Journey: Step 1 You’ll be surprised to hear me say this. The first step is to embrace your fixed mindset. Let’s face it, we all have some of it. We’re all a mixture of growth and fixed mindsets and we need to acknowledge that. It’s not a shameful admission.

The Journey: Step 2 The second step is to become aware of your fixed-mindset triggers. When does your fixed-mindset “persona” come home to roost?

The Journey: Step 3 Now give your fixed-mindset persona a name.

The Journey: Step 4 You’re in touch with your triggers and you’re excruciatingly aware of your fixed-mindset persona and what it does to you. It has a name. What happens now? Educate it. Take it on the journey with you. The more you become aware of your fixed-mindset triggers, the more you can be on the lookout for the arrival of your persona. If you’re on the verge of stepping out of your comfort zone, be ready to greet it when it shows up and warns you to stop. Thank it for its input, but then tell it why you want to take this step and ask it to come along with you: “Look, I know this may not work out, but I’d really like to take a stab at it. Can I count on you to bear with me?” When you hit a setback, the chances are excellent it’s going to show up again. Don’t suppress it or ban it. Just let it do its thing. Let it do its song and dance, and when it settles down a bit, talk to it about how you plan to learn from the setback and go forward: “Yes, yes, it’s possible that I’m not so good at this (yet), but I think I have an idea of what to do next. Let’s just try it.”

Remember that your fixed-mindset persona was born to protect you and keep you safe. But it has developed some very limiting ways of doing that. So educate it in the new growth mindset ways that it can support you: in taking on challenges and sticking to them, bouncing back from failure, and helping and supporting others to grow. Understand the persona’s point of view, but slowly teach it a different way of thinking, and take it with you on your journey to a growth mindset.

Every one of us has a journey to take. • It starts by accepting that we all have both mindsets. • Then we learn to recognize what triggers our fixed mindset. Failures? Criticism? Deadlines? Disagreements? • And we come to understand what happens to us when our fixed-mindset “persona” is triggered. Who is this persona? What’s its name? What does it make us think, feel, and do? How does it affect those around us? • Importantly, we can gradually learn to remain in a growth-mindset place despite the triggers, as we educate our persona and invite it to join us on our growth-mindset journey. • Ideally, we will learn more and more about how we can help others on their journey, too.

For your growth mindset to bear fruit, you need to keep setting goals—goals for growth. Every day presents you with ways to grow and to help the people you care about grow.

DIAGRAM BY NIGEL HOLMES What are the opportunities for learning and growth today? For myself? For the people around me?

As you think of opportunities, form a plan, and ask: When, where, and how will I embark on my plan? When, where, and how make the plan concrete. How asks you to think of all the ways to bring your plan to life and make it work.

As you encounter the inevitable obstacles and setbacks, form a new plan and ask yourself the question again: When, where, and how will I act on my new plan?

Regardless of how bad you may feel, chat with your fixed-mindset persona and then do it! And when you succeed, don’t forget to ask yourself: What do I have to do to maintain and continue the growth?