To be able to flourish and thrive as individuals, teams and as organisations, we need to move past traditional methods and look at things in a new way - a more humanising way. Performance culture needs to stop at annual appraisals, and instead start to look at embedding a culture of continuous feedback.

Most of us will have been in a situation where we have had to give feedback to enable somebody to perform better but we know they may not respond well to it. This is because we often have a workforce full of people with fixed mindsets. We need to start cultivating growth mindsets in teams so that feedback becomes an opportunity to grow rather than being an attack on who we are.

“Why waste time proving over and over how great you are when you could be getting better?” – Carol Dweck

What’s the difference between growth and fixed mindset?

Carol Dweck, a Stanford University professor and one of the most important determinants of success in our belief system, identified two core mindsets people can have about their own intelligence, learning and abilities. These mindsets and beliefs shape how we approach challenges and handle critique.

A fixed mindset is the belief that your abilities are carved in stone, predetermined at birth and that you have a certain amount of them. When you fail, your basic abilities are called into question and when you hit an obstacle or criticism it is simply proof that you don’t have the ability you require.

On the other hand, a growth mindset is the belief that one’s skills and qualities can be developed through effort and perseverance. Setbacks and feedback are not about your abilities but rather they provide key information you can use to help yourself learn.

We often have a combination of fixed and growth mindsets in different areas and no one can have a growth mindset all the time. However, encouraging our growth mindset helps us to be more resilient and engaged in the work we do.

“In the growth mindset, failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.” – Carol Dweck

Why is a growth mindset vital for successful teams?

The short answer; when we have a growth mindset as a team, we can convert setbacks into future successes more easily.

• Having this mindset makes us more creative and encourages perseverance and resilience when facing challenges.
• A team with growth mindsets wants everybody to succeed rather than every individual trying to constantly prove their worth. Teams that have a fixed mindset do not admit when their work is not going well because they do not want to admit that they are wrong. Having a growth mindset encourages continuous feedback which allows people to grow and develop rather than make them afraid to receive feedback.
• A growth mindset team is also not afraid to try and do things outside of the norm because they realise that everything, they do helps them to become better. They can look directly at their mistakes, learn from feedback and alter strategies accordingly.

All the abilities outline above will ultimately lead to higher performance and better results.

So how can we begin to develop a team growth mindset?

1. The power of ‘not yet’ – our words and what we tell ourselves greatly impact our confidence and how we look at challenges. Stretching yourself and sticking to it, even when you cannot yet do it or you are facing challenge, is the core to the growth mindset. Reminding yourself that you do not know it ‘yet’ reminds you that you are on a learning curve and that you are working towards knowing it. To learn more, watch this TED Talk by Duckworth. Don’t forget that our skills and abilities are developed through practice and trying – you just might not be able to do it yet.

2. Allow for opportunities to celebrate failures and mistakes – this creates an environment where people focus on learning from mistakes rather than seeing them as a failure. People are encouraged to recognise how they can still grow or learn from things that might have not worked out the way they wanted to. It is also important to not forget to recognise small accomplishments – focusing on small wins helps to see the growth a team has made whilst working together. Our sense of accomplishment resets every 24 hours so taking the time to recognise what we have achieved every day is important to remind ourselves of our learning process.

3. Look out for fixed-mindset triggers - something really challenging and outside your comfort zone as a team can trigger a fixed mindset. Reflect on what you think and feel when facing a big challenge – are you thinking that you are going to expose yourself to others and they might perceive that you aren’t good enough? Similarly, what happens when you meet an obstacle? Do you tell yourself “I’m not good at this”? When someone gives you feedback – do you feel angry and get defensive? Watch out for trigger moments or thoughts and ask yourself “is this a fixed or growth mindset?” Consciously try to see the situation or comment from a growth mindset perspective in order to find ways you can support your own and your team’s learning.

4. With a team growth mindset, it is all about human potential and development - to achieve this, we place emphasis on learning and using strengths, rather than only focussing on fixed talents. A way of doing this is through praising work ethic and giving strengths-based feedback. When you praise team members or your people ensure that you give feedback on their strategies, praise their focus and highlight any improvements. This is not about just acknowledging effort but instead focus on the learning process, also, including strengths that people played to in order to learn or accomplish this makes it even more powerful!

Want to know more? Check out these books:

• Carol Dweck - Mindset: the new psychology of success
• Jim Collins - From Good to Great