Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. S. Dweck
Dec 2007
This book has shaped how we think about performance, feedback, growth, leadership, or culture.
Overview
World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea–the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success–but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn’t foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to raise their grades, as well as reach our own goals–personal and professional. Dweck reveals what all great parents, teachers, CEOs, and athletes already know: how a simple idea about the brain can create a love of learning and a resilience that is the basis of great accomplishment in every area.
Key ideas
- A fixed mindset treats ability as something to prove; a growth mindset treats ability as something to develop through effort, strategy, feedback, and learning.
- Praise can backfire when it rewards being smart or talented. Dweck argues that praising process, persistence, and useful strategies builds more resilient motivation.
- Failure is interpreted differently depending on mindset. In a fixed mindset it can feel like evidence of inadequacy; in a growth mindset it becomes information for the next attempt.
- The mindset idea applies beyond education: it shapes leadership, relationships, sport, parenting, and workplace development.
- For teams, the practical value is creating norms where people can learn in public, ask for feedback, and improve without every mistake becoming an identity threat.
Practical use
- Replace talent labels with specific feedback about choices, effort, practice, and learning behavior.
- Treat difficult work as a signal for coaching and experimentation, not as proof that someone lacks potential.
- Build review rituals around "what did we learn?" and "what will we try next?" so improvement becomes normal.
Book page: Open retailer page