Delivery With Agility - Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
Carl Adamson
Accelerate YOUR Business Growth - Win FREEDOM to Thrive! | Business Growth Delivery Accelerator
In This Issue
Wow, 5K+?Newsletter Subscribers?In Just 3 Editions?
When I launched the?#DeliveryWithAgility?#linkedinnewsletter, in June 2022, I had ambitions of building up to around 500 subscribers over time.?
But 5,000+ subscribers, in just 3 editions, was beyond my wildest dreams.
I write on topics that you have told me you want to read about and I back these up from my own life experiences of working with wonderful people, just like you.
Thank you all for making this possible by joining the discussions, asking the questions and sharing your own experiences for the benefit of everyone.?
So, if you are reading this and haven’t already done so, please subscribe and join the discussion!
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
As an Enterprise Agile Coach and Trainer, I am often asked about the importance of having an Agile mindset.
But is there such a thing as an Agile mindset or is it more than this??
Are we really talking about a Growth Mindset?
I cannot possibly provide you with an in-depth view of Growth Mindset in just one newsletter, it is far too fundamentally important and multifaceted for that.
However, I would like to introduce the concept here and expand upon it in future newsletters and posts, sharing actual scenarios from my own experience that you may find helpful.
The terms “Growth Mindset” and “Fixed Mindset” became popular through the published research of Dr Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.
In her groundbreaking book, “Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential”, she introduces mindset like this:
My work is part of a tradition in psychology that shows the power of people’s beliefs. These may be beliefs we’re aware of or unaware of, but they strongly affect what we want and whether we succeed in getting it
This is one of the most understandable and powerful descriptions of mindset that I’ve come across.?
Having a Growth Mindset or Fixed Mindset boils down to what we believe, whether consciously or subconsciously. Our beliefs dictate our behaviours and the actions we are prepared to take when triggered.?
When we act in a manner that supports what we already believe, this results in almost instinctive, often habitual behaviour that is nurtured in various ways by our like-minded peers and mentors in life.?
What we believe and the resulting actions that we take or avoid taking, are part of our social and workplace culture.
Growth Mindset
Dr. Carol Dweck’s findings show that people who believe that their skills and talents can be developed through their own efforts (hard work, strategies, listening to feedback from others and learning) are deemed to have a Growth Mindset.
Those with a Growth Mindset tend to put more effort into learning, are less concerned about failure or looking good in front of their colleagues.
Expressions like, “I can learn that” and “Maybe if I try a different approach…” and “I have an idea”, are indicative of a Growth Mindset.??
When organisations fully embrace Growth Mindset and actively support their people in collaborating and innovating around this, employees tend to achieve more, whilst reporting that they feel less stressed, empowered and more committed to their work.
Fixed Mindset
In contrast, those with a fixed mindset tend to believe that their skills and abilities are something they were born with and cannot be learned.
Terms like, “Born leader” and “Born to succeed” support this view.
However, a Fixed Mindset limits personal growth. Expressions like, “You are what you are” and “You cannot rise above your station in life” and “They are successful because they are rich”, all demonstrate a Fixed Mindset.
The belief, expressed in words, becomes the seemingly logical reason for not attempting something challenging.
Taylorism persisted the Fixed Mindset beliefs, with repetitive, labour intensive work, that required little thought and no innovation, in deeply hierarchical, regimented organisations.?
Research has shown that fixed Mindset organisations acknowledged an increase in cheating and deception in employees, with the assumption being that this is to gain advantage over their colleagues.
Misconceptions
People are generally not Growth Mindset or Fixed Mindset, we are both, with one becoming more dominant at times, when it is triggered, thus influencing our behaviour accordingly.?
Therefore, it is important to discover what these triggers are, they will be different for each of us.
Any Growth-minded person can be triggered back into a Fixed Mindset at any time, depending upon the circumstances and any perceived personal threat level. Typically this might be when working with someone with a higher level of qualification, skill, or proven experience.
