How A Fixed Mindset Culture Killed Kodak The King of Film

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Tan Teck Kim

Kodak today is often cited as an iconic example of a company that failed to grasp the significance of a technological transition that threatened its business, and unfortunately a popular case study in Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset.

Kodak was founded in the late 1880s, became a giant in the photography industry in the 1970s and filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

For almost a hundred years, Kodak was at the forefront of photography with dozens of innovations and inventions, making this art accessible to the consumer. Kodak was the most famous name in the world of photography and videography in the 20th century. Kodak brought about a revolution in the photography and videography industries. At the time when only huge companies could access the cameras used for recording movies, Kodak enabled the availability of cameras to every household by producing equipment that was portable and affordable.

Whilst being the most dominant company in its field for almost the entire 20th century, but a series of wrong decisions killed its success. How on earth did Kodak, the champion of photography and videography, go bankrupt? What triggered Kodak’s failure? Why did Kodak fail despite being the biggest success of its time? This case study on Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset addresses the mystery of Kodak’s failure.

First let’s understand what’s Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Science once told us that the human brain stops developing in childhood, however, we now know that the brain is constantly evolving and changing. Many parts of the brain respond to experiences and our ‘software’ can be updated through learning.

Despite the neurological facts, some people still think that you’re stuck with the talents and ‘smarts’ you’re born with. Psychologist Carol Dweck, from Stanford University, was the first researcher to explore the idea of fixed and growth mindsets.

In Dr. Dweck’s seminal work, she described the two main ways people think about intelligence or ability as having either:

A fixed mindset: in this mindset, people believe that their intelligence is fixed and static.

A growth mindset: in this mindset, people believe that intelligence and talents can be improved through effort and learning.

Individuals with a fixed mindset tend to:

Believe intelligence and talent are static
Avoid challenges to avoid failure
Ignore feedback from others
Feel threatened by the success of others
Hide flaws so as not to be judged by others
Believe putting in effort is worthless
View feedback as personal criticism
Give up easily

Organisations with a fixed mindset culture tend to choose to remain status quo, do not constantly innovate nor do they thrive on challenges. The opposite is true of companies with a growth mindset culture.

Now let’s go back to the Kodak case study and see how their mindset culture affected their business.

An Illustration of Fixed Mindset – 7 Reasons Why Kodak Failed

The Razor and blades business plan was initially successful but turning blind to other strategies was not wise for Kodak
Research and development is a core part of marketing success but Kodak ignored it altogether
When the digital age of photography beckoned Kodak, the company simply ignored its call when the time was ripe to make the transition.
Did you know Steven Sasson, an electrical engineer of Kodak, first discovered the technology behind digital photography? Yes, it wasn’t Sony nor Fujifilm. It was Kodak, and unfortunately Kodak simply disregarded the new digital technology implications. They used technology to promote film instead… read on below.
Though walls were closing in on Kodak, the company still went on to argue that analog photography is better than digital and it lost 10 valuable years this way.
Though walls were closing in on Kodak, the company still went on to argue that analog photography is better than digital and it lost 10 valuable years this way.
Promotion of the older technologies and not embracing digital photography can be summed up as one of the most prominent mistakes of Kodak.

The most valuable lesson from Kodak is that despite having been a winner in innovation, even an insightful company can go wrong if it doesn’t push far enough, fast enough into uncomfortable territory.”

So, before its bankruptcy, why was Kodak so incredibly successful?

“You press the button, we do the rest.”
George Eastman (Kodak’s founder)

Firstly, George Eastman, Kodak’s founder set out to democratize photography.

Eastman believed in making photography available to everyone, by changing the way people took photographs. This belief translated into a new and innovative Kodak camera which made it possible for anyone interested in photography to take great pictures.

Throughout the following decades, innovations and inventions followed, fulfilling the company founder’s vision.

Eastman believed in making photography available to everyone, by changing the way people took photographs.

Secondly, Kodak’s business strategy bloomed, followed the razor and blades business model whereby one item was sold at a low price or given away for free in order to increase sales of a complementary good, such as consumable supplies (Kodak film)

How it worked: the clients would take photos with the Kodak camera and then send the camera to the Kodak factory where the camera’s film was developed, and photos were printed.

The company’s core product was the film and printing photos, never the camera. Kodak’s Kodachrome film was the company’s main cash cow. With the advent of digital cameras, this was discontinued in 2006 after over 70 years of production.

Now let’s look at how a Fixed Mindset culture killed Kodak.

Kodak management’s inability to see digital photography as a disruptive technology, even as its researchers extended the boundaries of the technology, would continue for decades.

