Carol Dweck studies human motivation. She spends her days diving into why people succeed (or don’t) and what’s within our control to foster success. Her theory of the two mindsets - fixed and growth- and the difference they make in outcomes is incredibly powerful.
According to Dweck, someone with a growth mindset views intelligence, abilities, and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort. They will be more likely to approach challenging problems with enthusiasm because it is an opportunity to stretch themselves and grow.
They will believe that their effort will pay off, and tend to be more resilient in life's most difficult moments.
On the other hand, someone with a fixed mindset views those same traits as inherently stable and unchangeable over time. They are more likely to shy away from challenges for fear of exposing their shortcomings and may even be more likely to cheat or quit when challenged because of their deep-seated belief that they are incapable of anything more.
In Carol's TED talk, she discusses a school that stopped defining academic performances on the dichotomy of pass/fail, and instead, assigned the grade "Not Yet" to those students who did not pass.
Intrigued? Click below to watch Dweck's full TED Talk!