I’ll soon be leaving town to spend the holidays with my 6-year-old grandson, Travis (and his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins).
During my last couple of visits, I observed that Travis’ parents were giving him the message that it’s OK to make mistakes. Occasionally they would point out mistakes they made during the day, with a lightness about the story of their “oops” moments. I was pleased to see this approach as Travis early on seemed reluctant to “own” a mistake. Even if he tripped or dropped something, his tendency was to say he did it on purpose and look up with a bright smile. He probably inherited the pesky perfectionist gene that has been a struggle within our family. I’m glad his mom and dad are intent on reframing his mindset about messing up.
It’s tough to learn anything new if we’re allergic to mistakes. Carol Dweck is a psychology professor at Stanford University who published a book called “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Dr. Dweck is a leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, and in more than 20 years of research, she discovered that our mindset creates our entire mental world. She determined that everyone has one of two basic mindsets: fixed or growth.
People with the fixed mindset believe that talents and abilities are set in stone – either we have them or we don’t. These people feel they must prove themselves over and over, trying to look smart and talented at all costs. In the developmental years, this mindset is reinforced with repeated messages saying, “You are so smart.”
If the message is “be smart,” then kids – or adults – will be reluctant to try new things and tend to shift blame for their mistakes onto others, or worse yet spend a lot of energy hiding their mistakes. If we only will do the things we already know how to do, we’ll become stagnant, bored and probably boring to others.
Professor Dweck describes the growth mindset as knowing that talents and abilities can be developed over time and that this is the path of opportunity and success.
She asserts that these fixed or growth mindsets drive every aspect of our lives – work, relationships, sports and parenting. In the growth mindset we are open to trying new activities, knowing that we’ll start out making mistakes and hone our abilities as we keep practicing.
No wonder there is so much ambivalence in the workplace around making mistakes. On the one hand, we hear Thomas Edison’s quote ringing in our ears: “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” On the other hand, we are graded in school for getting things right, not for stretching and trying new things and making mistakes. So we are confused about mistakes. Avoid them or take them in stride as a necessary part of growth? And which mindset did we adopt all those years ago?
The good news out of Dweck’s research is that we can change from a fixed to a growth mindset. She holds that the growth mindset is the only pathway to true success and fulfillment. Her book includes practical exercises to help anyone examine his or her mindset and shift into one of growth and experimentation, into a focus on process rather than being attached to getting it right.
In the workplace, if there is too much focus on being right, on avoiding mistakes at any cost, there can hardly be innovation going on. There’s not much learning going on either. If the culture is one in which mistakes will be punished so better play it safe, tension rises and creativity dries up. If mistakes aren’t tolerated, employees will try to cover their errors. They might get into pointing out the mistakes of others as a way of proving, “Everyone makes more mistakes than I do.” All very expensive behaviors in an organization.
Naturally, there are mistakes that lead to growth and mistakes that could lead to hospitalization. Raising kids, we want them to experiment and try new things, but not end up with serious injuries or a criminal record. We hope to teach them to weigh the consequences of their actions. There are jobs that avoiding mistakes is just what we want. I certainly would like a surgeon to be in that mindset during an operation! Not to mention air traffic controllers.
The mindset of the leader will be a huge influence on the way everyone in an organization deals with mistakes. Dr. Dweck’s book could offer insights for business owners. Conversations throughout the organization on the topic of mistakes – that would be helpful too.
If you want to encourage more innovation, creativity and learning within your organization, examining your mindset and the prevailing mindset among your employees will be a great place to start. And… expect that mistakes will be made in the process.
Hooray for that!