I shall explore other misconceptions about Growth Mindset in future newsletters and posts.
Agile Mindset
In my experience, when introducing Agile ways of working into an organisation, there is often resistance, due to a multitude of Fixed Mindsets within the #leadership teams.
领英推荐
We know that implementing #Agile within an organisation starts with leadership, so this is where a process of coaching the #unlearning of a Fixed Mindset and embracing a Growth Mindset takes place.
There is a lot of emphasis on a mindset-first approach to Agile adoption. Acquire an Agile Mindset and business agility will follow.?
However, in practice, I have seen that this rarely works with business leaders. They are not easily swayed from their Fixed Mindset beliefs, without some sort of evidential proof.
To this end, our?Delivery With Agility?approach favours the Systemic Coaching of Agile leadership behaviours first. These behaviours, in turn, influence the adoption of an Agile Mindset. Or should I say Growth Mindset?
I have seen that the shift from a Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset for business leaders is most effective, when this is underpinned by coached Agile leadership behaviours. As Growth Mindset ripples down to team-level, and delivery can be clearly seen at every level of an organisation, this is the foundation of true business agility.?
To maximise Delivery With Agility, a Growth Mindset is essential!
Mental Health Awareness
Having spent much of last week engaged in posts that were discussing the effects of workplace #stress, mental illness, #burnout and ultimately suicide, I made a commitment to leverage my network to help raise awareness of this very real and ever-present threat to our #wellbeing and that of our colleagues, friends, and families.
I am becoming increasingly concerned that I am meeting more and more people and teams that are calling out stress as a reason for their inability to deliver what management expects of them.
To this end, I am engaging with family members of those affected, together with industry professionals to help raise awareness of #mentalhealth issues in the workplace, how to spot them early and where to find professional help for those who need it.
For the avoidance of doubt, I have no expertise or deep experience with this but I feel that reaching out to you with this message is the right thing to do.
I have had some basic first aid training, but I only discovered today that mental health first aid training actually exists.
If you want to help to increase #mentalhealthawareness by liking suitable LinkedIn posts about mental health and commenting where you can, this will raise awareness across your own LinkedIn networks.
Feel free to reach out to me if you can offer information or links to expert advice groups that can be shared with everyone.
There should be no place for mental health ignorance in the workplace.?
If we all work together, it may save a life.
? Discover the mindset of a Lean Agile Leader
? Discover the commercial benefits of Lean Agile Leadership
? Discover the business culture change and the economic case required for Agile delivery
Why Choose This Course?
Are you a leader within your business or about to become one?
This course is vital for business Executives, Leaders, Managers who are considering, or currently involved in decision-making for implementing Agile within the business.
Most Agile initiatives fail.
We will teach you how to adopt a?Delivery With Agility?Growth Mindset and importantly, demonstrate the necessary leadership behaviours, to steer your people to deliver value to your customers sooner and sustainably.
You will Discover the fundamentals of?Delivery with Agility Leadership?to gain an?unfair?commercial advantage in a rapidly-changing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world.
? Discover how to get up and running with Scrum in just one Day
? Discover the commercial benefits of Delivery With Agility when applied to Scrum
? Discover the business culture change and the economic case required for Agile
Why Choose This Course?
Are you a member of a Scrum Team or about to become one?
This course is essential for all Scrum Team members (Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Developers) and anyone else who wants to get up and running with the basics of Scrum in just 1 day.
Start Using Scrum Tomorrow
Unlike other Scrum courses, our training is founded upon #LeanThinking, so you will start there before progressing onto Scrum.
Scrum is also founded upon Lean Thinking. So our unique training approach will set you up for success and teach you how to super charge your Scrum so that you can start using it with your team by the end of the day.
Senior manager Curriculum Planning and Funding
2 年Hi Carl some very interesting and pertinent points. Just a couple of discussion points to throw into the ring: Can the difference between transactional and transformational leadership make an effective difference? I have been told many times that "You cannot get a lion to chew cud" change is a challenge for all of us but how deep does it sit?