Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
1. What was the general theme of argument of the book?
There are two different kinds of mindsets, the fixed and growth mindset. The growth mindset can play a bit part in someone's success. The growth mindset focuses on the life-long journey of learning and development and embraces the idea of failure. The fixed mindset believes intelligence and development is "carved into stone" and cannot be changed or improved, setting a more negative outlook on life when things may not go as planned.
2. How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003?
The discussion on failure and seeking it as an opportunity of growth really resonated with me especially when reflecting my experience with this class and my business idea. There are plenty of times where I may have felt discouraged at the thought of the failure, where I kept falling into that fixed mindset. This book taught me to look at failure in a different lens and use it as a learning experience. Entrepreneurship is a lot like that too. A business won't become successful right away, it must suffer through many trials and tribulations to perfect its plan and be able to implement it.
3. If you had to design an exercise for the class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
Similarly to the examples used in the book, I would most likely describe some sort of hypothetical scenario that the participants would have to imagine. In my description, it would be a scenario where a lot of random negative things would happen to the participant. For example, they received a really bad grade on an exam, got pulled over for speeding, and were broken up with their significant other. All these hypothetical events would be imagined as happening one after the other. The participant would then have to provide some sort of response on how they feel about these events happening to them. This discussion would hopefully spark a conversation on mindset and the difference between having a fixed mindset and growth one.
4. What was your biggest surprise or "aha" moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that different most from your expectations?
I never really thought about it this way, but in Dweck's book she brings up a really valid question. "Is success learning or proving you're smart?" It really had me to take a step back and reflect on some of my past life decisions and their motives. Many of those times, it was this ongoing battle of trying to constantly prove my worth or showcase my intelligence when in reality I was taking all those experiences for granted. Even during the times when I made mistakes or didn't understand how to do something, I always brushed off those experiences when in reality those were the ones I should've been focusing on the most. Success can be such a blurred thing and a lot of the times it feels like a contest. This book allowed me to realize that they only person and/or thing I should be competing with is myself, and it should be about becoming better not proving my worth.
Hi Roksolana! I read a different book, but it sounds like this was a great read. I enjoyed reading about your “aha” moment and I asked myself the same question. I think a lot of us also get caught up in proving that we are smart. Or we only doing things to say that we did it. I think it is important to take a step back and consider our motivations before what we do and making sure we are doing it for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteHey Roksolana,
ReplyDeleteYou really seem like you delved in to the book. I had a bit more of a boring yet insightful experience compared to you. I think your exercise is a very practical one that can also definitely work with your product. I always get hit with completely random questions from my friends just asking me to describe a scenario and the sooner you know it we end up talking for hours about some silly scenario.
Hi Roksolana, it sounds like the concepts in this book really resonated with you! The concept of fixed growth and mindset is crucial to our success regardless of the field we are in. I think you're particularly right in saying it is directly applicable to business and entrepreneurship due to the high risk decision making, as you point out that thinking you will succeed and not fail is half the battle in actually succeeding. Positive thinking breeds positive outcome in my opinion, as that is what will bring the motivation and perseverance for when you do face challenges! Good post!
ReplyDeleteHey Roksolana! I read the book that focused on social media for my assignment so reading your post was a nice way for me to get idea of the book, I loved how you went into great detail for us! You seemed to have enjoyed this more than I did which is great to see and looking at your “aha” moment made me think. When I look at decisions I made, they depended on how much I cared for it. If I cared, I would say success was learning it while others, if I didn’t like it, was just doing it to prove I could do it. I think I am going to maybe check your reading out in my free time.
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