Exercise - Change your mindset from fixed to growth

  • 1 minute

In this short activity, you'll practice rephrasing fixed mindset statements into growth mindset statements.

Once again, imagine you're a coder on a web-development team. You're observing comments made by your peers about the tasks and material in a coding seminar. For each fixed-mindset statement, consider possibilities for growth-mindset statements.

Compare your answers to the suggested growth-mindset statements listed after the questions. Optionally, note your answers on a device or on paper.

Fixed-mindset statements

  • "I'm not good with user interfaces. I know I won't understand what's really going on in this seminar, but I figured I'd show up anyway."

  • "I can't get this code right. The approach I'm trying just isn't working."

  • "It seems like everyone else here is a natural when it comes to programming. They just know what to do. I feel like I wasn't born with that gene."

  • "This colleague of mine is to blame for X. It's because he's a stubborn person."

Suggested growth-mindset statements

  • "I'm not good with user interfaces yet. I'm looking forward to learning about them in this seminar. I bet my feelings about not knowing what's going on will fade as I participate in the seminar's activities."

  • "This code is difficult, and the approach I've been using isn't working. I should pay attention to what others are doing. I could also ask the seminar facilitator to give me ideas so I can try a different approach."

  • "Although my skills might not be as good as the skills of some of my peers, it doesn't mean that we're fundamentally different. They might have more training or experience than I do. I'm capable of learning these techniques too. Maybe I can ask some of them for help."

  • "I'm able to acknowledge my colleagues' imperfections because I have them too. I also know that poor communication can result in conflict. They don't necessarily have a personality flaw."

If you embrace a growth mindset, you might be surprised about how much you can accomplish.

How you can help support growth mindsets

You can help others develop a growth mindset by framing feedback so it supports a growth mindset. Here are two examples of feedback that support a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

Example 1

This feedback example supports a fixed mindset. When a colleague does well, it praises the colleague's ability, rather than their effort:

  • "Great job! You must be really smart."

This feedback example supports a growth mindset. It expresses praise by emphasizing the effort the colleague made:

  • "Wow, you did a great job! You must have worked very hard."

Example 2

This feedback example supports a fixed mindset. It concludes that a failure is caused by the person's ingrained abilities or nature:

  • "Don't worry. Some people aren't tech people."

These feedback examples support a growth mindset. The person giving the feedback notices the strategy of the person receiving the feedback:

  • "You just haven't tried this strategy yet."

  • "Notice how you tried this new way, and you got closer."

  • "You haven't got it yet, but you'll get there if you're willing to keep learning."

    Tip

    When you give feedback, ensure that your self-talk aligns with the growth mindset you're trying to encourage in the person to whom you're giving feedback. Having a growth mindset can help you give feedback effectively and in a way that supports the other person's growth mindset.