Mind Macros 39: Growth vs. fixed mindset, fixed volume productivity, and learning from mistakes

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." — Douglas Adams

Hello, friend.

Welcome to another issue of Mind Macros - I hope you find something of value.

Food for Thought

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I. Growth vs. fixed mindset

"For thirty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value. How does this happen? How can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and, as a result, your life?

"Believing that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset— creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character—well, then you'd better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn't do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics.

​"Some of us are trained in this mindset from an early age. Even as a child, I was focused on being smart, but the fixed mindset was really stamped in by Mrs. Wilson, my sixth-grade teacher. Unlike Alfred Binet, she believed that people's IQ scores told the whole story of who they were. We were seated around the room in IQ order, and only the highest-IQ students could be trusted to carry the flag, clap the erasers, or take a note to the principal. Aside from the daily stomachaches she provoked with her judgmental stance, she was creating a mindset in which everyone in the class had one consuming goal—look smart, don't look dumb. Who cared about or enjoyed learning when our whole being was at stake every time she gave us a test or called on us in class? I've seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves—in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?

​"There's another mindset in which these traits are not simply a hand you're dealt and have to live with, always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you're secretly worried it's a pair of tens. In this mindset, the hand you're dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.

​"Do people with this mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but they believe that a person's true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it's impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.

"You can see how the belief that cherished qualities can be developed creates a passion for learning. Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it's not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives." — From Mindset by Carol Dweck

Fixed mindset individuals believe their abilities are static and set for life, whereas those with a growth mindset believe their capabilities are expandable and treat the world as a classroom.  

Fixed mindset: I could never give a talk in front of an audience because I've always been terrible at public speaking.

Growth mindset: Due to my lack of experience in public speaking, I lack the knowledge to confidently address a room. With deliberate practice, I can gain understanding and acquire the skill.

Fixed mindset: I got an A+ in English at school and was constantly praised for my writing ability; why should I study it further?

Growth mindset: The greatest writers in history never stopped studying; why should I be any different? There is always room for improvement.  

All of us are born as giant blocks of marble capable of choosing how to be carved. Either we believe erroneous notions that bind our lives to limiting beliefs, ensuring our slab of marble remains untouched. Or, we can strive toward continuous improvement, treat the world as a classroom, and create our own David.  ​

II. Fixed volume productivity

"To whatever extent your job situation permits, decide in advance how much time you'll dedicate to work—you might resolve to start by 8:30 a.m., and finish no later than 5:30 p.m., say—then make all other time-related decisions in light of those predetermined limits. 'You could fill any arbitrary number of hours with what feels to be productive work,' writes Cal Newport, who explores this approach in his book Deep Work. 'But if your primary goal is to do what's required in order to be finished by 5:30, you'll be aware of the constraints on your time, and more motivated to use it wisely.'" — From Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (read my three takeaways)

The fixed volume approach to work relies on Parkinson's Law, which states that work expands to fill the available time. When we schedule six hours for completing a report, it will take those six hours. Whereas if we only had four, we'd have to set constraints and narrow the focus. In Deep Work, Newport describes what this approach has enabled him to accomplish:

"In the ten-year period following my college graduation, I published four books, earned a PhD, wrote peer-reviewed academic papers at a high rate, and was hired as a tenure-track professor at Georgetown University. I maintained this voluminous production while rarely working past five or six p.m. during the workweek."

Newport goes on to explain how he accomplished this output, using 'shallow' to describe "noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks," and 'deep work' to describe "activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration."

"This compressed schedule is possible because I've invested significant effort to minimize the shallow in my life while making sure I get the most out of the time this frees up. I build my days around a core of carefully chosen deep work, with the shallow activities I absolutely cannot avoid batched into smaller bursts at the peripheries of my schedule. Three to four hours a day, five days a week, of uninterrupted and carefully directed concentration, it turns out, can produce a lot of valuable output."

Read my highlights from Deep Work

Quotes to Ponder

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I. Douglas Adams on our failure to learn from history.

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

II. Lao Tzu on learning from mistakes.

"A great nation is like a great man: When he makes a mistake, he realizes it. Having realized it, he admits it. Having admitted it, he corrects it. He considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent teachers."

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Thank you for reading,

Matthew Vere