Unfortunately Kodak stayed in denial for an extended time as explained below. Vince Barabba, former head of market intelligence, recounts from 1981, conducted a very extensive research effort that looked at the core technologies and likely adoption curves around silver halide film versus digital photography, over threats of digital photography posed by Sony’s first electronic camera.

The results of the study produced both “bad” and “good” news. The “bad” news was that digital photography had the potential capability to replace Kodak’s established film based business. The “good” news was that it would take some time for that to occur and that Kodak had roughly 10 years to prepare for the transition.

Fixed Mindset example 1: Kodak continued to stick to film strategy.

The problem is that, during its 10-year window of opportunity, Kodak did little to prepare for the later disruption.

Barabba left Kodak in 1985 but remained close to its senior management. Thus he got a close look at the fact that, rather than prepare for the time when digital photography would replace film, as Eastman had with prior disruptive technologies, Kodak choose to use digital to improve the quality of film!

Kodak Fixed Mindset didn't do anything for 10 years — Kodak Fixed Mindset story

This strategy continued even though, in 1986, Kodak’s research labs developed the first mega-pixel camera, one of the milestones that Barabba’s study had forecasted as a tipping point in terms of the viability of standalone digital photography.

Fixed Mindset example 2: Kodak used newer technology to promote film!
The choice to use digital as a prop for the film business culminated in the 1996 introduction of the Advantix Preview film and camera system, which Kodak spent more than $500M to develop and launch. One of the key features of the Advantix system was that it allowed users to preview their shots and indicate how many prints they wanted. The Advantix Preview could do that because it was a digital camera. Yet it still used film and emphasized print because Kodak was in the photo film, chemical and paper business. Advantix flopped. Why buy a digital camera and still pay for film and prints? Kodak wrote off almost the entire cost of development.

Fixed Mindset example 3: Kodak chose CEOs that would continue its own way of success – film!
In 1989, the Kodak board of directors had a chance to take make a course change when Colby Chandler, the CEO, retired. The choices came down to Phil Samper and Kay R. Whitmore. Whitmore represented the traditional film business, where he had moved up the rank for three decades. Samper had a deep appreciation for digital technology. The board chose Whitmore. As the New York Times reported at the time, Mr. Whitmore said he would make sure Kodak stayed closer to its core businesses in film and photographic chemicals.

Whitmore CEO Kodak had fixed mindset and did not change

Samper resigned and would demonstrate his grasp of the digital world in later roles as president of Sun Microsystems and then CEO of Cray Research. Whitmore lasted a little more than three tumultous years, before the board fired him in 1993.

For more than another decade, a series of new Kodak CEOs would blame his predecessor’s failure to transform the organization to digital, declare his own intention to do so, and proceed to fail at the transition, as well. George Fisher, who was lured from his position as CEO of Motorola to succeed Whitmore in 1993, captured the core issue when he told the New York Times that Kodak

“regarded digital photography as the enemy, an evil juggernaut that would kill the chemical-based film and paper business that fueled Kodak’s sales and profits for decades.”

In conclusion,

With the benefit of hindsight and learning on the failure of a fixed mindset culture, adopting a growth mindset culture might have turned Kodak’s fate into something entirely different. Let’s look at the success stories of growth mindset in other articles and be inspired!

Summary of Fixed Mindset video on Kodak

Learning Videos on Growth Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Tan Teck Kim

For those keen to learn more about Growth Mindset, below are some Learning Videos on Growth Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck. You may also contact us to find out more.

Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Her research has focused on why people succeed and how to foster success. She has held professorships at Columbia and Harvard Universities, has lectured all over the world, and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her scholarly book Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development was named Book of the Year by the World Education Federation. Her work has been featured in such publications as The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and she has appeared on Today and 20/20. In August 2018, Klaartje van Gasteren, Marnix Reijmerink and Jakob van Wielink – partners in De School voor Transitie – met with professor Dweck at Stanford University, CA. In this video message, professor Dweck talks about Everyone’s Contribution to Life and the Growth Mindset.

Get inspired by Michael Jordan by his growth mindset approach to life and sports.

How do we strengthen our teams and coach them effectively? By approaching feedback and performance with a growth mindset.

