Fixed Mindset
What is a Fixed Mindset?
A fixed mindset is the belief that abilities are innate and unchangeable. This perspective leads individuals to view success or failure as a reflection of inherent proficiency, often limiting personal growth.
The Basic Idea
When faced with a task that seems too challenging, someone with a fixed mindset may think “There’s no way I can do that, so why bother trying?” This mindset is very outcome focused; instead of looking at failures as learning experiences, someone with a fixed mindset will feel that hard work, when yielding no direct result, was “all for nothing.” Their successes and failures may also be an important part of how they define themselves, meaning that they may avoid taking risks so as to not make themselves look bad in the case that they should fail.
Fixed mindset is one end of the spectrum of how people think about their intelligence. At the other end is growth mindset, which refers to thinking about your intelligence and abilities as changeable. Growth mindset treats intelligence like a muscle that will get stronger as you continue to work it. It also focuses more on the process of learning than on the outcome. Failures are seen as opportunities to learn something valuable and no attempt at problem-solving is ever considered wasted.
Research into mindsets has shown that a fixed mindset is less adaptive than a growth mindset. This is in part because the fixed mindset increases stress and pressure to perform and also because it leads people to believe that they know the extent of their intellectual capabilities and are limited by them. It has been argued that our potential is unknowable, so we should not give up simply because we think we cannot accomplish something. We cannot know what be are capable of and, with dedication and hard work, the extent of what we are capable of is certainly subject to change.1
In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome. They’re tackling problems, charting new courses, working on important issues.
– Carol Dweck in her 2006 book,Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
