In the later years it has become apparent that various industries are shifting towards a culture of "growth mindset", no matter the area they are focused in. Whether it is education, economics, manufacturing, technology, all of them have active efforts to be part of this shift. But what is a growth mindset? Is it a skill? A personality trait? It is something that someone is born with or is it something that can be developed over time?

A new way achieve success

Let's start from the beginning: the definition and its origin. To dive into the basics first we need to understand what mindset is. Put in simple terms: a mindset is nothing but our self-perception, the mental model that each of us have about ourselves, our skills and capabilities.

The terms growth and fixed mindset were defined by Dr. Carol Dweck and her team over 30 years ago, they became interested how student performance was impacted depending perception about how their brain worked. What their research found is that, in general, people have two ways of perceiving their qualities, talents and capabilities.

People with a fixed mindset have the belief that their performance on various areas is determined by non-changing trait s, these people tend to describe their capabilities with statements like: "I'm good at math" or "I don't have talent to be a public speaker". On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that each quality, talent or capability is something that can be developed with effort and learning.

In a sense, growth mindset is something everyone experiences naturally.

Thinking back to early stages of our lives when we are discovering the world, we approach every situation with a sense of curiosity as an attempt to understand the unknown and learn about it; No one is born thinking they are good or bad at something, instead they experiment and eventually make the determination of their abilities based on how easy or hard it was to achieve success. It is also likely that at this point is when some people transition to a fixed mindset while others go on practicing to achieve their goals hence naturally nurturing their growth mindset.

Changing the corporate culture in a good way!

Why do different industries and corporations care about growth mindset? In short, it is about redefining the work culture. It all started with education, more and more institutions and teachers have been adopting the growth mindset model when nurturing minds of younger generations since the early 2000's. Now 20+ years later as these generations are reaching an age when they can join the workforce it has become clear that they do not respond well to existing models based on reward and punishment. These generations are looking for something more meaningful; They are aware that, while talent is crucial in determining how good someone can be at a given task it is not all that exists, there's an alternative: they know that learning, practice and hard work are factors that can also influence someone's performance in a positive way regardless of the task.

This new culture is proving to be more valuable that initial research had shown; Workers from previous generations, that had experienced mostly punishment and reward model, are realizing the value that this culture shift has and are joining and generating momentum to shift into the growth mindset model by creating spaces and opportunities where learning is the base for all activities, places where failing fast, reflecting and adapting are key elements for success, work environments where everyone is encouraged to embrace their true selves and continue working towards becoming the best version they can be.

In the end, it is all about a continuous learning process.

Purpose as a driver for better understanding

As researchers discover and understand more aspects of the human mind, its behavioral characteristics and how these reflect in social interactions we can expect that these discoveries will continue to permeate into existing areas. Usually these changes will start from early stages of development, like home and schools, and eventually making it into more advanced areas where it culture is usually thought of a more strict / hardened concept. After all we as humans do what we do for a single reason: a continuous adventure in a search for purpose.