Building a growth mindset can help us become better learners. This video shows us three effective ways to do that: Featuring: Michael Merzenich “The Father of Brain Plasticity” Larry Wilkins Sofia Scott Table of Contents: Growth Mindset Overview How the Mindsets Can Impact Us Misconceptions of the Growth and Fixed Mindsets How to Build a Growth Mindset Taking Action

Should you tell your kids they are smart or talented? Professor Carol Dweck answers this question and more, as she talks about her groundbreaking work on developing mindsets. She emphasizes the power of “yet” in helping students succeed in and out of the classroom. Carol Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology and, by courtesy, at the Graduate School of Education. A leading expert in the field of motivation, her research has demonstrated the role of mindsets in students’ achievement and has shown how praise for intelligence can undermine motivation and learning. She has lectured to education, business and sports groups all over the world, and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, Nightline and 20/20. Her bestselling book Mindset has been widely acclaimed and translated into over 20 languages.

“You’re so talented!”, “You are gifted – a natural!”, “You’re doing so well in school, you must be really smart!” – children receive these messages (or their negative counterparts), along with many other messages on a daily basis from their peers, parents and teachers. Are these just words or do they mean more? How are children affected by the words we use to praise, coach and criticize them? Meet Stanford University’s Professor Dr. Carol S. Dweck to learn more about her fascinating research into “self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior”, and how you can apply a Growth Mindset at home, at school and in your career. Learn all above Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset here.

Check out our Growth Mindset Workshops and Corporate Lunch and Learn Talks

15 Ways To Develop A Growth Mindset

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Tan Teck Kim

So, let’s start with: What is a Growth Mindset?

Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck and author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” explains how there are two types of mindsets: growth and fixed mindset.

Dr Carol Dweck describes how a growth mindset embraces challenges and views failure “not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.” While a fixed mindset grips onto the belief that intelligence and talents are static, and success is accomplished solely based on talent and little effort. Check out the summary of Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset below

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Growth Mindset

It’s where you want to be

Embraces challenges
Perseveres in spite of failure
Believes that people can increase their intelligences of skills
Is inspired and motivated by the success of others
Wants to learn
Accepts and embraces criticism

Intelligence and Skills are not static and improve with learning and effort

Fixed Mindset

It’s what you have

Avoid challenges
Gives in in the face of hardship
Believes that intelligence and skills are what you are born with and can’t change or develop.
Is threatened by the success of others
Believes they know everything already
Ignores or dismisses criticism

Intelligence and Skills are born

Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset – a quick guide

The growth mindset definition is:

People with growth mindsets believe that skill and intelligence are something that people can develop. They believe that while people have inherent qualities and traits, success comes from constant personal development.

The fixed mindset definition is:

By contrast, those with fixed mindsets believe that talent and intelligence are something you either have or you don’t.

That is, some people are good at certain activities, and others excel in different areas. They don’t believe that practice, failure and strategy development are key to developing talent or intelligence.

What Dweck discusses is that those who do develop a high degree of talent are more often people with a growth mindset.

It works both ways.

An important finding of Dr Carol Dweck’s research is that those with growth mindsets experience greater success and skill development.

15 ways to develop a growth mindset

how to develop a growth mindset with grit and effort

Now that you have an idea of what a growth mindset is (vs a fixed mindset), let’s dig a little deeper. We compiled 15 techniques to help you unlock the growth mindset part of your brain. Let’s get started!

