Principle 5

As you are no doubt aware, some people feel that who they are—their competence, their character, and their virtues, for example—are unchangeable.  They do not feel they can modify these qualities.  So, they tend to perceive feedback not as insights they can utilise to grow but as threats to their perception of themselves.

In contrast, many other people feel their competence, character, and virtues are malleable. They feel that, with consistent practice and dedicated effort, they can enhance these qualities, called a growth mindset. So, they tend to perceive feedback, even strident criticisms, as insights they can utilise to grow. Because they embrace feedback, these individuals tend to be humble rather than defensive.  They tend to develop extensive skills and fulfill lofty goals. 

When leaders also believe that people can enhance their qualities, they are not only more receptive to feedback but are also more effective leaders.  Somehow,

• their belief that people can grow manifests, often subtly and inadvertently, in their choices, actions, and words,
• their staff, consequently, feel more confident they can grow,
• and this confidence inspires staff to persist in their pursuit of change, despite the obstacles and challenges they may experience, called the Pygmalion effect. 

Therefore, you might assume that leaders, typically aware that a growth mindset is often beneficial, would attempt to foster this belief that people can modify their competence, their character, and their virtues.  But instead, although typically unintended, organisations and governments introduce policies and practices that shape the assumption that people cannot change these qualities.  To illustrate,

• in many organisations, staff need to complete measures that label their personality, strengths, or weaknesses,
• staff might be assigned a label such as an ENTJ, a influencer, and observer, and so forth,
• these labels, although interesting, may imply that such characteristics tend to be enduring,
• therefore, these practices tend to diminish the extent to which people are receptive to feedback, dampening their humility.

So, to counteract this concern, how can organisations and governments, instead, introduce policies and practices that imply that competence or character are modifiable?  First, organisations need to reconsider the degree to which they invest in training and development over recruitment and selection.  Obviously, both training and development as well as recruitment and selection are both vital to the success of organisations. But,

• over time, organisations should, iteratively and gradually, uncover opportunities to increase the budget they dedicate to training and development over recruitment and selection,
• this gradual shift towards training and development reinforces the assumption that people can change markedly over time,
• indeed, as research shows, staff tend to be satisfied and engaged in organisations that prioritise training and development.   

Governments also need to introduce policies and practices that imply that competence or character are modifiable.  For example, to manage juvenile offenders,

• governments should invest more heavily in initiatives that are designed to foster the skills and relationships of these offenders—such as counselling and boot camps,
• governments should also enable these offenders to be located closer to home—closer to significant people in their life.  

These measures imply these offenders can improve their qualities and have also been shown to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.  Some of the transformative practices that Norway pioneered in their prisons, in which offenders participate in family discussions, education opportunities, and other activities that typify daily life outside prisons, epitomise this perspective and have been generally successful.  

In short, practices in workplaces or communities that imply that people can grow help people grow.