A growth mindset is the belief that abilities, skills and intelligence can be developed through effort, good strategies and help from others. The opposite, a fixed mindset, is the belief that talent is set: you either have it or you don’t. The idea comes from Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, and it has become one of the most used ideas in education and management.
At work, a growth mindset shapes how people handle mistakes, feedback and stretch goals. This guide explains what it means, the difference between a growth and a fixed mindset, how to build one yourself, and how managers can foster a growth mindset in employees.
Table of Contents
What is a growth mindset?
Dweck’s research found that people who believe they can improve tend to take on harder challenges, keep going after setbacks and learn more from criticism. People who believe their ability is fixed are more likely to avoid challenges, give up when things get hard and feel threatened by feedback.
One of the ideas behind her work is the power of “not yet”. Dweck has described a school where students who didn’t pass a course were given the grade “Not Yet” instead of “Fail”. The message is that you’re on a learning curve, not at a dead end.
Growth mindset vs fixed mindset
| Situation | Fixed mindset | Growth mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Challenges | Avoids them in case they fail | Takes them on to learn |
| Setbacks | “I’m just not good at this” | “What can I do differently?” |
| Effort | Sees it as a sign of low talent | Sees it as the path to getting better |
| Feedback | Takes it personally, gets defensive | Uses it to improve |
| Others’ success | Feels threatened | Finds lessons and inspiration |
Nobody has a pure growth mindset. Most people have a mix, and it changes with the situation. You might have a growth mindset about learning a new skill and a fixed one about public speaking.
A growth mindset story: the instrument in the bin
Years ago, Wotter’s co-founder Fraser learned to make musical instruments, viola da gambas, from a craftsman called Shem. Every time a student made an error, Shem picked up the instrument and threw it in the bin, whether the student had just started or was eleven months in and almost finished.
“Don’t get me wrong, it feels pretty brutal the first time,” says Fraser. “It stings the second time. But by the third round, you learn to stop being so precious about your work. Shem taught me two things. First, that I was constantly failing. Second, that failure is not a dirty word. It’s simply the act of not doing something correctly.”
It’s an extreme method, and we wouldn’t recommend binning your team’s work. But the lesson stands: “Much of the poor work completed in this world is the product of someone, somewhere being too afraid to admit they’re doing something wrong.” A growth mindset makes it normal to spot a mistake early, say so and start again with a better approach.
How to develop a growth mindset yourself
- Separate the mistake from yourself. Failing at a task doesn’t reduce your talent or judgement.
- Add “yet”. “I can’t run a budget meeting” becomes “I can’t run a budget meeting yet”.
- Analyse failures like puzzles. What happened, what would you do differently, what will you try next?
- Ask for feedback early, while it’s still cheap to change course.
- Feel the disappointment, briefly. Then move on to the next attempt.
- Notice your fixed-mindset triggers, such as criticism or someone else’s success, and how you react.
How to foster a growth mindset in employees
Managers have the biggest influence on whether a team feels safe to learn and fail. These habits help:
- Praise effort, strategy and progress, not raw talent. “You found a smarter way to do that” beats “you’re a natural”.
- Treat mistakes as learning. Run blameless reviews that ask what went wrong in the process, not who to blame. Atlassian’s guide to blameless postmortems is a good model.
- Set stretch goals that are challenging but achievable, and celebrate progress along the way.
- Give regular feedback that focuses on what to do next, not just what went wrong. See our tips on feedforward.
- Make learning part of the job, with time for training, mentoring and trying new things.
- Lead by example. Share your own mistakes and what you learned. When leaders admit errors, people feel safer doing the same.
- Build psychological safety. Google’s Project Aristotle, a study of 180 teams, found psychological safety was the most important factor in team effectiveness.
For more on building development into your team, read creating employee growth plans that deliver results.
Common growth mindset mistakes
- Praising effort that isn’t working. Effort matters, but if it isn’t leading anywhere, help the person try a different strategy.
- Saying it without doing it. A poster about growth mindset means nothing if people are punished for mistakes.
- Blaming individuals for a fixed-mindset culture. If people are afraid to fail, look at how failure is treated first.
Frequently asked questions
What is a growth mindset in simple terms?
A growth mindset is believing you can get better at things through effort, good strategies and help from others, rather than believing your abilities are fixed.
Who created the growth mindset idea?
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, through decades of research on how people’s beliefs about ability affect learning and achievement. She popularised it in her book Mindset.
What is the difference between a growth and a fixed mindset?
A fixed mindset sees ability as set, so challenges and feedback feel threatening. A growth mindset sees ability as something you develop, so challenges and feedback are chances to improve.
How do you foster a growth mindset in employees?
Praise effort and strategy rather than talent, treat mistakes as learning, set stretch goals, give regular forward-looking feedback and have leaders share their own mistakes.
Why is a growth mindset important at work?
It helps people learn faster, handle change and setbacks better and give and take feedback more openly, which makes teams more adaptable.