Determine where you sit now. Do you always make effort to improve, get feedback, or would you describe yourself as having a fixed mindset?
Knowing where you stand, is the first step. You can’t tell where to go if you don’t know where you are.
Cultivate your sense of purpose. Take time to reflect and find your purpose. What is it about the growth mindset that motivates you to change? What benefits do you see a growth mindset bringing to your life? Understanding this will give you purpose especially during the difficult stages of developing this worldview.
Reflect. Most of us take time to reflect on successes – develop the new habit to also take time to acknowledge, reflect, and embrace all your failures, and what you have learnt. Becoming aware of your areas of improvement is the stepping stone in cultivating a growth mindset. Hiding from your weaknesses means you will never overcome them, inhibiting your success.
View Challenges as Opportunities. To quote Elbert Hubbard, “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.” Part of developing a growth mindset is shattering the negative perception of a challenge. Embrace challenges and view them as fruitful learning experiences for self improvement, that you would not get otherwise.
Stop Seeking approval. When you prioritise getting approval over learning, you sacrifice your own potential for growth.
Cultivate grit. Grit gives that internal push to keep moving forward and fulfill your commitments.
Change your perspective on failure. Start viewing failure not as a sign of inability, but as part of the process of learning. Even the world’s greatest athletes, leaders, artists, scientists all started out as new kids on the block with little talent or expertise.
Seek constructive feedback. A growth mindset proactively seeks feedback from peers, friends, and leaders. It’s a chance to find lessons, learn from mistakes, and target efforts into skills that matter in the long run.
Turn criticism around until you find its gift. The purpose of criticism is to make things better. Someone else can see what you are doing from a slightly different perspective than you and may have some valuable suggestions for you. If you open up to hearing suggestions, you can more easily develop your growth mindset
Notice how you speak and act. Observe how you talk about talent and skill. Do you find yourself saying things like, “He’s just naturally talented”, “I’m born to be bad with this”?
Use the word “yet” more often. This is a simple one. Whenever you catch yourself thinking “I’m not good at this,” add the word “yet”. For eg, “I’m not very good at this yet.” Incorporating the word “yet” into your vocabulary signals that despite any struggles, it is a matter of time and little effort before mastery.
Jot down goals. Growth mindset people are aware that once one goal is down they have others lined up to pursue. Create clear, realistic goals based on your passion and purpose. And be sure to give yourself enough time to conquer them thoroughly.
Be realistic. It takes time, sometimes a huge amount of time, to learn a new skill, or a new language or to how to become a good teacher. Keeping this in mind is useful in nurturing a growth mindset.
Identify opportunities to celebrate the success of others. When others around you succeed, celebrate! In addition, get curious about what made them successful. And, even better, ask them. Engage others to get insights on how they approached the challenge, what efforts they undertook to get there. Yes, do this!
Take ownership of your attitude. Only you can decide what attitude you hold. Fixed mindsets tend to harbor negative and pessimistic attitudes. Kick those thoughts out now. The power of positive, optimistic thinking can shift your mood instantly that not only inspires you but others around you as well. [Are you doubting this? Well, try it out now :)]

Perhaps the best way to sum up the essence of Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset is this: “It’s not how good you are, but how good you want to be.”

growth mindset quote — Quote to explain Growth Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck

Growth Mindset Insight – How To Maximise Your Personal Development with MBTI and Growth Mindset

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Tan Teck Kim

Why A Growth Mindset Can Harness The Power of MBTI Self Awareness

Adopting a “growth mindset” is fundamental to success for organisations and individuals. If you believe your abilities are innate and can’t be significantly improved or changed, your mindset may be described as “fixed.” You tend to view failure as a result of lack of talent or poor fit. (meaning little room for growth). While acknowledging that there is such a thing as aptitude, a healthier outlook involves acknowledging that improving one’s life almost always requires adapting, learning new skills and generally remaining flexible. And that’s the essence of a Growth Mindset. This helps you to build a healthy personal brand.

The concept of a growth mindset and its opposite, a fixed mindset, was developed by psychologist Dr Carol Dweck. According to Dweck’s research, and her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, individuals vary in their understandings of where their skills and abilities come from.

A growth mindset is when you believe you can acquire almost any skill or ability with enough effort. In other words, those with growth mindsets believe they can grow (hence the name). With a growth mindset, you’re more likely to soil your hands, and push forward in the face of challenges and setbacks and eventually find success.

The Path To A Growth Mindset Starting With Self Awareness

Taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment to identify your personality type is an important self-awareness exercise, but it doesn’t tell the complete story of who you are and what your personal brand represents. This is especially the case for people with growth mindsets.

Let me explain. Understanding your personality type as a preference for one side or the other can help you also understand that you have the “choice” to use the opposite side of that preference when the situation calls for it. This is part of growing as a person, and exercising that “choice” and effort encapsulates the Growth Mindset essence.

growth mindset path to development with MBTI — Growth Mindset Dr Carol Dweck

The best way to grow is to have a benchmark understanding of your current state. On an individual level, it necessitates self awareness. Personality type, as explored through the framework of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment, is one of the quickest and most powerful ways to gain self-awareness and helps you gain a better view of who you are at your most natural “shoes-off” self. It does so by exploring personality preferences along 4 key dimensions, and which we will illustrate with how these understanding can be the basis for growth:

• Introversion/Extraversion: How We Direct and Receive Energy
Do we tend to focus attention on the outside world of people and activity (extraversion) OR the inner world of thoughts and feelings (introversion)?

To illustrate how a growth mindset approach makes a difference: For someone who prefers introversion, you live in the world of introversion and miss out on the external world. You may prefer to reflect before acting, have a depth of interests, keep a small number of close friends, but when you embrace a growth mindset, you can learn to communicate through talking, working out ideas with others, engaging with more people and learning through these.

• Sensing/Intuition: How We Receive Information
Do we trust information gathered through the five senses (sensing), and/or our experiences OR on more abstract focus on patterns and possibilities (intuition)?

