Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
1)
What was the general theme or argument of the book?
The
general premise of this book is that there are two types of mindsets that
people have. A growth mindset or a fixed mindset. A growth mindset means that
you believe that your personality traits and intelligence can be improved with
effort. In contrast, a fixed mindset means you believe you’re stuck with what
you were born with in these departments. Dweck argues that people with a fixed
mindset are more easily disheartened when trying to achieve a goal. They shy
away from tasks that may cause them to fail. Growth mindset people on the other
hand are not afraid of a challenge and don’t fear failure. Dweck believes that
having a growth mindset will help a person succeed in all of their endeavors.
2) How did the
book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT
3003?
I
believe that there are a lot of parallels between the unwavering enthusiasm
that entrepreneurs tend to exude and the attitudes of people with the a growth
mindset. I think that making an effort to have a growth mindset would probably
help me in achieving some of my goals. However, being the skeptic that I am, I don’t
really buy into the fixed and growth mindset dichotomy. I think it is more
likely a spectrum for most people or that they may have a fixed mindset on some
days and a growth mindset on others.
3) If you had to
design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that
exercise involve?
I
would instruct people to spend a week paying close attention to the way they handle
challenges and failures and then writing a blog post about if they think they
ae more of a fixed or growth mindset person.
4) What was your
biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what
did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
I wouldn’t say that I really had an aha moment while reading
this book. However I was impressed by the amount of times Dweck managed to
bring up the same examples throughout her book.
Hey Emma, this book appears to be a great read for both pleasure and improving oneself. The growth mindset and fixed mindset make sense to and I believe practicing staying in the growth mindset is a surefire way to improve life quality and satisfaction. I will put this book on my reading list as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI read the same book ( much more convenient than buying one of the others). I completely agree that it's more of a spectrum. When I was reading it I could see bits of both mindsets that I identified with. I think being a realist rather than a strictly "growth mindset" would help when being an entrepreneur, straight up optimism just leads to bad decisions.
ReplyDeleteHi Emma,
ReplyDeleteI read a different assigned reading, so it was very interesting to see how your experience differed from mine. I was not familiar with the ideas of a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. I definitely believe I am a part of the growth mindset because I think that people and their skills can always be improved upon. I also think it is interesting how the author tied this idea into entrepreneurship.