Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Most of Dweck’s research directly tackles questions regarding individual success and achievement. At the core, mindset theory arises from a desire to understand why some individuals are so successful and achieve so much, yet others struggle to reach their goals despite wanting them so badly. Dweck believes the recipe for success and achievement boils down to whether a person believes they can grow their abilities and develop as a human being. She uses contrasting narratives throughout the book to shift readers’ thinking regarding the components of success and to prime them to embrace the notion that an act as simple as recognizing that beliefs are a choice can profoundly limit or enhance an individual’s motivation to achieve.

In addition to citing numerous studies in Chapter 2 to lay a foundation for her premise that mindset impacts achievement, Dweck explores success and achievement by deconstructing three prominent sources of success in American culture: sports, business, and love. In Chapter 4, she subverts the notion that success in sports comes from natural talent by sharing narratives that focus on the processes successful sports stars undertook to emerge as the best in their fields, rather than dwelling on the success itself. For example, Dweck emphasizes that Wilma Rudolph not only overcame the setback of a paralyzed left leg but also “lost every race she entered in her first track meet” (88). Dweck’s research shows that perseverance and passion lead the dedicated to greater achievement than talent alone.

In Chapter 5, she similarly subverts the notion that top CEOs are those with the greatest minds and natural business acumen. Using narratives of Enron’s Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, among others, as cautionary tales, Dweck illustrates that genius does not automatically create successful companies. In fact, it often works against a company’s success because CEOs like Skilling tend to “use their brainpower [...] not to learn but to intimidate” (120), thereby creating business cultures that do not promote growth. Successful executives promote growth and uplift workers, as Dweck illustrates through counternarratives such as that of IBM executive Lou Gerstner. By encouraging reflection and growth, he turned IBM from a failing company to one that was “defining the future direction of the industry” (131).

Finally, in Chapter 6, Dweck explores many anecdotes from both her personal life and studies regarding people who are “lucky” or “unlucky” in love. She subverts the fairy-tale premise of narratives like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, in which couples effortlessly live happily ever after. Instead, Dweck focuses on narratives that make the work of relationships transparent. She illustrates that success in relationships is not automatic but requires complex interpersonal skills and a willingness to change and grow, skills that she believes everyone can develop. Success, Dweck asserts, has less to do with ability than with the sum of effort, perseverance, and willingness to grow.

If Dweck believes there is a recipe for success and achievement, it lies within her observation that advanced starting ability and high initial success do not accurately predict a person’s potential or ability to grow and stretch. Not only can all humans develop and improve, people often achieve well beyond their perceived potential. Dweck shares narratives of teachers who overcame great odds to help their students grow, such as East Los Angeles calculus teacher Jaime Escalante—whose story is told in the movie Stand and Deliver—and Chicago educator Marva Collins in support of this message. Despite negative labels and stereotyping, Escalante believed that his Chicano students at Garfield High School could understand and value calculus as much as any white student and set out to prove it by enrolling them in AP Calculus. Because he believed in them, they believed in themselves, and most of his students passed the exam. Similarly, Collins took in low-income Black students, many of whom were labeled as “severely dysfunctional” by Chicago public schools, and taught them to read and thrive in a robust classical education program. By highlighting examples of humans who equipped others to overcome the limitations of fixed labels and elevated them to parity with—or greater than—that of students with access to the best schools in the country, Dweck provides models for teachers and other people who shape young people’s lives. Her research posits that the limits to a person’s potential are the ones they believe are true.

Though she references narratives, studies, and real-world examples to prove her point, Dweck’s strong belief in the power of humans to grow and change becomes most readily actionable through the exercises at the end of each chapter and throughout Chapter 8. These activities provide readers with the necessary framework for developing themselves and learning to help those around them grow. Dweck is careful to point out that simply having a capacity to change does not mean that people are equipped with the skills to bring about this transformation on their own. As she emphasizes, “Change isn’t like surgery. Even when you change, the old beliefs aren’t just removed like a worn-out hip or knee and replaced with better ones” (224). This statement reminds readers that potential must be actively developed; teachers, coaches, and parents must cultivate a growth mindset within themselves to steer others toward this development.

Dweck models the type of encouragement and process-oriented feedback that develop human potential when she clearly labels and guides the reader through steps toward growth. For example, she reminds readers that a goal is not enough; rather, “concrete plans—plans you can visualize—about when, where, and how you are going to do something lead to really high levels of follow-through” (238). This guides the reader to develop an action plan with the steps that are necessary for growth; in turn, they coach others in their charge to do the same. Though everyone has untapped potential, Dweck is clear that openness to feedback, a willingness to put in effort, and the application of appropriate strategies are the factors that help people stretch beyond their limits.