To illustrate how a growth mindset approach makes a difference: if you have a preference for intuition, and embracing the growth mindset, you stretch yourself by learning how to apply the sensing side to more fully comprehend situations – by also considering facts, and paying attention to details and evidence.

• Thinking vs Feeling MBTI type Thinking/Feeling: How We Decide and Come to Conclusions
Do we make decisions based on objective logic (thinking) OR on our values and priorities (feeling)?

And again, to illustrate how a growth mindset approach makes a impact on your development: if you prefer to make decisions based on hard data, benefits, justifications, you know have been objective. To embrace a growth mindset, you make the extra effort to consider your own values, others’ feelings, putting yourself in the shoes of others. This allows you to stretch yourself to consider a more rounded picture.

• Judging vs Perceiving MBTI type Judging/Perceiving: How We Approach the Outside World
Do we prefer to remain decisive, organised and in control (judging) OR do we like to keep our options open and remain spontaneous and flexible (perceiving)?

To illustrate how a growth mindset approach makes an impact: if you prefer to always be organised in your plans, in embracing a growth mindset, you allow yourself to consider options when they arise.

MBTI Awareness and Growth Mindset Empowers Us

Now this is the interesting fact: our natural MBTI preferences tend to influence our behaviours, but do not dictate them. This means the more aware we are of what our natural preferences are in any given situation, we can consider what behaviour best serve the circumstances and adjust our behaviour accordingly – therein lies the power of Growth Mindset and MBTI.

Illustration of Growth using MBTI as benchmark: Introversion/Extraversion And The Company Brainstorm

One scenario that commonly takes place in the office is the team brainstorm discussion. Let’s ponder over this.

The way a person participates in a brainstorm discussion is highly affected by their preference for either extraversion or introversion.

Introvert in meeting mbti type needs to grow — Growth Mindset and MBTI development

Those who prefer introversion like to think things through in order to understand them, internalise their thoughts until they are (almost) perfect and, more often than not, like to stay in the background. In a line of work that requires regular brainstorming, it’s easy to imagine that they might feel themselves at a serious disadvantage, especially if colleagues are fluently sharing creative ideas and impressing their boss, while those who prefer introversion appear stuck trying to formulate shareable thoughts and break free to speak!

If you prefer introversion, you may not realize why you don’t like to brainstorm with others. You may only know that the process is bothersome if not excruciating, and this lack of awareness can be extremely career inhibiting. But if you understand that this discomfort is a function of personality preference, you can develop techniques for working around the more difficult parts.

However, with a growth mindset, you can even turn what you might perceive as a weakness into a strength.

For example, you can prepare by researching on the topic to be brainstormed, so that you can come with more well-formulated notes/thoughts. And consciously remind yourself that in brainstorming, an idea does not have to be perfect before it is articulated. It’s perfectly alright to share your ideas with your team – and let others critique and in the process, get a much more rounded view thus allowing improvement to be far better than if you had done everything on your own.

On the other hand, those who prefer extraversion find it easy to share openly, and in fact prefer talking things through. They more they share, the more their ideas flow.

Conversely, looking at the extraverted, it would appear that they are enjoying an advantage. This, however, is not necessary the case due to the ill-will that might be generated if the colleagues view the extraverted as perpetually “talking over” them. This can pose unseen future circumstances.

Consider for a moment that you are a new leader of a team, and you need to get the feedback of everyone in your team. You might be tempted to (incorrectly) interpret the silence of some team members to mean that they don’t have any ideas or lack the intellect or skills.

But if some of the other folks in the room (or on the Zoom call, as is more often the case in today’s world) prefer introversion, you’re probably missing out on valuable input from your team. If you are aware of your own tendencies, you can change your behaviour to grow in new directions.

Where you might be naturally inclined to express your thoughts, you can train yourself to pause, listen and ask questions, probing more deeply into the insights of other team members, building better relationships with colleagues and gaining valuable insights.

Personality Type, with A Growth Mindset, Helps Us Chart A Path For Growth

A growth-mindset approach to understanding and acting on your MBTI preferences gives you a much more fulfilling self development experience based on types. I am certain that Isabel Briggs Myers did not develop this assessment to stereotype you or to box you up. When you look at the MBTI table of 16 types, think of it as a collection of 16 rooms instead of a series of 16 boxes: While we all have a favourite room, we need to consider when and how can we use the other rooms where we can be the best versions of ourselves, in the most appropriate circumstances. The more we learn to flex or learn the ‘opposite behaviour’, the more developed we become.

