Guy Kawasacki wrote an interesting post on Carol Dweck on “The Effort Effect” and Mindsets. Though I have not read the book yet, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
This is taken directly from the Editorial review from Amazon:
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Mindset is “an established set of attitudes held by someone,” says the Oxford American Dictionary. It turns out, however, that a set of attitudes needn’t be so set, according to Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford. Dweck proposes that everyone has either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is one in which you view your talents and abilities as… well, fixed. In other words, you are who you are, your intelligence and talents are fixed, and your fate is to go through life avoiding challenge and failure. A growth mindset, on the other hand, is one in which you see yourself as fluid, a work in progress. Your fate is one of growth and opportunity. Which mindset do you possess? Dweck provides a checklist to assess yourself and shows how a particular mindset can affect all areas of your life, from business to sports and love. The good news, says Dweck, is that mindsets are not set: at any time, you can learn to use a growth mindset to achieve success and happiness. This is a serious, practical book. Dweck’s overall assertion that rigid thinking benefits no one, least of all yourself, and that a change of mind is always possible, is welcome. (On sale Feb. 28)
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1. One of my best friends is a Finance Professor at a prominent educational institution. Her husband owns an institutional asset management firm. One of her colleagues was writing a hedge fund book. We discussed his knowledge. She laughed. Enough said.
2. Einstein said, “Information is not knowledge, imagination is everything. It’s more important than knowledge. The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Does academia follow Einstein’s advice? No.
Let’s address the issue of success. Now granted I haven’t read Dweck’s book, but how are academics evaluated? How do they become so-called experts? Isn’t it based on the research they publish?
If you doubt my claim, here’s what Richard Levin, President of Yale University said on the subject in an article titled, “Yale’s less global than I thought it could be” :
Tang: Jennifer Washburn, an American education expert, recently published a book entitled The Corporate Corruption of American Higher Education. The title is very sensational, isn’t it? The book argues that commercial forces have quietly transformed virtually every aspect of academic life. Many problems occur accordingly in elite universities: Students rate their teachers poorly; Teaching is neglected while research overemphasized; Non-faculty employees are too many; Top and tenure professors are overpaid; Faculty members becoming too old. How do you think of those problems? Is the writer exaggerating?
Levin: I do believe Ms. Washburn is exaggerating but there is a kernel of truth in what she says. The challenge for me as a university president is to ensure that teaching is not neglected, that research continues to thrive, and that students continue to be challenged by their professors.
3. Ben Franklin was self-published. However, getting published today how more to do the size of your national or global platform than it does your expertise. How big are you is the issue or can your books sell? The reality is publishers don’t want to publish a book unless they know its going to sell.
4. Relative to learning and knowledge let’s talk about Thomas Jefferson. Have you ever been to Monticello? If you haven’t go check out his library. He was self-taught.
5. My issue is not to throw research or academics under the bus, it’s simply to put it into perspective. I am an advocate of research…I whole heartily support and believe we cannot live without research. However, isn’t it time we had a more realistic approach and shift the paradigm in the academic world?
Here’s a classic story. Years ago one of my clients was looking at a firm founded by a prominent finance professor. When he gave us the number he wanted us to pay for it, we laughed. Teaching finance to the finance professor. I’m a pragmatist. If we don’t merge academia with business, we’re going to continue to slide as a nation….and we’ll be serving the Chinese their rice. And all to serve Academia’s ego. Because the issue is, who’s name is on the research, isn’ it?
6. So what irritates me about Dweck’s book is they studied success relative to student’s right? Now, I’m sure their intentions are good. But how can you study success when you have not applied it to the real world? Now I may be wrong, because I haven’t read the book yet and if so, then please forgive my ignorance and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d be wrong. But here’s my question, why wouldn’t you study people in the real world? Those that have failed and succeeded? Why does this matter? Here’s why it matters:
I believe the author’s premise may be flawed. You can have a growth mind, yet fail miserably! How? Academia focuses solely on intellectual pursuits yet fails miserably at educating youth self-awareness, interpersonal skills, and career management. I will give you a perfect example.
