Ingredients of a Growth Mindset: Connecting with Movies

I was watching a few movie clips to pass the time after a long week. And I watched the Harry Potter and Sorcerer stone clip on how Harry Potter was chasing one of the flying keys among many other masquerading keys. I had an idea at that point about having not one key but many keys that must work together to unlock the door of "Growth Mindset." In Lean framework, we categorize the growth mindset as the ability to learn about anything required by learning from failure, growing from challenges, and focusing attitude and efforts towards continuous growth. 

Inspired by this movie clip, I thought of various attributes of a growth mindset. In a fun way, I brainstormed with my sons on what growth meant to them in their school and career. I discussed some of my ideas with my wife and children.  Interestingly and unknown to me, I came up with eight different attributes that seemed to follow a pattern that were alphabetically sequenced. Now, I engaged with some creative fun to model these attributes as a key pointing towards the center (if the key looked like a carrot or radish, that demonstrates my creative ability 🤣) I added five concentric circles. Think of them as the Likert-5 scale with 1 at the outer ring and 5 being at the inner ring. The idea is that all the keys must be locked in simultaneously towards the inner core for growth to completely materialize.

Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan's depiction of Eight Keys to a Growth Mindset 

Attitude is having that "Power of Now" contagious enthusiasm. I am not saying it is being always optimistic but being a realist to "practice the choice to see the brighter side of things" while "mitigating the risks or blind spots" (After all, isn't that what the Johari Window talks about without mentioning the word "Risk!"). As you can see, one's attitude is a function of their ability to recognize that failure is a steppingstone to success. It is like that "Moana" who chooses to fight!

Balance is having the emotional stability to "continuously play both yin and yang to be the best one can be." That is, have the delicate physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of mind. It is a demonstration of your practice of choosing the right attitude every day. True that life gets in our way and no plans work out as planned. Balance is recognizing this inner need! It is like that Po in Kung Fu Panda managing to find "inner peace" or "Aladdin" figuring a way out calmly when Jaffar locks him in a cave. Robert Schuller calls it, "Tough times never last but tough people do!"

Commitment is "following up and following through with actions to deliver results." (Please follow my blog on what follow-through is and how it differs from follow-up) It is laying the foundation with training, having mentors and coaches, facilitating and practicing walking the talk. Commitment derives from attitude and balance. Commitment shows character as we put SMART plans to grow and be an example for others. Woody in Toy's story demonstrates commitments towards his other team toys even when the going gets tough. At the same time, Woody demonstrates the right attitude when necessary (when other toys need help) and demonstrates the balance to keep Lightyear in check on his mission.

Divergent is having that "open mindset towards alternative thinking" (T, Pi, V, E/M shaped skill development). Concepts like design thinking and system thinking require one to have a big picture mindset. Our ability to grow will be limited if we are comfortable with what our strengths are. The longer we practice this "comfort zone" approach, the sooner our strengths will become our weakness and threat reducing or removing the opportunities. Be comfortable with discomfort and that is the only way to guarantee success. I always say that the best way to guarantee my stability is how I eliminate myself by leaving behind a legacy while seeking new ways to serve. Edna from Mr. Incredible exemplifies creating suites that best meet the super character's needs with divergent thinking applying multiple experiments.

Empathy is showing that we care! Empathy is demonstrating our commitment (action) towards causes that matter as well as people that matter! It is the "Pay it Forward" (which is a movie by itself) mindset that demonstrate not only divergent mindset towards people. Who else but Cinderella can demonstrates such kindness and empathy with actions to support all the animal friends! She is the perfect example of Empathy! Rafiki in Lion King must demonstrate that empathy and seek Simba out! Everyone needs to empathetically look out for others. Don't show sympathy as part of post-mortem but demonstrate empathy as part of ongoing lessons learned!

Focus is letting "distractions not impede commitment to actions!" Learning from mistakes and applying fail-forward thinking taking responsibility for actions are traits of focus. Not multitasking but getting jobs done even when risks and challenges throw a wrench! Po demonstrates continuous learning from every failure (although he needs his team to keep his balance) and Master Shifu learns from his mistakes that his teaching has to be modified to teach Po.

Global thinking is thinking beyond the local constraints and limitations. It is looking at the macroscopic impact ethically and morally rather than conventional limitations. It requires one to rise above the constraint with "divergent" thinking. While a "selfless" attitude brings a combination of "empathy" and "focus," the resulting commitment also requires one to "balance" themselves in their honest pursuit of results. Mulan may have left as an impostor to save her father from the King's orders, but the pursuit was due to a need to serve the entire country. She never gave up even when her identity was revealed. That's a commitment to global thinking.

Honesty is a commitment to character, integrity, and ethics. "You are your own benchmark, right!" Even when you do something wrong, it takes courage to stand up for your failure or lack of actions. Only then anyone can help you heal so that you don't feel continuously hurt. If Simba was honest about why he thought he was a failure from the stampede fiasco with Rafiki, would Rafiki have been successful? No. It is that commitment to character that stands tall as honesty.  Maui and Moana had to be honest with each other reconciling their fear and goals before they could emerge victorious as a team.

As you can see, each attribute feeds on each other. If Kaizen or Continuous Improvement is important, all these elements are required! I am not talking about continual activities which are events that happen repeatedly which are transactional. I am talking about continuous where we can review, reflect, and do things differently. That is the seeds of Kaizen! But not all of us may be at the level we need to be to lock into the inner core and regain our strengths and unlock opportunities. Whether it is a personal ambition or professional goal, all these elements should be at their maximum before they can be near the field-force of the inner core and bring the ikigai (the reason for existence or the famous questions like "what makes you happy?" or "what makes your heart sing?") to you!

What do you think? This was a fun exercise for me! Look forward to your thoughts on what other attributes I may have missed and how it may be unique and different from any of the eight attributes. I am all ears! 

Disclaimer: All the characters in the movies are referenced only to make connections with the principles. The movies and the character names belong to their respective owners. 

References

Rajagopalan, S. (2018). Reflections on a Group Discussion: 4 F's of Success.  https://agilesriram.blogspot.com/2018/08/reflections-on-group-discussion-4-fs-of.html