What do we really mean by growth mindset?

You’ve heard of the “growth mindset,” right? Perhaps even ad nauseam? It’s become pretty mainstream—kids across America are learning about it in school, and countless companies, including Microsoft, have adopted it to transform the culture of their companies. Carol Dweck popularized the concept in 2006 already, after years of research that began in the 1980s.

Yet in this era where there are countless buzzwords—mindfulness, eco-friendly, JOMO—we can’t help but wonder: what are we REALLY talking about when we say “growth mindset?” Would you be able to spot it—in others? And in yourself? And does it actually matter?

Let’s check out Dweck’s own definition of growth mindset from her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success that was published in 2006:

“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.”

Another way of looking at it, Dweck defines a growth mindset as the belief that a person’s abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and learning. It contrasts with a fixed mindset, which assumes that intelligence and talent are static traits—you either have them or you don’t.

So…can we or can’t we teach an old dog new tricks?

The growth mindset, and other research, says yes—but only if the dog wants to learn and believes change is possible. That mindset, combined with real effort and a willingness to stretch, is what makes growth happen.

So, what does this look like in real life?

Meet Calvin. He’s a real life executive at a Fortune 500 corporation. He was recently venting about the lack of innovation that he and his team were able to create for one of their lines of business. “I’ve been on this business for 15 years. Trust me, we have turned over every stone, and there is no way to innovate in this category. We’re stuck with what we have.” Digging a little deeper, he shared that he recently even assigned a high performing person on his team to see what she could come up with. After a seemingly diligent process, she presented four potential avenues. “I told her why every single one of those wouldn’t work. We’ve been down this path. People just don’t understand the complexity of this business and that this is what it is.”

Sound familiar? That’s a fixed mindset in action—intelligence and talent are static, stagnant, stuck.

A growth mindset, on the other hand, might sounds more like: “We’ve been at this a long time, and it’s tricky—but there must be a way forward that we just haven’t uncovered yet. What are other ways we can explore this?”

To be clear, having a growth mindset doesn’t mean being blindly optimistic and pretending everything is possible all the time. There are also the realities of resource and budget constraints. It does mean, however, staying open. It means believing you and your team can keep learning, adapting, and trying—even when the path isn’t obvious.

And honestly, that’s where the magic can sometimes happen.