Growth mindset culture

At LEAD, we are experts in developing growth mindset cultures that promote both individual and organizational success. Our work is based on solid practical experience combined with research-based knowledge. We always tailor our services to fit the context and needs of each organization.

What is a growth mindset?

A growth mindset believes that abilities can be developed through effort and persistence, whereas a fixed mindset refers to the belief that abilities are innate and unchangeable. Mindset, then, is fundamentally about how we understand abilities and development opportunities.

You can get deeper insights into Growth Mindset on this page:

How does a growth mindset shape our behavior?

Our mindset has a huge impact on how we think and, more importantly, how we act. Whether we see abilities as fixed or changeable has an impact on how we act in work contexts - especially when facing challenges or receiving critical feedback from others. People with a fixed mindset perceive abilities as statistical, which leads to a desire to appear capable at all costs. Conversely, people with a growth mindset see abilities as changeable, leading to a desire to learn. These two fundamentally different ways of viewing ability affect our behavior in five areas in particular.

Challenges

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset try to avoid challenges. With challenges comes the risk of failure, which indicates that you don't have the right skills.

Growth mindset

People with a growth mindset embrace challenges. They see challenges as an opportunity to grow.

Obstacles

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset tend to give up more quickly when faced with obstacles. Failure means you are not competent enough. Therefore, there is a strong focus on hiding mistakes.

Growth mindset

People with a growth mindset are persistent in the face of adversity. Failure is seen as a natural part of learning

Effort

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset see effort as futile. In fact, effort and hard work can be seen as proof that you don't have the right qualities - because if you did, effort would be unnecessary.

Growth mindset

People with a growth mindset see effort as the path to mastery. It is through effort, practice and persistence that you develop.

Feedback

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset are enthusiastic about positive feedback. However, negative feedback is often ignored. Brain research shows that people with a fixed mindset "escape" from critical feedback and don't learn from their mistakes.

Growth mindset

People with a growth mindset reflect on feedback. Critical feedback is perceived as a help on how to grow.

Andre's success

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset feel threatened by the success of others. Being successful is about being better than others.

Growth mindset

People with a growth mindset learn and are inspired by the success of others. Being successful is about continuously evolving.

What is a growth mindset culture?

Organizations have mindsets in the same way as individuals. A growth mindset culture believes that everyone can develop their abilities. In organizations with growth mindsets, it's safe to make mistakes and feedback is a natural practice in organizational life.

Why should organizations work to develop a growth mindset culture?

Several of the world's leading companies, such as Microsoft, have already incorporated the growth mindset as an integral part of their organizational culture. And it's certainly not without reason. Research shows that growth mindset increases learning from mistakes, engagement, job performance, innovation and commitment. In fact, not focusing on developing growth mindset cultures can have serious consequences. In organizations with fixed mindset cultures, managers and employees find it difficult to accept critical feedback. They are more concerned with what they did right and not what can be improved. In a changing world, this is almost a sure recipe for failure for both individuals and organizations.

"Our fundamental belief is that our culture transformation and our company transformation and where we are today and where we are headed is absolutely grounded in a deep understanding of a growth mindset"

-Joe Whittinghill, Vice President Microsoft

How can LEAD help you create a growth mindset culture?

At LEAD, we are experts in developing growth mindset cultures that drive individual and organizational success. We always tailor our services to fit the context and needs of each individual organization. But common to all is that cultures permeate the entire organization and therefore need to be addressed on multiple levels. Working with growth mindset culture requires a focus on leadership, teams and organizational practices. That is why LEAD offers the following services:

Organizational and cultural development

Our development programmes address leadership, teams and practices in the organization to create the best conditions for success with a growth mindset culture. At the same time, we always tailor our programs to fit your specific needs and wishes

Individual management sparring and coaching

Leaders must lead the way and act as role models with their own growth mindset for cultural change to succeed. That's why we offer individual leadership sparring and coaching to develop your own mindset as a leader. We help leaders with new insights, skills and practical leadership tools to support both their own and their employees' development of a growth mindset.

Cultural analysis

We offer culture assessments to help you identify and analyze your current culture. It's likely that you already have elements of a growth mindset in your culture. With a cultural analysis, we ensure that the work builds on the best of your existing culture - and at the same time, a data-driven approach allows you to focus on exactly where your culture needs to evolve if you want to build a growth mindset culture.

Team development

At LEAD, we help develop growth mindset teams that learn and perform. In growth mindset teams, curiosity, courage to fail and a desire to collaborate are the keys to turning diversity and difference into high performance. Creating growth mindset teams can involve developing ground rules that support the team in developing and maintaining a shared growth mindset, as well as establishing growth mindset buddies and team sparring.

Skills development and training

We offer competence development and training in growth mindset for both managers and employees. This can be as part of strategy implementation or other projects that require a growth mindset for managers and employees to succeed. It can also be more comprehensive competence development and training in growth mindset - for example, as part of a cultural change and development of a growth mindset culture or in connection with agile transformations and the introduction of agile working methods.

