A Timely Read
Since returning from Washington, my work life has been turned upside down. For different reasons, we had several people resign within weeks of one another. Add our need for added funding and it was a perfect storm, literally. The conversations have been difficult, hours long, and emotions on the edge. I am exhausted. Reading Mindset by Carol Dweck was timely. Dweck is a highly regarded researcher in the field of social and developmental psychology.
The premise of this book was that how a person perceives their ability to fulfill their potential is largely dependent if the person has a fixed or growth mindset[1]. To lay the groundwork, mindsets are part of personality. They are a way of looking at life and how a person perceives different situations such as problems and the need for hard work. For instance, a person with a fixed mindset is more likely to fear failure because they fear being judged on their performance, whether it is on a test, sporting event or work. Success depends on performing well[2]. Making a mistake or losing a game would mean the person was a failure. Someone with a growth mindset is open to learning from challenges or mistakes and growing through them. They are inspired by hard work and willing to take risks to change.
In The Happiness Advantage, author, researcher, Shawn Achor promoted a concept similar to Dweck but from a different perspective [3]. Achor’s concept is that how a person chooses to see things impacts their perceptions. As an example, when he got to Harvard, he could not understand why many students were stressed, pessimistic, and depressed. This all occurred within 2 months after they were ecstatic about being admitted to such a prestigious school. Yet the students who likely stood above the rest of the students at their High School in June became one of all the other, likely, valedictorians who got into Harvard. They were comparing themselves to steep competition. Achor’s premise, that I think compliments Dweck was that the lens through which your brain views the world is the lens which shapes your reality[4]. If the lens is changed not only can the person’s happiness change, every single educational and business outcome also can change.
In Mindset, I was particularly interested in the chapter Business: Mindset and Leadership. Here Dweck discussed business practices that get companies into trouble such as blindly following a leader, using group think where a group puts unlimited faith in a talented leader or a genius[5]. I like what Alfred Sloan the former CEO of General Motors did when there was an important decision to be made. After the leadership agreed on a strategy, he would recommend that everyone go home and sleep on it overnight to come up with possible risks that weren’t considered by the group[6].
Back to the organization I serve; I realize that many factors play into where we are today. Some of the disruption was caused by factors that are out of our control. Yet, looking back I can see my reactions to these factors could have been different. Executive coach Patrick Lencioni says that one of the most difficult challenges a leader faces is the desire to protect employees from harm[7](paraphrased). I easily fall into that trap. Yet, reading Mindset, gave me an understanding that trying to protect them, I was using a fixed mindset with them. So, I am starting slowly with this team. When someone gives me a paper to proof, I am phrasing my responses to something like, “I can see that you put a lot of thought into this concept.” It doesn’t come naturally. I want to say, that’s great, or I don’t know if this is our best approach, but I am pausing before commenting. We are doing a significant overhaul of our fundraising efforts. Rather than focusing on big events that are expensive in time, money, and human energy we are focusing on the one-on-one relationships with current, former, and potential donors. Seeing everyone working hard, my default option is to give them time to do their work without interruption. However, I am finding that the senior team is looking for more interaction to be included in decisions, not less. With that, I will make more intentional time with each of them a priority. Some of these things have been started prior to reading this book, however, putting the research for Mindsets behind the actions inspires me to continue to grow with them. These are initial steps. I am sure as we navigate this time there will be better ideas emerging.
Neither Dweck nor Achor said in their research that outcomes came easily. Dweck even says there are some innate things that a growth mindset cannot change but it does open the door to possibilities and the person can have joy on their journey through life by learning and growing, regardless of the outcome[8]. Likewise, Achor recommends people practice naming 3 things for which we are grateful, journaling, exercising, and meditating daily. All of these things take time and energy. However, I don’t know of anything that is worth doing that doesn’t take effort. The one thing that neither Carol Dweck nor Shawn Achor touched on was the impact faith has on the mindset of a person. For me, knowing that God is walking beside me allows me to pray:
Oh God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference, Amen[9].
[1] Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential (New York, Random House Publishing, 2006).
[2] Dweck, 16.
[3] Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage, TEDxBloomington-ShawnAchor-“TheHappinessAdvantage”.
[4] Achor, The Happiness Advantage.
[5] Dweck, 134. When J.F. Kennedy was president, group think led the country to the brink of tragedy because the people surrounding Kennedy did not question his recommendations enough regarding the Bay of Pigs and Castro.
[6] Dweck, 135.