How MBTI and Growth Mindset helps you in your personal development — How Growth Mindset and MBTI helps you in personal development

The hardest thing to change is to disrupt ourselves. Do you agree?
contact us for Growth Mindset, MBTI or Personal Branding workshops

Why Having A Growth Mindset Matters To You

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Tan Teck Kim

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset explanation — Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck

In recent years, the term ‘Growth Mindset’ has become very popular and employers are now looking for employees with a strong growth mindset as part of their personal brand. Companies are seeking leaders with a growth mindset to lead the companies in uncertain times. Many of my clients have also asked me to share more about growth mind vs a fixed mindset.

Do you know that you were born with curiosity and creativity but your experiences in life, school and work can unintentionally mute these qualities. Now it’s time to take control and take it back with a growth mindset.

WHAT IS A GROWTH MINDSET? WHY SHOULD I BOTHER ABOUT GROWTH MINDSET?

First let’s talk about WHY Growth Mindset and what exactly are a “mindset”, a “growth mindset and a fixed mindset”.

Your mindset is the sum of your thoughts and beliefs that determine how you make sense of yourself, your immediate environment, and the world.

According to Dr Carol Dweck, a researcher and Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, there are 2 types of mindsets: a Growth mindset and a Fixed mindset.

Those people with a growth mindset understand that knowledge can be acquired, intelligence and skills can be developed. With a growth mindset, people focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are. They work hard to learn more and get smarter. A “growth mindset,” thrives on challenge and views failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a great chance to learn and build upon existing skills and abilities. They believe that learning doesn’t stop the moment you leave school or university. With time and effort, their intelligence and knowledge can grow because they recognize that their effort influences their success, so they spend more time practicing or learning, which leads to higher levels of achievement.

As can be seen, adopting a growth mindset is not just essential in your life, it’s critical.

On the other hand, a “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are innate characteristics that cannot be changed. People with a fixed mindset only believe that they have been successful when their performance or intelligence measures higher than the standard. They constantly strive for success and avoid failure at all costs because they fear other people will view them as being innately unintelligent.

Having a fixed mindset leads to a belief that intelligence and talent are limited, so there is no use in working to develop or learn. And, because they believe they were born with a restriction on their talent, those with a fixed mindset put this same restriction on their effort– and subsequently, their success.

SUMMARY OF GROWTH AND FIXED MINDSET

To help you understand, here’s a pictorial form of the differences between Growth and Fixed Mindset.

Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset explanation — Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset explanation based on Dr Carol Dweck’s model

ROLE MODELS OF GROWTH MINDSET

There are uncountable number of role models who practise growth mindset. Just to name a few famous ones

….Einstein’s teacher said that he was ‘academically subnormal’

…..Walt Disney was told that he lacked ‘creative imagination’

….Michael Jordan’s coach said that he wasn’t more talented than other people… Here’s a video of Michael Jordan on his failures and successes. What have you learnt about effort in Michael Jordan’s case?

WHAT CAUSED US TO HAVE A FIXED OR GROWTH MINDSET?

Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, comes our belief about whether or not we believe we can succeed at whatever we want to be. We are not what other people said we were at a young age. You might recall in your childhood someone saying to you, “Your composition writing is terrible. You just cannot swim. You are not a good swimmer.” Are they wrong? Did you feel disempowered? Here’s the good news. No matter your current mindset, you can adopt and nurture a growth mindset but you have to work at it.

WHICH MINDSET DO I HAVE?

Some people do have a combination of growth and mindsets, in different areas of our lives and whilst many have a more dominant mindset over the other. Just knowing about the two mindsets can make us think and act in new ways.

CAN I CHANGE MY FIXED MINDSET TO A GROWTH MINDSET?

It is possible to change your mindset from one that is fixed to one that is willing and able to grow. The first step is to recognize your fixed mindset tendencies and beliefs and correct them.

HOW DO I CHANGE MY MINDSET?

Once we can spot the thoughts, words, and actions that go with the fixed and growth mindsets, we start catching ourselves in fixed mode and we can learn to switch into growth mode.

Here are 5 ways you can try to develop the habit of getting into the Fixed Mindset

Try new things. Experiment. Make mistakes and correct them along the way. Reject what doesn’t work after trying to see what might. Tweak, iterate, and maintain an upward trajectory in effort and progress.

View challenges as opportunities: Having a growth mindset means relishing opportunities for self-improvement. Learn more about how to fail well. Attack a small challenge until you succeed. Learn how to code or cook.

