Ed Batista

Comfort Struggle

I recently bought these smiley-face stickers, which are produced by a company called Teacher Created Resources, and this message on the back of the package caught my attention:

Imagine the great things you can do with these fantastic stickers!

Reward Success!

Encourage Progress!

Notice Accomplishment!

Restore Confidence!

Compliment Effort!

Decorate Completion!

Recognize Good Conduct!

Observe Exellence!

Honor Attempt!

Comfort Struggle!

While it's slightly exhausting to read--so many! exclamation points!--I also find it inspiring. I'm reminded of the many wonderful teachers I've had, and I recall with gratitude the many ways in which they expressed not only their commitment to my learning but also their investment in me as a person. I hope I have a similar impact on my own clients and students, and while I trust in my abilities as a coach, I'm also prompted to wonder how I could do an even better job. It's important to me to go the extra mile, just like a teacher who might pay for these stickers out of their own pocket to augment their limited classroom supplies.

Finally, I see a clear parallel between the impact of a smiley face sticker on a child and the many small ways in which we can convey our support and caring to each other as adults. Research shows that activities such as expressing gratitude or practicing acts of kindness have a surprisingly large impact on our happiness. This research reinforces what I see in my work as a coach every day--the little things really do matter, and it's important to look for and step into opportunities to encourage progress, restore confidence, comfort struggle.

The Meaning of Mindset

Recent work on setbacks and mindset [1] as well mental models [2] triggered some further reflection on just what we mean by mindset. The definitions below aren't mutually exclusive--each one simply provides another way of looking at and making effective use of the central concept:

1. Thoughts and Perceptions

First, mindset refers to the overarching idea that what we think--and particularly what we think about ourselves--influences how we perceive the world around us and how we experience that world. Our thoughts and perceptions--and the resulting emotions--shape our reality.  A perfect example of this is the placebo effect: Research has shown that "A particular mind-set or belief about one's body or health may lead to improvements in disease symptoms as well as changes in appetite, brain chemicals and even vision." [3]

2. Cognitive Biases

A second definition of mindset is the process of understanding cognitive biases and principles of neuroscience in order to leverage them and turn them to our advantage, rather than be buffeted about by them. For example, awareness of the cognitive bias known as the "fundamental attribution error"--ascribing causality to personal characteristics when causality actually lies with the situation--and its impact on our mindset can allow us to cope more effectively with setbacks. A host of other heuristics can also lead us astray, such as availability bias--"the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event by the ease with which relevant examples come to mind"--and affective errors--"the tendency to make decisions based on what we wish were true." [4]  Recent research on neuroscience and brain function provides additional insights into why we act the way we do, and one of the best examples is David Rock's SCARF model, which "captures the common factors that can activate a reward or threat response in social situations." [5]

3. Mental Models

On a more personal level, another definition of mindset is an awareness of our existing mental models, beliefs and assumptions, many of which are the result of past learning experiences and which may not have been re-examined or updated in the interim. Such awareness allows us to see how these concepts influence our actions and, if we choose, to update them to reflect our current circumstances and subsequent learning. In turn, this process allows us to make different choices based on more recent information and better suited to current circumstances. In recent months I've revisited the impact of my self-image as a public speaker: "I had trapped myself in my own mental model: believing I was a poor speaker led me to avoid speaking opportunities, which prevented me from ever improving. Today I still get nervous before a speech or presentation, but I view that response simply as a manifestation of my desire to do well, not as damning evidence of my ineffectiveness." [6]

4. Growth vs. Fixed

Finally, a very specific and highly useful definition of mindset is the idea at the heart of the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, who sees a pivotal distinction between a "growth" mindset and a "fixed" mindset. As Dweck has noted,

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They're wrong.

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. [7]

Again, these definitions obviously overlap--my goal here isn't to distinguish them as separate concepts but rather to get sufficient clarity on the threads and themes woven into the concept of mindset in order to make use of all of them more effectively.

