Monday 23 May 2016

Mindset: Fixed or Growth? - Part 3 - Sports: The Mindset of a Champion

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?