16 Sept 2022

Be thoughtful about your “default thoughts”

Many of us know about growth mindset. The basic idea is that you don’t restrict yourself, or some other person, to what you or that person is capable of doing today. You consciously accept that one can acquire new skills and do new things tomorrow. I had a revelation yesterday about how growth mindset may look in reality.

Recently, I received feedback from my managers that I needed to do a better job at «responsibility». My director said, “If everyone on my team is doing the bare minimum necessary, I can’t take this team to new heights. I want you [and everyone] to go above and beyond the baseline expectation.”

I immediately knew what I had to change. I have to stop thinking “I don’t know how to do this” and replace it with “I can figure this out.” That should be the default thought.

Default thoughts should be empowering, and be of growth mindset, rather than of restricting growth.

No comments:

Post a Comment