HR products and systems

It's crucial that growth mindset principles permeate the organization's practices. That's why we help organizations develop HR systems and practices that support growth mindset. We work with you to design growth mindset tools and processes that support your transformation. Examples of services range from meeting guides and interview guides to recruitment concepts and performance management system redesign.

Courses, workshops and presentations

We offer courses, workshops and presentations on growth mindset. Do you need a presentation or workshop at your leadership conferences or internal theme days to inspire your organization with the basic principles of growth mindset? We are ready to inspire you based on research-based knowledge and practical experience. With an inspirational presentation, you'll be equipped to reflect on your own practices and approaches to developing growth mindset in your organization.
We also offer tailor-made courses to suit your needs in relation to growth mindset. Do you need to launch a new HR strategy and incorporate growth mindset into your HR palette, or do you need to train your managers to work with growth mindset? No matter what you need in terms of working with growth mindset, we're happy to design courses with you on just that.

Three core ingredients in developing growth mindset cultures

At LEAD, our approach to developing growth mindset cultures is based on three core ingredients:

Growth mindset management

Growth mindset teams

Growth mindset practices

Growth mindset management:

For cultural change to be successful, it's crucial that leaders take the lead and act as role models. A large part of working with growth mindset culture is developing leaders' own mindsets. We help leaders with new insights, skills and practical leadership tools to support both their own and their employees' development of a growth mindset.

Growth mindset teams:

Working with growth mindset culture at the team level is about developing collaboration, culture and practices that promote a growth mindset in both individuals and teams. This may involve developing ground rules that support the team in developing and maintaining a shared growth mindset, as well as establishing growth mindset buddies and team sparring on growth mindset development and maintenance. Finally, it may require promoting curiosity and listening to others' perspectives to realize the potential of the diversity that exists in the team. Team-level development increases engagement, innovation and performance.

Growth mindset practices:

It's important that growth mindset principles permeate the organization's practices. Therefore, part of the growth mindset culture work is to develop organizational habits and systems that support a growth mindset in both leaders and employees. We help develop and design concrete tools to drive your transformation process - tools that can be used in onboarding, feedback interviews, individual development plans, measurements and evaluations, competence development programs, etc.

Three key steps in developing a growth mindset culture

1. Create strategic anchoring

The first step in developing a growth mindset culture is to focus on why you need to develop a growth mindset culture. What is it that a growth mindset culture will help you with and why is it crucial to the realization of your strategies and visions?

2. Articulate your growth mindset culture

The second step is about articulating what a growth mindset culture is for your organization. It's important to consider what a growth mindset culture means to you. Here it is crucial to answer the following questions: What is your current culture like? What does it mean to develop a growth mindset culture in your organization? What behavioral indicators will be proof that you are living your growth mindset culture?

3. Bring your growth mindset culture to life

The third and final step is to ensure that your growth mindset culture lives in the organization. This requires strong ownership among management and key stakeholders in the organization, as well as a systematic implementation process where the new culture is anchored through ongoing dialogues and follow-up, combined with synchronizing the organization's practices so that they also support the new growth mindset culture. Here the important questions become: How do we support and sustain our growth mindset culture? What measures need to be put in place to support growth mindset leadership, teams and practices?

Five tips for practicing leadership that supports a growth mindset

Challenges

Treat challenges as natural and desirable - you learn and grow when you are challenged!

Obstacles

Make sure that obstacles are not perceived as signs of inability as in a fixed mindset, but rather as natural bumps in the road to mastery.

Effort

Show that you don't see effort as a sign of lack of talent, but that effort is a central and natural part of development and mastery.

Feedback

Create a safe space where criticism can be received without having to "defend" yourself, so it can be used to learn from instead. Give feedback that focuses on effort, persistence and process.

Andre's success

Make it clear that the success of others should not be seen as a threat, but that there is much to learn from the success of others.

Six reflection questions about your own organizational culture

Does our culture encourage us to try to appear successful at all costs, or do we see failure as a natural part of the evolution towards peak performance?
Do we see development potential in everyone, or is talent and development reserved for a select few "stars"?
How do our values and organizational practices support a growth mindset culture - are there areas that set people up for inappropriate internal competition, create fear of failure and undermine an open feedback culture?
How do we recruit new leaders - is there more talent outside the organization or is there a lot of potential to be found internally?
What is the balance between individual and team-based rewards, KPIs and development initiatives?
Do our goal systems support unethical behavior, shortcuts and a single-minded focus on reaching the goal, no matter the cost or consequences?

If you have any doubts, let me call you with personal guidance

Rasmus Thy Grøn

Partner

Cand. Psych. Ph.D. scholarship holder

"I am passionate about developing growth mindset cultures"

In a world of increasing complexity and speed of change, the mindset of leaders and employees is crucial to the success of organizations.

It determines how we see the world and therefore our behavior. If organizations want to strengthen their innovation, performance and diversity, growth mindset is a key ingredient.

In the video, you can hear Rasmus Thy Grøn talk about the growth mindset he leads, which is relevant for all leaders who want to create a culture where they believe that everyone can develop their abilities. Together with the rest of the LEAD team, Rasmus helps companies with tailor-made programs that strengthen relationships and results.