What is
success?
Dweck says
that those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best, in
learning and improving. She utilizes life experiences from athletes and coaches
like Jackie Joyner-Kersey, John Wooden and Tiger Woods. They all loved to win,
but what counted most for them is the effort they made even when they didn’t
win. On the other hand, an athlete like John McEnroe had a fixed mindset
believe that success is about establishing their superiority and nothing more.
McEnroe once said, “Some people don’t want to rehearse; they just want to
perform. Other people want to practice a hundred times first. I’m in the former
group.” Dweck says that in the fixed mindset, effort is not a cause for pride.
It is something that casts doubt on your talent.
What is
failure?
Those with
the growth mindset found setbacks motivating. They’re informative and like a
wake- up call. Michael Jordan stepped away from basketball to try professional
baseball. After an unsuccessful baseball career, he returned to basketball his
team did not make the playoffs. He said, “you can’t leave and think you can
come back and dominate this game. I will be physically and mentally prepared
from now on.” The result was Jordan’s Bulls winning the next three NBA titles.
Michael
Jordan embraced his failures. One of his favourite Nike ads says, “I’ve missed
more than nine thousand shots. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six
times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.” Similarly,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the best basketball players of all time, had a
challenge when college basketball outlawed the slam dunk. Until then, that is
all he did and was successful at it since he was bigger than everyone. How did
he react? He worked twice as hard to develop other shots; one of which became
his world famous “skyhook.” John MacEnroe on the other hand, lost a match of
mixed-doubles at Wimbledon in 1979. How did he react? He didn’t play
mixed-doubles for the next twenty years.
Taking
Charge of Success
Dweck says
that people with the growth mindset in sports took charge of the process that
brings success – and that maintain it. Michael Jordan’s skill didn’t seem to
decline with his age. How could that be? He worked even harder as time went on
and developed other shots and moves to compensate for his increasing age and
loss of some stamina.
What does
it mean to be a star?
Does a star
have less responsibility to the team than other players, or do they have more
of a responsibility? The most successful athletes all had the same approach to
this; they took the team on their shoulders and took responsibility to maintain
the team. Even if they were clearly the best, the team came first; the
individual came second. Dweck
argues that every sport is a team sport. Even in individual sports like tennis
and golf, the great athletes have a team – coaches trainers, caddies, managers
and mentors.
In the next
blog post, we will explore the chapter on “Parents, Teachers and Coaches: Where
Do Mindsets Come From?
Links to Interesting Articles:
3. How to Integrate Google Apps with the Rigor Relevance Framework
Links to Interesting Web Tools:
1. Can growth mindset theory reshape the classroom?
4. 10 Ways to Integrate Screen Time with Learning Time - Preschool and Beyond
2. How to Curb School Anxiety4. 10 Ways to Integrate Screen Time with Learning Time - Preschool and Beyond
3. How to Integrate Google Apps with the Rigor Relevance Framework
