Abstract

People with growth mindsets tend to believe it’s possible to learn and improve their skills and abilities through effort and practice. In contrast, those with fixed mindsets tend to believe that people are born with natural talent or intelligence and it isn’t really possible to change these. These attitudes and beliefs can lead to remarkable differences in behaviours and performance across different domains. The theory of growth mindset has been explored extensively in the domain of education, but far less in the domain of work. Evidence suggests growth mindset can lead to positive organisational outcomes, such as greater employee commitment, collaboration, innovation and stronger financial performance. This paper will describe a model and measurement of growth mindset attitudes and behaviours that can be applied in a work context. It will also explore data trends in growth mindset from across a 5-year period, including differences in growth mindset attitudes and behaviours across job levels. The paper will discuss practical approaches, supported with case studies, that can be applied in organisations to help develop growth mindset attitudes and behaviours to support ongoing learning and improved organisational outcomes.

Growth Mindset and Performance

The word ‘mindset’ captures the way a person views the world, the assumptions and beliefs they have developed over time which guide their behaviours. A person with a ‘growth mindset’ believes that it is possible to improve their abilities through effort, and therefore strives to learn. A person with a ‘fixed mindset’ believes that talent and ability are fixed and can’t really be changed, and therefore limits the amount of effort they invest in developing skills (Dweck, 1999, 2006). Higher levels of growth mindset are associated with improved academic performance (Sisk, Burgoyne, Sun, Butler, & Macnamara, 2018) and health behaviours (Orvidas, Burnette, & Russell, 2018). Rather than being binary, growth mindset is likely to fall on a continuum. Some believe that it may be a relatively stable trait, but there is evidence to suggest that it can be developed through targeted interventions (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007).

There is huge potential for the science behind growth mindset to be applied more widely in a work setting. Early research has linked growth mindset to positive organisational outcomes, such as higher levels of trust, collaboration, and employee commitment (Delaney, Dweck, Murphy, Chatman, & Kray, 2015; Harvard, 2014). There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests organisations demonstrate greater innovation and stronger financial performance if they have leaders who hold growth mindset beliefs (Syed, 2015).

This paper builds on research related to growth mindset and applies it to a work setting. It provides a description of a reliable and valid measure of growth mindset attitudes and behaviours, covering both individual and organisational culture factors. It also provides practical methods for organisations to develop growth mindsets to improve performance and includes case studies on organisations that applied these methods and the associated results.

How to Measure Growth Mindset Attitudes and Behaviours

Discussion of growth mindset often focuses on individuals. In addition to examining individual differences in mindset, it is useful to consider the organisational cultures in which individuals work. Aspects of organisational culture may either support or hinder growth mindset behaviours in individuals (Syed, 2010, 2015).

A review of the research literature and workplace practices indicated that there wasn’t a comprehensive measure of growth mindset attitudes and behaviours available that was applicable to the work environment. In 2018, a new instrument was created to measure the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that are manifested by growth mindset in the workplace. The objectives were to quantify different dimensions of growth mindset relevant to work, and to be able to provide feedback to individuals and organisations to help increase self-awareness and provide guidance on areas to improve. This could then be followed by additional interventions designed to develop growth mindset behaviours, such as workshops, online learning and ongoing feedback.

Extensive research was conducted to design a conceptual model and develop an initial set of questions. These questions were then trialled on a workplace sample (n=776). Following exploratory factor analysis and an examination of reliability, some modifications were made to the set of questions. These questions were then trialled on another workplace sample (n=433) and, following analysis, the instrument was finalised based on this sample. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal reliability and concurrent validity were then examined in a further sample (n=766) and the results indicate that the instrument is both reliable and valid.

The final instrument consisted of two main sections, one that asks questions about individual level attitudes, beliefs and behaviours and the other that asks about organisational culture. The individual level section is made up of 68 items across nine subscales (“Growth”; “Attitude to Failure”; “Attitude to feedback”; “Humility”; “Perception of Potential”; “Curiosity”; “Attitude to Complexity”; “Agility” and “Collaboration”). The organisational level section is made up of 29 items across six subscales (“Supports Risk Taking”; “Ownership and Commitment”; “Trust”; “Fosters Innovation”; “Valuing Potential over Pedigree” and “Freedom”).

Growth Mindset Trends in the Workplace

Data collected between January 2020 and March 2024 using the growth mindset assessment was analysed to identify trends. This dataset consisted of 6000+ responses.

Sample
• Age: <30 (13%), 30-39 (28%), 40-49 (33%), 50-59 (21%), 60+ (2%), missing (3%).
• Gender: Female (43%), male (55%), missing (2%).
• Industry: 16 different industries were represented in the dataset. The industries that made up the largest proportion of the dataset included: financials (26%), consumer services (18%), and technology (10%).
• Job function: 21 job functions were represented in the dataset. The job functions that made up the largest proportion of the dataset included: general management (12%), sales/ commercial (12%), and finance (8%).
• Job level: Entry (2%), professional (22%), manager (20%), senior manager (19%), director+ (22%), missing (15%).
• Geographies: Data was primarily collected from the UK, Europe, and US.

