A common misconception about mindsets relates to the concept of 'effort'. The (slightly oversimplified) theory indicates that those who struggle with a fixed mindset generally shy away from putting effort into achieving a goal, because the fact that you need to put in effort is perceived as an indication that you're not naturally talented or 'smart enough'.
“These children endorsed items such as "If you have to work hard at some problems, you're probably not very good at them" or "You only know you're good at something when it comes easily to you." In essence then, children with performance goals use an inference rule that says effort per se—even when it accompanies success—signifies a lack of ability.”
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A Social-Cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality. Psychological Review. (Pg 261)
In my experience, this is something of an oversimplification, and if people use it to evaluate or consider whether they or someone they know may lean towards a fixed or growth mindset, this may throw them off.
'Effort' vs 'struggle' - What's the difference?
Imagine the difference between a flight of stairs, and a high wall. Both of them have the goal of 'getting to the top', but when you stand at the bottom of the stairs, you can see the next step, you can see the way forward, you can see that you can manage the size of the step, each step, and with every step you're getting closer to the top. This is very different from climbing a wall to get to the top. There's no path, there's no step-by-step progress, and you may be stuck at the bottom of that wall for a while as you try figure out tools, help and ways to scale that wall. If you've never climbed a wall, you may worry that it's something you'll never be able to do. Climbing stairs is an effort, but with every bit of effort, you're closer to your goal. Climbing a wall is a struggle.
Struggling happens when we're putting effort in, but we're not seeing results, we don't feel like it's working, we don't feel like we're making progress or getting anywhere. It feels like wasted effort. Most people are happy to put in effort, if they see commensurate results. This feeds into our give-take feeling of justice, fairness and the way the world should work. If we lean towards a fixed mindset, then it’s even more important. If I put in loads of effort, and always receive increased results as a reward, I create an unarticulated belief: “If I spend xx hours on this, I will get xxx increase in results”
Mindset and Struggle
Mindset theory generally indicates that students who lean towards a fixed mindset believe that effort is an indication that you're not smart enough to get it right fast and naturally. If you were smart, you wouldn't need to work at it. As I mentioned, I believe this is an oversimplification.
Setbacks, tough challenges and failures aren't interpreted by those with a growth mindset as a representation of their intelligence or ability. It's simply something they can't do yet, perhaps because it's new, at a new level, more challenging. Setbacks, tough challenges and failures for those with a fixed mindset, however, are generally interpreted as threats to intelligence.
So how do these two mindsets relate 'effort' and 'tough challenges'?
Consider the two mindsets preparing for a yearend exam:
Let's say a fixed'er and growth'er are both studying for a subject for a yearend exam. As they start the year, they both put in effort. If every hour of effort, every unit of study, feels like progress from the beginning, the small pieces of effort create understanding as they go, both groups will continue to put in effort. The growth'er will continue to put in effort because they're enjoying the learning, and they wouldn't have a problem with effort even if it wasn't going well. The fixed'er generally has a goal of 'looking smart', of proving their intelligence. If the studying for that subject is going well, then the studying achieves the objective. The journey is smooth (see my 'smooth learning journey' articles), and they move comfortably from level to level, step-by-step and feel good about their performance.
Let's say both fixed'er and growth'er hit a tough topic halfway through the year. It slows down their progress and they start struggling. The growth'er will probably continue putting in effort, they may seek help, find different problem-solving strategies, put more hours in, again, because they don't see that the struggle 'means' anything about their intelligence. It's part of learning. The fixed'er, however, is now looking at something that may make them look stupid, it feels like a wall in front of them, and they don't know how to, or if they can, get past the wall. The growth'er sees the wall and keeps bashing at it, finding other tools, assistance etc. The fixed'er panics, and backs off. What if they can't overcome this? What if they look stupid? If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't have this problem. Something's gone wrong. If they can't see a way through this problem now, then they're probably never going to be able to overcome it. They may try a little, but when they feel that they're getting nowhere, and (this one's important), they can't FEEL progress, they interpret this as "Well, if I can't make ANY progress, I never will. Surely if I was going to EVER be able to get this right, I'd be making more progress than I am right now".
I've seen fixed'ers put in tons of effort for their goals and studying, they can outwork anyone around them. As long as they're seeing results, feeling progress. It's a dopamine kick, it's a constant validation of their intelligence. If they work harder, they look smarter, they get better marks. But, when their effort results in no progress, or their effort still results in failure, this is where the unarticulated belief gets broken, and they're more likely to back off and remove the effort.
My experience
For someone like me, the people in school who ‘struggled’ were seen as losers. Not intentionally, but the contrast between the bright kids in the class, and the one who has a perpetual confused expression, with a hand that pops up frequently to state “I don’t understand”, whose tests are always in the middle to lower end of the pile (somehow tests were always put in order of marks!). These were the people we felt sorry for. They ‘struggled’. They didn’t know their work, they didn’t get great marks. I was never malicious about this, it was just a clear way the world worked. It was divided into people who were smart, got good marks, learnt fast, and those who were not smart, didn’t get good marks, and worked slowly. They even split the classes to group these types together. The ‘A’ Class, ‘B’ Class etc. It was a status symbol.
Somewhere later in my studies though, the input-output formula shifted. I got used to working for longer to get the same results. That was fine, the basic premise was the same, but the work is harder, so you work harder. Still follows the same pattern. But then we hit the point where no matter how many hours I was putting in, I was NOT making progress. Something was in the way, and I had no idea how to remove it. The only tool I had in my toolbox was to work harder and longer. And that didn’t work! So perhaps I wasn't smart enough to do this.
What school never taught me
What school never taught me, is that LIFE is a struggle! No matter how fabulously talented or smart you are, you will always be walking into new situations that are just outside of your current competency levels and knowledge. Whether you’re taking up a new sport, hobby, got a new job, promotion, new project, client… all of these require you to do something different to what you’ve done before. Put you in different positions. And unlike the nice, smooth environment at school where they give you the answers BEFORE you get the questions… there IS no textbook in life. Each situation needs to be struggled with, to find the right responses, solutions, approaches.
The Skill of Struggling
The skill of ‘struggling’ is so much more valuable than I ever realised. The ability to put yourself in situations where you don’t know the answer, where you have to create something new, different, challenging. The resilience to deal with being wrong, as you will inevitably be, to ask for help, to pick yourself up and try again. This is a life skill!
This is easier said than done, and the first step is awareness. Consider your reactions to struggles, the difference between 'stairs' and 'walls'. If you can see areas where you're happy to put in effort until you stop seeing immediate progress, this is something that you need to consider working on. If we're not aware it's happening, we may walk away from our goals, because we've unconsciously decided that it's just not going to work out for us.
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