I was a seminar with a Harvard graduate. A brilliant young lady. She was eager to learn. But she was without a doubt one of the most arrogant and pompous people in the group. She kept her distance from everyone. Why? In her mind she was better than everyone else. When people asked what she did, she replied, “Google me.” So, let me ask you, did she have a growth mind set? Sure. But she’s not going too far in life. I have mentored thousands of young men and ladies….many are clueless as it relates to what they need to survive in the real world! What are we teaching them in academia? How to think. But not the skills necessary to be successful.
Another brilliant gentleman. Wharton MBA. Ten years after graduating from Wharton he had five different jobs. Why? Because he was a pompous ass. He was better than everyone else. The growth mindset doesn’t work here does it? Can one have a growth mind set and still fail in life? Yes. My issue is that magic bullet books with “secret recipes” are a misnomer…and to suggest they are an “answer” to a particular problem gives the world a false sense of security.
Here’s the issue, its not what college you attend. Are you a learning machine open to the pain and agony associated with building self awareness? Or here’s a revolutionary concept, why don’t we teach self-awareness at our educational institutions?
I’m quite sure many academics will turn there nose up at this premise. Those are the same academics that sit in a closed room snickering at one another during a faculty meeting wanting to rip their eyes out of their sockets because they can’t stand being in a room with a bunch of know it all like themselves.
Now, here’s anther even more classic example. I remember interviewing a candidate with a Ph.D from MIT. Here’s the interview:
“What do you know about my client?”
“Everything.”
“Let me give you some background on the founders.”
“I already know everything.”
That was the end of the interview. I didn’t even considered him Why? Because he is incapable of listening. Will he ever listen to his boss? Will he ever hear his employees? Will he learn anything, ever? What does he suffer from? The know-it all syndrome? And from where does he get? The Ph.D disease?
My good friends have aptly described for me the pain and agony associated with sitting in a room with a bunch of Ph.D.s at a university faculty meeting. This is a grossly sad commentary on our educational system isn’t it? When people start thinking they know everything, it creates a dangerous world, and if the people I’m entrusting to educate my children think they know everything, what’s the future of our world look like?
What did Einstein say? “The only thing that gets in my way, is my education.”
I’ve spent the last 10 years interviewing about 10,000-15,0000 people. For one of my clients, I’ve interviewed probably 4,000 for one of the fastest growing companies on Wall Street, now the biggest asset management firms in the world, BlackRock, Inc. The founders, have said to me, “what is it that you do, and you can discover no one else can? You have some type of secret sauce. And how is it you can get people to talk to you that no one else in the world will?”
I’m interested in people and I listen. I go beneath the surface and find the hidden jewels that no one else looks for. I also look for the ugliness that we all have. Because its there. I know it is. The truth is we hide our dark sides from others. It comes out only in the darkest hours, doesn’t it? It’s easy to be good when things are good. The real test of someone’s character is when things are bad. Not when they are good.
The real test of someone’s character is when someone has chewed you up and spit you out. And that’s what I want to know. What are you going to do when someone has spit you out. I want to know has it happened? And if it hasn’t happened, I probably don’t want to talk to you. Why? Because then you’ll fall down on my dime…or I should say, my client’s dime. And that’s not a good idea!
Arrogance is a sign of ugliness. Eventually they become a cancer in an organization. These people are not genuine. Nor are they authentic in their generosity of human spirit. Nor are they an inspiration to others. There is no room for we, and only room for me.
Understanding that “me” people will never be “we” people is part of my secret sauce. Its taken me 30 years to perfect it and a million mistakes along the way.
What’s the point? How can a book that studies students and how they learn be considered as a model for success? Its ludicrous. This says more about publishing and academia than it does success.