The following section provides a brief description of some trends found as part of the analysis.

Change in growth mindset over time

During the time period the data was taken from, individuals and organisations experienced the pandemic, and financial and other crises. Levels of growth mindset increased across 7 out of 9 dimensions over time. The curiosity dimension saw the largest increase. The curiosity dimension measures the extent to which people have the desire to learn new skills, master new tasks and understand new things, as well as look for new and different perspectives. Curiosity is a key behaviour that supports ongoing learning. The dimension that saw the least change was attitude to complexity. The attitude to complexity dimension measures the extent to which people take time to understand the factors that influence complex problems rather than jump to simple answers. We are working in an environment that is increasingly complex and this dimension may be one where there is opportunity to develop. During the session, we will explore what these results mean for organisations.

Industries with the strongest growth mindset results

The analysis identified that the top performing industries in terms of growth mindset were technology and healthcare.
• Technology: Compared to the benchmark average, the technology industry tended to demonstrate higher levels of growth (taking on new challenges), attitude to failure, curiosity, and attitude to complexity.
• Healthcare: Compared to the benchmark average, the healthcare industry tended to demonstrate higher levels of attitude to failure, focus on potential, attitude to complexity, agility, and collaboration. During the session, we will explore in more detail what sets these industries apart from others.

Growth mindset tends to increase with job level

The analysis also explored whether there were differences in growth mindset across job levels. On average, growth mindset attitudes and behaviours tended to increase with higher job levels (senior managers, directors). This occurred for 6 out of the 9 growth mindset dimensions (growth, attitude to feedback, attitude to failure, curiosity, agility, and collaboration). For example, senior managers and directors were much more likely to agree with the statement “I am comfortable making decisions when information is limited” compared to managers or professionals. There were 3 dimensions where results were very similar regardless of job level (humility, attitude to complexity, and perception of potential). These overall results lend support for the idea that is possible to develop stronger levels of growth mindset attitudes and behaviour over time and with experience.

How to Develop Growth Mindset in Individuals and Organisations

The growth mindset assessment has been used with a growing number of organisations as part of leadership development programmes. These programmes have focused on changing the mindsets of participants and nurturing positive growth mindset behaviours and practices. Programmes typically include a combination of some of the following: the growth mindset assessment; feedback and coaching with individuals to increase self-awareness; feedback to managers and leaders about team and organisational results; targeted workshops to develop knowledge, skills and provide practical techniques related to specific dimensions of growth mindset; online learning; and regular feedback on progress. The paper will include case studies that describe the impact of these types of programmes. Below is one example.

Case study: A growth mindset programme was implemented with a business processing outsourcing company who had recently been acquired. The company had set some ambitious goals to grow the business. To support this growth, the company wanted to increase efficiency, increase client satisfaction, and expand their client base from mostly public sector to include more private sector clients. With these objectives in mind, they undertook a development programme for their top 54 leaders based on growth mindset principles and were provided with tools and techniques that helped them to apply these principles in a practical way.

At the end of the programme, the company had achieved a number of positive outcomes:
• Attitudes: Overall shift towards more growth mindset thinking. E.g. 17% more of the group believed that leadership skills were developable rather than innate, 15% more were unlikely to be discouraged by setbacks, 29% more were unlikely to dwell on negative feedback, and 12% more were open to exploring new ideas
• Behaviours: 6 months after the programme concluded people were more frequently taking on new tasks that resulted in learning, more frequently seeking feedback, and more frequently collaborating with others outside their immediate teams compared to the start of the programme.
• Practices: The workshops introduced a number of leadership practices designed to help people apply growth mindset. Two-thirds of the group had applied at least 9 growth mindset practices as individuals, or with their teams or colleagues during the programme.
• Impact: Building on the above, individuals were asked to reflect on the impact the programme had on their own performance, their team performance, and wider business performance. Participants noted a range of outcomes that they directly linked to applying growth mindset. Some specific business outcomes included: increased efficiency, productivity, and cost savings; collaboration across silos; new product and service development; and increased revenue.
o Example 1: One leader joined up resources from different teams to increase utilisation and provide a better service to customers.
o Example 2: Internal teams collaborated to win a new private sector client, bringing in significant new revenue.
o Example 3: One team developed a prototype for a new service that they wouldn’t have considered before.

This and other case studies provide evidence that developing growth mindset attitudes and behaviours, and embedding practices that reflect these attitudes, can lead to improved organisational performance and positive business outcomes.

Summary

In summary, the theory of growth mindset has been explored extensively in the domain of education and is being applied more and more in a work context to support ongoing learning and improved business performance. This paper builds on previous research by providing a model and measurement of growth mindset that can be applied in a work context. It highlights trends in the workplace based on 5 years of data collected using a reliable and valid measure of growth mindset. It also discusses some practical approaches that can be applied in organisations to help develop growth mindset attitudes, behaviours and practices. Case studies provide further evidence that applying the science behind growth mindset to work can lead to better employee outcomes and can substantially improve performance. Growth mindset attitudes and behaviours can help us to build new skills and equip us to tackle future challenges.

Programme Schedule is Tentative