Exercise - Practice identifying fixed and growth mindsets
To change your mindset to a growth mindset, you must first differentiate a fixed mindset from a growth mindset. Read the following scenarios in which you're a coder on a web-development team. Use the reflective questions to practice identifying which mindset the inner dialogues imply. After reflecting on the mindsets, read the suggested answers after the scenarios.
Scenario 1
A peer asks you to present your ideas to the team at the next team meeting. You're reluctant to do this and feel it's outside your comfort zone. Your inner dialogue is: "I'm not the type of person who can speak in front of a group."
Reflective question:
- If you believe you're a particular "type of person" who can't do certain things, what kind of mindset do you have?
Scenario 2
You and a colleague are chatting about a new position within your coding team. Your colleague, who is a graphic artist, writes code in her spare time but not professionally. You're familiar with her work and you're sure she can fill the position. After encouraging her to apply, she replies, "I'm a graphic artist. I don't have the right kind of brain for coding."
Reflective question:
- Does your colleague's statement imply a fixed or growth mindset? Why?
Scenario 3
Imagine you presented an idea in a meeting to try to improve your site's user interface. Afterwards, a senior developer gently points out several flaws in your idea. You realize your idea won't work as you conceived it. The developer goes on to explain how some of your ideas could be used with a couple changes. The solution that the team agrees on only includes a small portion of your idea.
Your thoughts about this experience are:
- I'm proud I had the guts to put forward my idea even though only part of it was used.
- The feedback I got from the team was valid.
- I can apply the coding techniques I learned in this meeting to future projects.
Reflective questions:
Was your mindset in this situation fixed or growth? What made it so?
How would the experience have been different for you if you had the opposite mindset?
Suggested answers
Consider the following suggested answers for the previous scenarios.
Suggested answer for scenario 1
Believing that you're a particular "type of person" who can't do certain things indicates a fixed mindset.
Suggested answers for scenario 2
Your colleague has a fixed mindset. She believes she can't apply for the coding position because she "doesn't have the right kind of brain for coding." Your colleague's reluctance to apply for the job because of her graphic design background is reasonable. But her belief that graphic artists can't be coders reveals her fixed mindset.
Suggested answers for scenario 3
Your growth mindset is what made you perceive the experience as a success when you could have perceived it as a failure:
You offered ideas even though they might be rejected. Your motivation was to contribute rather than seek approval or avoid failure. You celebrated the courage it took to speak up.
You perceived the feedback you received as valid and not personal. With a fixed mindset, you might have taken the criticism personally and become reluctant to share in future meetings.
You're happy that you learned some important coding techniques that you can apply in the future.