Check and change your inner voice: What are your thoughts telling you? Check them for fixed mindset thoughts! And start re-framing your inner thoughts into growth mindset thoughts. For eg, after you have encountered a setback, instead of saying, “I am bad at this”, say “I can improve with effort and practice and I will see results.”
Stop seeking approval: When you prioritize approval over learning, you sacrifice your own opportunity for growth. Try doing something well at work and don’t tell anyone. Let the recognition come to you.
View criticism as a positive: You don’t have to use that over-used term, “constructive criticism” but you do have to believe in the concept of being positive leads to learning.

If you would like to arrange for a Growth Mindset/Fixed Mindset workshop or a Growth Mindset lunchtime talk , please contact us to customise based on your requirements. Do share with us WHY you would like to have the talk/course, your requirements and duration. Thank you.

If you find this article useful, please look out for our Growth Mindset resources on:

Why Having A Growth Mindset Matters To You
15 Ways To Develop A Growth Mindset
How To Maximise Your Personal Development with MBTI and Growth Mindset
Learning Videos on Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset
Why Companies are recruiting employees with a growth mindset
Why Growth Mindset Should be part of your personal brand
How A Fixed Mindset Killed Kodak The King of Film

Career Advice | Personal Branding part 3 | How To Differentiate Your Personal Branding

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Tan Teck Kim

Managing Your Career : How To Differentiate Your Personal Branding by Tan Teck Kim

<< This is a continuation of the previous career counselling article on : Career Advice Parts 1 and 2, part of the Interview of Tan Teck Kim with a leading Lifestyle Magazine, Glow >>
<< Click here to read part 1 on Career Advice >>
<< Click here to read part 2 on Managing Your Personal Branding >>

7. In terms of self-branding, how does social success translate to career success, and how are the 2 correlated?

When was the last time you bought something you really didn’t need, all due to the persuasive skills of the likeable salesperson?
If you are a manager, who would you choose to promote from 2 equally competent staff? 1 who is hardworking, competent and reliable but quiet.. the other who is equally competent but with good people skills and is able to interact with people at different levels.
If you have 2 job offers, you would choose to work for the manager whom you think can share his knowledge and counsel you on your career progression. Do you agree?

I believe these 3 examples illustrate the importance of strong EQ or people skills which are to some synonymous with social success, and the ability to connect.

Social Skills are a highly valued asset. If you are in your 20s or 30s, you can stand out with your ability to connect. If you are in your 40s and 50s, your ability to coach and connect makes you the leader why your staff want to stay on despite competition poaching staff…

Social skills are critical and give you a cutting edge in your career and business :

Differentiation : In today’s world dominated by technology – social skills become a highly valued asset. The population in the 20s and 30s are especially strong in technology but you can stand out from the crowd with your ability to connect with people. And if you are a leader in your 40s or 50s, then your ability to coach and connect becomes the reason why your staff want to work for you despite plentiful opportunities.
Problem Solving : In business, problems with processes, people and clients happen all the time. The one who can resolve the problems is the one who gets counted when it matters. And problem solving is often a function of one’s ability to work through different geographies, departments and the people in them.
Forming Meaning Relationships : Social skills generally translate into one’s ability to cultivate meaningful relationships. This opens up tremendous opportunities.

In the business world, the higher one climbs the corporate ladder, the more responsibilities one assumes – and it becomes a situation of being able to manage people to get things done for the organisation, rather than doing everything yourself. International firms and businesses are constantly look for leaders and managers who can work with people and bring out the best in others.

Social success translates naturally into opportunities which in turn lead to career success. To grow and advance further in one’s career, social skills come into play again.

Need I say more?

8. What are some of the most crucial things you need to bring to the table at a job interview?

The 2 Key Factors are :

(I) TAILORING your message and Adding VALUE.

(II) Decide what your KEY messages are in advance, and TAILOR them to suit your audience/interviewers.

Know in advance, as much as possible or practicable,

- Who your interviewers are
- What their communication styles are like
- What keeps them awake at night (or what problem they need to solve).

To illustrate the importance of being prepared and knowing your interviewers with a real life story : I once arranged for a candidate (whom I intend to recruit) to meet my lady boss who had a very stern and austere air about her. Despite my friendly ‘warning’ in advance, the candidate did not expect what she saw – she was so startled to see my boss during the interview that she stumbled and completed faltered in incoherent sentences. She didn’t get the job of course.

On communication style : If for example, the interviewers are CEOs, they might be more keen on the big picture and revenue numbers – this means you might need to trim your 10 page report to a 1 pager to highlight pertinent high level issues that impact on the company’s viability and market standing instead of sticking to what you know.

