Existential flexibility is more important than ever these days. With the pandemic eviscerating the economy and effectively dismantling industry after industry, it is crucial that we learn how to pivot with purpose.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about fixed versus growth mindsets. As defined by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen in their book Thanks for the Feedback, a fixed mindset is characterized by such beliefs as “I’m fixed; I am who I am,” “ Effort doesn’t really change the fundamental truth about people,” and “The outcome is what matters.” By contrast, a growth mindset is characterized by beliefs such as “I change, learn, and grow,” “My capabilities are always evolving; effort and hard work pay off,” and “The process of learning is what’s rewarding; success is a by-product.”
These contrasting conceptions of our identity have many implications in how we approach our work and our careers. One of those implications lies in how we set goals for our future.
Fixed Goals
I’ve written before about how we, as artists and creators, tend to over-identify with our work. This also applies to how we set goals for future work. We can get so wrapped up in envisioning ourselves in one particular future — performing on Broadway, winning an award, getting a particular bit of publicity — that we develop a sort of fixed mindset around that goal. We become inflexible, pursuing that goal at all costs — and when a pandemic rolls through and reduces or eliminates the possibility of moving toward that goal, we fall into despair.
A potentially insidious consequence of this sort of fixed goal-setting is that we become susceptible to, as Amy C. Edmondson describes in her book The Fearless Organization, “workarounds.” Workarounds are those little solutions we come up with in order to fix an immediate problem, while conveniently overlooking the root cause or system that ultimately effected that problem. When we are inflexibly focused on achieving or attaining a certain outcome, it becomes easier to sacrifice one’s values and find short-term solutions in order to take even one small step toward that goal. This, of course, can lead to much more pervasive problems down the road — burnout, depression, and self-isolation, to name a few. And let’s not forget the great Wells Fargo scandal, ultimately the disastrous result of fixed goals and workarounds.
Growth Strategies
I propose an alternate way of approaching career development: growth strategies. Rather than putting so much energy and effort into the attainment of one specific thing (“the outcome is what matters”), we can cultivate a way of strategically moving through the world from a place of integrity (“the process of learning is what’s rewarding; success is a by-product”). Growth strategies leave space for our ever-evolving identities, giving us room to grow, to change our minds, to pivot.
Here in the United States, we live in a culture that celebrates fixed identities. We tend to openly shame others — politicians, celebrities, executives, and all others in leadership roles — for admitting that they were wrong, or that they’ve changed their mind on a particular issue. Barack Obama was crucified for admitting that he’d been “going through an evolution” on the issue of same-sex marriage. He stated in 2008 that he was not in favor of gay marriage; therefore (the American people seemed to believe), his change-of-heart in 2012 was evidence of a lack of integrity. This deep-seated, fixed-identity culture ultimately contributed to the celebration of Trump — in all his toxic unwillingness to admit wrongdoing — as a hero of the people.
By contrast, developing a growth strategy for ourselves transforms our goals, successes, and failures into data. The outcome of a particular project — whether positive or negative — informs and improves how we approach the next project, rather than defining our identity. If we are playing an infinite game — where the goal is to keep playing, rather than to win — then a growth strategy is our playbook.
With a growth strategy, I can (1) determine whether I am contributing to my fullest potential in my current capacity, (2) identify the systems and industries in which my strengths are most needed, and (3) pivot as necessary, and without shame.
Identifying Your Growth Strategy
Surround yourself, as much as possible, with a community that values and celebrates a growth mindset.
Create a system for periodically checking in with yourself, making sure that your day-to-day actions and roles are aligned with your chosen values. In Simon Sinek speak: make sure that your WHATS are in line with your WHY.
Ruthlessly and often prune your daily activities, projects, and relationships, so that they are actively helping you grow in the direction of your values. This pruning is called “integrity.”
Originally published here on January 30, 2021. Social sharing image by Luke Carliff on Unsplash.