 

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Footnotes

[1] Setbacks, Mindset, and the Fundamental Attribution Error

[2] Corn Mazes and Mental Models

[3] Why Placebos Work Wonders (Shirley Wang, The Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2012)

[4] When Heuristics Go Bad

[5] Neuroscience, Leadership, and David Rock's SCARF Model

[6] Stagefright and Public Speaking

[7] What Is Mindset (Carol Dweck, 2012)

Updated March 2021.

Photo by Alessandro Valli.

Setbacks, Mindset, and the Fundamental Attribution Error

Thinking about some recent personal and professional setbacks--those of clients and students as well as some of my own--has led me to reflect on the intersection of two topics that often come up in my practice: mindset and the fundamental attribution error.

By "mindset" I'm referring to the power exerted by our beliefs, assumptions and mental models. [1] What we think--and particularly what we think about ourselves--has a tremendous influence on our lived experience. Fer example, recent research on the placebo effect has shown that "a particular mind-set or belief about one's body or health may lead to improvements in disease symptoms as well as changes in appetite, brain chemicals and even vision." Of particular importance is the ability of positive expectations and conditioning to create an openness to change. [2]

The concept of a "fixed mindset" and a "growth mindset" is at the heart of the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck:

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success--without effort. They're wrong.

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. [3]

Having a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset can have a profound impact on how we cope with setbacks and mistakes. People with a fixed mindset see setbacks and mistakes as the result of personal failings, character flaws, and an inherent lack of talent. People with a growth mindset see the same experiences as learning opportunities and challenges that will stimulate growth.

But while I believe firmly in this research and can attest to the power of mindset both in my own life and in the lives of my clients and students, I'm not suggesting that the biggest challenges we face can be resolved merely by adopting a "positive attitude," or that our mindsets are at fault when we struggle.

This is where the second concept I've been reflecting on comes in: the "fundamental attribution error" is a common cognitive bias originally named by Stanford psychologist Lee Ross. It was taught to me in business school by the outstanding Roberto Fernandez as "ascribing causality to personal characteristics when causality actually lies with the situation."

As I've written before, "We see it at work most clearly with high-profile, archetypal leaders--presidents, CEOs, coaches, quarterbacks--who are hailed as geniuses when their organizations accomplish their goals and derided as bums when their organizations stumble." [4] But it appears in daily life as well. While we bear at least some responsibility for most of our failures, it's inaccurate to put the blame solely on our shoulders while ignoring the context in which a given failure occurs.

The intersection of mindset and the fundamental attribution error is critical when it comes to how we deal with setbacks. The same cognitive bias that leads us to ignore our good fortune and take more credit than we should when we succeed also leads us to ignore those situational factors that contribute to our failures. Our ignorance of the fundamental attribution error (or our reluctance to apply it to our own lives) can cause us to see setbacks as solely our responsibility, feeding into a negative mindset and making it more difficult to recover.

There is a slippery slope here that could be exploited by the unscrupulous or irresponsible, and by no means am I suggesting that we avoid holding ourselves accountable. But research by psychologist Jason Moser on learning from mistakes suggests that those who learn best from mistakes spend a substantially higher amount of time and energy focusing on and reviewing what they did wrong in order to learn from it. [5] They don't shirk responsibility--just the opposite.

The judicious application of the fundamental attribution error can give us a fuller, more accurate perspective on our setbacks, which can have a meaningful impact on our mindset. If we can clearly distinguish between those factors that are truly our responsibility and within our control to change, and any situational factors--or even just bad luck--that we have no control over, we'll be able to focus our energies where they'll be most useful and to maintain a mindset that will support recovery, learning and growth.

 

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Footnotes

[1] Corn Mazes and Mental Models

[2] Why Placebos Work Wonders (Shirley Wang, The Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2012)

[3] What Is Mindset (Carol Dweck, 2012)

[4] The Fundamental Attribution Error & the No Asshole Rule

[5] Mind Your Errors: Evidence for a Neural Mechanism Linking Growth Mind-Set to Adaptive Posterror Adjustments (Jason Moser, et al, Psychological Science, 2011)

Updated March 2021.

Photo by dfinnecy.