Embracing Failure: The Benefits of a Growth Mindset in Business and Leadership

In the modern competitive corporate environment, the bottom line serves to be highly prized above all other factors. However, quite increasingly, leaders and researchers are able to understand that emphasis on short-term outcomes at the expense of the long-term growth of the company can serve to be counterproductive.

What is the problem with this concept? It makes employees continue operating with a fixed mindset in opposition to the growth mindset that remains highly conducive to overall progress and improvement.

Understanding Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck – a pioneering researcher, professor, and psychologist at the esteemed Stanford University came up with the term ‘growth mindset’ in 2006. He unveiled his book named ‘Mindset - The New Psychology of Success.’ In the given illustration, he explains that a person is known to demonstrate the notion of a growth mindset when the individual believes that he or she is not limited by inherent abilities or traits. Rather, they should possess the capacity to improve, learn, and grow simultaneously.

As we analyze the global corporate scenario, skills like autonomy, a growth mindset, creativity, and critical thinking have now become crucial factors in ensuring aggressive organizational success and growth.

The mindset comes as a contrast to the ‘fixed mindset.’ In a fixed mindset, an individual believes that he or she possesses a specified set of characteristics that might not change. In the workplace, both mindsets can be present both on the individual as well as organizational levels.

What are the Benefits of a Growth Mindset in the Workplace?

Bringing about differences in the growth mindset and fixed mindset will always be subjective. Here are some of the core benefits of adopting the notion of an organizational growth mindset within a workplace −

Improved Morale

In an organization following the growth-oriented mindset, employees are capable of understanding the fact that leaders will analyze the overall performance on the basis of creativity and efforts instead of looking into the inherent traits or the respective willingness to support short-term perspectives. A growth mindset also helps in empowering employees to inquire or ask relevant questions while offering up their own leads -assisting the company to not fall into the trap of groupthink.

When employees believe that their opinions matter and they are highly trusted for ensuring the growth of the company, it serves to be a major morale boost. As per a study report, it is estimated that employees working within organizations depicting growth mindsets are 34 percent more likely to have a stronger sense of commitment to the entire organization.

Better Trust

As employees featuring fixed mindsets believe their respective abilities and those of their peers are usually set, they are more likely to observe their colleagues in the form of competitors in the race for achieving success -instead of collaborators. Usually, corporate cultures that are rooted in fixed mindsets will depict less trust and minimal commitment to the entire organization.

A widely promoted growth mindset, on the other hand, will depict well-defined benefits for companies. Surveys report that in such organizations, employees are around 47 percent more likely to reveal that their colleagues are trustworthy.

Improved Risk-taking and Innovations

A growth mindset within an organization is crucial to nurture innovation as well as the overall willingness to take up risks at the organizational level. When organizations and individuals believe that their capacities are fixed, they are more likely to concentrate on short-term goals (like quarterly returns) instead of long-term possibilities. Due to this, leaders might not consider taking up risks that might affect short-term goals.

Those working at organizations having a growth mindset are around 65 percent more likely to feel that their organization promotes the notion of risk-taking. They are also around 49 percent more likely to reveal that their organization fosters the concept of rapid innovation. Eventually, employees would require assurance that their company culture is capable of supporting new ideas -even if they might not work out, to ensure the feeling of comfort moving forward.

Tips to Developing a Growth Mindset at Work

As mindsets can be highly personal, it is easier to assume that organizations are not able to change how employees will interpret the scenarios around them. However, executing internal steps toward prioritizing a growth mindset in the organization can have significant impacts on the overall company culture. Here are some steps to consider −

Performance Evaluation of Learning

To ensure the promotion of an organizational growth mindset, leaders can consider evaluating how employees are developing and growing. They can think of setting specific goals that are more focused on improving their skills rather than the outputs.

Classifying Failure and Success as Learning Opportunities

While nobody prefers failing, shaming employees or stigmatizing failures will not help you succeed. Rather than this, leaders can go ahead with encouraging the development of a growth mindset within the workplace by celebrating failures as an integral aspect of the learning process.

Encouraging Employees to Speak Up

Organizations featuring a growth mindset should understand that useful ideas can be derived from unexpected sources. Rather than turning to only selected employees while making a decision, leaders having a growth mindset will always be open to listening perspectives of others as well.

Investing in Upskilling and Reskilling Efforts of Employees

In the modern era, a number of organizations are facing significant skill gaps as technology continues evolving at a rapid pace. Rather than assuming that employees are only fit for specific roles, savvy organizations and leaders featuring growth mindsets should understand that employees might already possess the capability to face ongoing challenges.

Employers should consider investing in both reskilling and upskilling efforts with the help of external programs or internal training.

Conclusion

The development of a growth mindset within an organization is a long-term process. However, with its help, you can bring about a major positive change throughout. Organizations should undertake proper steps to encourage employees towards growing their skills, take ample risks, and challenge themselves.