Growth Mindset

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Students who embrace growth mindsets, the belief that they can learn more or become smarter if they work hard and persevere, may learn more, learn it more quickly, and view challenges and failures as opportunities to improve their learning and skills.

The Power of "Yet"

The power of "yet" concept promotes the idea that everyone is on an individual learning curve and can continually improve and develop to achieve things in the future that they cannot yet accomplish.

Rather than thinking you’re not good at something — you’re not a strong presenter, you’re not good at balancing budgets, or you’re not good at tackling new technology — Dweck urges people to add “yet” to the end of the statement. You’re not a strong presenter yet. Or, you’re not good at learning new technology yet. Learning is an ongoing process, and what someone is not good at now may be something they’ll be good at a few months from now.

This concept also relates in some ways to the mindset of gamers that is promoted by Big Think expert, author, and video game designer Jane McGonigal. The “gamer way of thinking” is all about tackling challenges and learning ways to make oneself better and become better at achieving those tasks. When engaging in games, people are not only trying to improve their knowledge and skills, they are also trying to help others around them (teammates) do that as well. So they are not only engaging in their own growth, but they are also encouraging others to grow.

There are several attributes that are prevalent in gamers that are consistent with a growth mindset, including:

• Resilience;

• Epic Ambition;

• Optimism;

• Creativity;

• Perseverance;

• Determination and Grit; and

• Collaboration.

All of these skills and attributes are beneficial not only to our individual growth but also to our growth as part of a community. In a Big Think video, McGonigal says:

“The message needs to be this is training for real life. You know, yes, games are escapist in that we do get to escape reality when we play them, but they’re not just escapist. They’re also returnist. We return to our real lives with real ways of thinking about what we’re capable of, real ways of solving problems more creatively.”