Mindset Matters in Tough Times.

• Author: Stedron, Curt

How do you respond to feedback? Do you get sensitive, interpreting the comments as attacks on your ability, intelligence or performance? Or do you welcome the remarks as opportunities to grow and improve?

If a critique gets your hackles up, you may have what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls a "fixed mindset"--a belief that your intelligence and talents are static and impervious to change.

But if you relish feedback, you likely have a "growth mindset," which Dweck defines as a belief that your abilities are dynamic and can develop over time. Her research suggests that our mindset is key to determining how we react to obstacles, criticism and setbacks.

'Fixed' Versus 'Growth'

Life in the legislature is filled with challenges. If we face them with a fixed mindset, research shows that we are more likely to ignore useful feedback and to give up more easily when times get tough--as they surely have!

But if we can adopt a growth mindset, we might find that our effort, persistence and acceptance of criticism actually increase when we encounter obstacles, helping us to improve our overall performance.

In a study at the U.S. Military Academy, a growth mindset was found to be far more predictive of cadets' success than either IQ or physical ability. Cadets with a growth mindset demonstrated greater resiliency and perseverance, or what psychologist Angela Duckworth calls "grit." A growth mindset, she says, focuses our attention on process and strategy instead of outcomes and achievements. We come to see setbacks as opportunities rather than disappointments. Improve your processes, and you might find that--voila!--your performance improves as well, whether you're crafting a difficult piece of legislation or trying to solve a knotty constituent problem.

So how do we cultivate a growth mindset in our legislative institutions? It starts with you. In the box on the right are three research-approved techniques to help you get going.

The Power of Yet

A high school in Chicago instituted a strategy where students who were unsuccessful on an assignment received a grade of "not yet." The point was to shift the focus--the mindset--of teachers and students alike from a fixed measure (score) to a growth measure (process).

Students began...