Fixed Mindset v Growth Mindset

Do you believe that you either have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, or you don’t?

Many people do – they will say “Oh I’m just a natural entrepreneur”, or “I could never be an entrepreneur – it’s just not me”.

Sure, you may have a natural affinity to it, or likewise, it just may not interest you. That’s fine. But I believe that entrepreneurial skills can be learned just like any other.

If you’re in the former camp, then you may possess what is known as a fixed mindset. The battle between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset was popularised by psychologist Carol Dweck.

The genesis of fixed mindset v growth mindset

Dr. Carol Dweck is a renowned psychologist and embarked on a research journey at Stanford University. Her research was ground-breaking and delved into the intricacies of the human mindset, investigating why some people fail and others succeed.

Dweck’s research uncovered some surprising results – it was actually more beneficial to praise the process of achieving something rather than natural abilities or results. Specifically, signs of persistence, effort and resilience should be rewarded, which also opens up a more positive student-teacher relationship.

In one of her studies, students were presented with puzzles of a range of difficulties. Some of the students decided they could not do the hard puzzles as they did not have the ability for it. These students were assigned as having a fixed mindset. The students who embraced the failure and saw the puzzles as a learning experience were given what Dweck coined as the growth mindset.

What is a fixed mindset?

Those with a fixed mindset believe that talent and intelligence are fixed; people are born with them or not and this will remain true throughout their lives.

Therefore, they often shy away from challenges because they believe intelligence and talent is something you “are” rather than something you can develop.

Since those with a fixed mindset believe that individual traits cannot change, no matter how much effort is put in, they’re more likely to:

Give up easily and more quickly
Feel threatened by the success of others
Avoid challenges to avoid the possibility of failure
View feedback as a personal criticism
Not bother with effort as it’s “worthless”

What is a growth mindset?

A growth mindset is one which believes that you can learn anything with the right attitude and effort. Intelligence and talent are qualities that can be developed and you should have a much more adaptive approach to learning and development.

Those with a growth mindset embrace failure, as they see it as a necessary part of the journey and they can bounce back from setbacks by learning and improving.

Therefore, those with a growth mindset are more likely to:

Believe in continuous learning
Embrace challenges
See feedback as information to improve
See failures as a temporary bump in the road
Believe that effort leads to mastery
See others as a source of inspiration, rather than a threat

Why do entrepreneurs need a growth mindset?

Dr. Carol Dweck actually studied the effects of a growth mindset on her subjects and found that there was a clear positive effect on motivation and academic performance.

The results also showed that the students enjoyed learning a lot more.

A growth mindset is absolutely essential to entrepreneurs for many reasons.

The entrepreneurial journey is extremely bumpy and it’s inevitable that you will face lots of setbacks. How you react to them determines your future.

A fixed mindset can actually prevent you from learning from your mistakes, while a growth mindset will help you see these mistakes as a learning opportunity.

Therefore, cultivating a growth mindset as an entrepreneur will allow you to:

Build resilience
Reduce burnout
Reduce mental health problems such as depression/anxiety
Always be improving
Adapt to changing circumstances

How to develop a growth mindset

So now that you know that a growth mindset is essential for entrepreneurship, how do you go about getting one?

I’ve decided to pop together my 5 top action points that you can implement today to develop more of a growth mindset:

Embrace challenges as opportunities

Mindset Shift: challenges are not insurmountable obstacles; failure is not disappointment. They are opportunities for growth and learning.

Action Points: Seek out new challenges and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. After a setback, analyse what went wrong and pick out the learnings that you will apply to future situations.

Cultivate a passion for learning

Mindset Shift: intelligence and skills can be developed through continuous learning and effort. There’s nothing you cannot try to learn.

Action Points: Always be learning something new – attend workshops, take online courses, discuss new trends with your friends/colleagues. Encourage this learning attitude in others too.

Seek constructive feedback

Mindset Shift: feedback is a chance to obtain valuable information for how you can improve and learn. It is not a criticism.

Action Points: Get a mentor or a coach and encourage candid feedback on your performance. Reach out to fellow entrepreneurs and ask for the same in return. Use this feedback to analyse your strengths and weaknesses.

Celebrate efforts, not just results

Mindset Shift: it is not just about what you’ve achieved, but the effort shown along the way. It takes consistent dedication to see improvement.

Action Points: Acknowledge the process of what you’re doing; share stories of your journey and the lessons you’ve learned from them, regardless of what the results are.

Set long-term goals

Mindset Shift: it’s about the long-term journey and the continuous improvement, rather than the short-term outcomes.

Action Points: Set yourself some audacious goals for the future. Break them up into smaller, more manageable milestones, but ignore the arbitrary vanity metrics that may feel good along the way.