[7] Patrick Lencioni, The FIVE Dysfunctions of a TEAM (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass, 2002) 206.
[8] Dweck, 49.
[9] Historically attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.
About the Author
Diane Tuttle
12 responses to “A Timely Read”
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Thanks for your deep dive into Mindset, and your current situation. I like the way you connected Patrick Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions. For me, I see a direct correlation to fixed mindset and his section on fear of conflict, or dysfunction from creating artificial harmony.
In my post, I referenced Dweck’s reality check when moving to a growth mindset, in that “it’s especially not easy to replace it with a mindset that tells you to embrace all the things that have felt threatening: challenge, struggle, criticism, setbacks” (Mindset, 235).
How do you think you can best prepare others to receive your growth mindset leadership without feeling threatened?
Hi Joel, Thanks for reading and your question. One of the things I know is that I don’t have to do this alone. I have asked our CHRO to be a part of this process with me. 2 of the 6 senior staff team are new so we have to get to know each other in this process, which is a bane and a blessing. There aren’t preconceived ideas of what should be but we also need time for them to grow into their positions. One of the first things I am doing is trying to consciously model what I am looking for them to do. It will become more explicit as the standard as the group starts to gel. We also calendared several meetings between now and the first of the year to start to get to know each other and having all share their hopes, fears, expectations, etc. In Jan. we will have an all day retreat with 2 board members who are executive coaches/HR pros will lead. This is a start, but surely not the end.
Diane,
As if physical storms were not enough to deal with, you had organizational storms to traverse. It sounds like you are doing well navigating this situation. However, I know you are looking to step back and hand the leadership reins to someone else. Do you feel your organization as a whole has a growth mindset? Are there areas in which a fixed mindset exists and do those need challenged?
Hi Jeff, Good question.One of the core values of our organization is growth. At our orientation we describe that as we believe the people we serve can continue to grow, even if society writes them off. Part of the core value also pertains to the people who do the serving. We all need to keep growing. That being said, I think on any given day there will be people with a fixed mindset as well as those with a growth mindset, which isn’t surprising since all of us have aspects of both within ourselves.
Hi Diane, I’m sorry that it’s been such a difficult season with fundraising and staffing. I know these things weigh heavy on you. I appreciate the journey that you are on and the wisdom you have to share with those around you.
Doing a significant overhaul of your fundraising efforts requires courage and innovation. I am praying that you’ll learn all that you need to along the way!
Hi Christy, Thanks. The FR overhaul is a good one. Yet, the risk is that it takes too long to kick in and could leave us in a tight place. With traveling new ground, I am not sure my conventional wisdom is the best approach. The biggest thing it is teaching me is that I can only do so much and have to reply on God to help us. Not sure what the help will be. Sometimes it is giving me peace, sometimes it is sleep and once in a while it is inspiration. Thanks for asking.
Diane, I am sorry for all of the challenges you have been facing the last month. We prayed for you last night. May God continue to give you the courage needed as you walk out these challenges.
I am wondering from your experience as a leader, what are ways you cultivate and invite your leadership team and staff to have a growth mindset?
Thank you for the prayers Kari. That means a lot. One of the things we are going to do later this month is to have all the senior staff share with each other something that they could use help from other members of the team. Then for the second part each person would think how they might contribute to the needs of the rest of the team. It’s a little clunky right now but the idea is for all of us to stretch while building a sense of team by sharing strengths and accepting help where needed.
Diane,
Pausing for a second to change the response to others can certainly be challenging. Sometimes, all it takes is a couple of seconds to pause and think about the way we might respond differently. Are there other ways in your company that you have tried to encourage growth mindsets?
Hi Adam, Thanks for the question. Growth is one of our agency’s core values. But we have focused our look at it on how we could grow in our field, not necessarily as people or leaders. I think as the organization emerges from the transitions that focus will change to the latter.
Hi Diane, I will echo Kari’s comment and let you know that we prayed for you last night. In your post you mentioned Lencioni and his point regarding leaders desiring to protect their employees from harm. How does this manifest for you? Do you still find yourself doing this or have you found a good balance? I know you mentioned a new way in which you respond to employees. When I worked at the clinic, I often felt a need to protect the employees.
Thank you for the prayers Elysse. I am being intentional about setting aside time so that the senior staff can schedule far enough in advance for meetings then have said if they need me, my door is open. There are a number of people on vacation this week so things are relatively quiet. Time will tell how it all plays out.