Nurture is more important than Nature

What does it really mean to have a Growth Mindset?

Nowadays, many modern companies look for professionals with a growth mindset, since they are capable of learning quickly, question themselves assertively, work as a team, solve problems, and encourage others to acquire similar capacities. One of the biggest obstacles in a transformation process is to change the employees’ mindset. Let us remember that, at its core, every transformation process is a cultural transformation, which is why the main objective of every leader must be; to transform their employee’s mindset and the way they work.

However, as individuals, we have a natural tendency to stay in our comfort zone because we fear adversity, failure, or even the unknown.

Fixed or Growth Mindset?

In an investigation by Carol Dweck (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, 2006), doctor in psychology and professor at Stanford University, it is mentioned that people with a growth mindset are more successful in all aspects of their lives and experience less stress than those with a fixed mindset, who consider that they cannot change their abilities because they are innate, avoiding failure at all costs.

Having a growth mindset means, in essence, being in a state of constant learning, having that special curiosity to do things better, valuing feedback as a path to continuous development, and acknowledging as a source of knowledge and improvement.

Summing it up in a sentence, I would say; “Having a growth mindset means learning to unlearn.”

The current situation has shown us that businesses with resistance to change could have negative impacts on their financial statements or end up closing operations. Only companies, regardless of their size, that know how to be dynamic, learn and take risks in doing things differently, and most importantly, become increasingly digital, will survive.

Impact on organizations

When companies nurture and foster a growth mindset, their employees report feeling more empowered and engaged, as well as receiving greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation.

In contrast, companies whose employees mainly have a fixed mindset, tend to prioritize individual KPI’s over team and organizational objectives, to the point of generating envy among their peers, discomfort between divisions and work in silos.

This generates a negative, counterproductive among employees, and a poor organization’s overall performance. As a result, transforming their culture and having strong talented employees with a growth mindset has become a priority for many organizations.

However, it is often seen that people have a limited understanding of this concept. Here are 3 recommendations how identify and foster a growth mindset.

Don’t confuse flexibility with a growth mindset

People often confuse having a growth mindset with being open-minded. The latter can help generate a growth mindset, but is not enough. It is also necessary to encourage continuous learning and take action.

Identify capabilities within the organization

Definitely, if you don’t broaden your mind, new things won’t happen. The brain becomes stronger, more flexible, and more creative with use. Therefore, we must employ and challenge our mind to expand our mental and emotional capacities.

Organizations must identify people with this mentality and encourage their development. Not all high performers have a growth mindset. Remember that not only good individual performance should be rewarded; there are also other important aspects that should matter.

Generate the right context (culture) to cultivate a growth mindset

Once the employees with growth mindset have been identified, a cultural context and appropriate policies must be generated so that they can put it into practice and spread it to the rest of the company. This will generate a better culture, and in the not so long run, better results.

Leaders must show commitment to the growth of the organization, not only with words, but through actions; enabling development opportunities and promoting flexibility to inspire others.

It takes a transformative leader

According to Forbes, one of the main reasons why Digital Transformation fails, is the lack of the right leadership to guide it. Many are unprepared to guide the company towards the uphill journey every transformation process is.

The companies’ approach should not only be oriented to profit, but also to the development of the maximum potential of the leaders since they are the role models for the employees.

An exceptional case is the new CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, who has been betting on the cultural transformation of the company since 2014, through high-risk “smart” projects and talent programs. These initiatives allowed the company to face the radical challenges of the technology market, maintaining its competitiveness as one of the fastest growing companies.

However, large corporations should not wait for individual decisions from a heroic leader. Otherwise, take Microsoft as an example of how to overcome the disease of bureaucracy, since, for them, it took almost a decade to generate the results we see today.

It is not easy, but it is not impossible either

Even if we correct some misconceptions, it is not easy to achieve a growth mindset. The reason? We all have our own fixed mindset triggers, even if we are not aware of them.

Falling into insecurity is easy when we face new challenges, receive criticism, or compare ourselves to others. Likewise, our work environment can block our growth.

Therefore, a company that only rewards results makes it difficult for people to develop new mindsets and put it into practice; such as collaborating across areas, sharing information, innovating, seeking feedback, or admitting mistakes.

On the other hand, when two or more people with a growth mindset work together, they quite often generate a multiplier effect of ideas and make disruptive decisions that could have great impacts on the organization. As a result, we have new companies, agile projects, better performance, but, above all, a new culture.

Mind Shift

The good news is that you can work on a fixed mindset and transform it, but this requires a strong personal commitment, often driven by the need of staying current in an increasingly aggressive market.

It is very important for companies to follow up on the development of their culture and therefore the employee’s mindset, to understand where they are at and where they want to go. It is hard work, but people and organizations can gain a lot by deepening their understanding of growth mindset, and the processes involved. The best way to make it happen is through constant practice, taking small steps, with specific goals, even against our fixed beliefs.

To do this, it is critical that leaders encourage this behavior change through policies and practices, showing through their own example, as it is commonly said, “leaders need to walk the talk”. This should happen from the top, starting from the CEO down the organization. In this way, the C Level; Directors, Managers, and all other business leaders, will follow suit and create this much-needed culture to develop the right context for growth mindset to flourish.

With technology changing so fast, customers looking for better digital experiences and fierce market competition, especially now during the global pandemic, it is the companies and individuals who acknowledge the need to change and take action the ones who will be better prepared for what is to come. Companies will only be able to thrive if they have set the right culture, strong leadership and empowered employees. Ultimately it all boils down to PEOPLE. No strategic plan has ever been executed without people. This is proof of what Peter Drucker used to say: “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast”.

What are the culture and mindset like in your organization?