IMPORTANT : The key differentiating factor for you is your ability to add value to them in a problem where they cannot resolve fully or at all. Adding value can be giving new perspectives & effort that will contribute to resolving the problem. This will make your interviewers feel that you are the one they need to hire.

Many fresh graduates or less experienced job interviewees I have interviewed ‘suffer’ from this fatal flaw : They always ask what they can learn. There is nothing wrong with this expectation but if the focus is only on themselves and not on what the potential employer needs, then you haven’t differentiated yourself and come across as just another interviewee.

To add value, you must understand what issues your interviewers are facing. Get info from the interviewers about what their challenges are, what the challenges of the job (you are interviewing for are), and relate them to your previous experiences (you can quote examples of school projects which are relevant) to demonstrate that you could solve their problem. This perhaps is the singular most important piece of CAREER ADVICE I would give to anyone preparing to go for a job interview. Help your potential employee solve a problem or position yourself as the one who could solve their problem and you are on a roll.

NEW: This section on Growth Mindset is updated in 2022:

Increasingly, companies look for employees and leaders who portray a Growth Mindset attitude. This attitude can be felt, seen and heard. Read here for Why Having A Growth Mindset Matters To You.

You can also contact us for Growth Mindset Workshop to see how your company can benefit from this.

9. What are some no-no’s when it comes to presenting yourself well?

a. Don’t go to any meeting without being prepared or a mental rehearsal. There are times when I hear my coachees say that they don’t know who they are meeting, and they get so nervous and so they would just adopt a ‘I’ll-go-as-I-am’ attitude, without any preparation. This is a definite no-no. If you don’t know anything – at least go back to the person who connected you to the chance to present yourself and find out as much as possible. And google search to help you do your homework!

Don’t Be Mousy – Brand Yourself Confidently

b. Don’t be mousy – I once interviewed a candidate who stood at my door entrance, but her body was half hidden by the door. The impression I got was she lacked confidence and experience or maybe had something to hide. Would that be your preferred hiring choice if you are the manager? Knock the door, wait for acknowledgement and walk in confidently.

c. Don’t talk too much – use any meeting as a chance to understand others’ perspectives and whether there is a chance for you to contribute and learn. If you are going for an interview, you must at least spend 30% of the time listening (some experts put it to 70% and so that gives you an idea of how important it is to listen). If you are making a public presentation, obviously you have to do more talking but you still need to observe your audience and listen and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you audience asks a question, listen and acknowledge it and answer it at the appropriate time.

d. Don’t stick to a prepared script rigidly. I know I said one must prepare but equally important is the need to adapt and tailor your message. I recall in the early years of my career when on one occasion, I stuck to my 30-min prepared script despite only having 5 minutes to speak as the speakers before me took more time than planned. I learnt lesson 101 on adapting and tailoring my message to the circumtances, after we lost the deal and I got ‘painfully’ famous for it.

e. Don’t start off with an apology or bad note. “I’m sorry as I’m presenting for the 1^st time and hence really nervous.” “I didn’t want to come up but my colleagues pushed me up here to share.” Avoid negative statements that immediately discredit yourself. With your preparation and rehearsals, you could be doing much better than you realise!

f. Don’t focus on your weakness – instead focus on what you can contribute to your clients. Draw comfort in the fact that everyone is nervous or has been through that stage, when presenting or meeting a new prospective client or employer.

Real Life Coaching

I once coached someone who insisted that she could never present in front of a group. She spent 2 hours convincing me that she could never ever do that. To-date, she remains the only 1 person I have coached who still fumbles and falters at every presentation.

As you can see, you can manage your Personal Branding consciously by applying these tips and strategies above. I hope you have enjoyed these 3 part series on Career Advice and Managing Your Personal Branding. Develop your image, your confidence and adopt the right attitudes. Differentiate yourself from others through your social skills – increasingly an asset in today’s world too reliant on technology. Invest in your career by first investing in your personal branding. You can improve your presence and confidence in public speaking too by investing in the right Presentation Skills courses.

If you would like to hear fresh perspectives and benefit from career counselling,
<< Contact Tan Teck Kim if you wish to be coached in your career >>

Coached To Clearer Direction and Higher Performance

RECOMMENDED READING :

Understand what your employers are thinking :

Why Career Advice and Career Development is Key To Staff Retention

Career Advice Part 1 – How To Brand Yourself

Career Advice Part 2 – How To Manage Your Personal Branding

36 HR Training and Consultancy

Training Solutions To Invigorate You

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