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 COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS SURROUNDING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is emerging as a key attribute of high performing business leaders.
Companies such as American Express have realized the power of using emotional intelligence to recruit
and train top sales people.
Do you hear the words Emotional Intelligence and run screaming in the other direction? Do the
words conjure up a picture of shiny, happy, people holding hands? If so, you may be looking at the
concept of emotional intelligence in the wrong way. In his book, Working With Emotional Intelligence,
Daniel Goleman expells some of the myths surrounding emotional intelligence.

7 Dangerous Myths About Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is extremely powerful. But it's also easy to misunderstand.
The skills of emotional intelligence are powerful, to say the least.
The ability to identify different emotions, to understand their effect, and to use that information to
guide thinking and behavior, greatly increases the chances of successfully achieving your goals. A high
EQ can make you a more effective leader and can improve the quality of your personal relationships.
However, there's a lot to misunderstand about emotional intelligence.
My forthcoming book, EQ, Applied, explores a number of these myths--and shows just how EQ
works--and doesn't work--in the real world.]
For example, here are seven of the most significant myths about EQ:
1. Emotional intelligence doesn't exist.
As emotional creatures, we must acknowledge the role our feelings play in influencing thinking and
decision making. Only then can we begin working to understand them.
2. Emotional intelligence is just common sense.
Some argue that emotional intelligence is a simply a fancy term for what most of us know better as
"common sense," defined by Merriam-Webster as "the ability to think and behave in a reasonable
way and to make good decisions."
But that takes away from the reality of EI: It takes great effort and deep thinking to understand
emotional behavior--both our own and others'--and the reasons behind it. Additionally, even the simplest
skills of EI, such as pausing to think before we speak, are much easier in theory than they are in
practice.
3. You can control your feelings.
It would be great if we could self-regulate our emotions, dialing back on our anger when we feel
ourselves losing control (for example).
But emotions involve our natural, instinctive feelings. Sometimes these are in response to a specific
situation or event; other times they're influenced by our own brain chemistry. In other words, we
can't always control how we feel.
What we can control is our reaction to those feelings. By becoming aware of how our emotions affect
us, and then focusing on our thoughts, we can often prevent our emotions from causing us to
behave irrationally.
4. More emotional people are naturally more emotionally intelligent.
If you're the type that cries easily when watching a sad movie, that could be a sign that you
have empathy, and can easily identify with others' feelings.
However, too much empathy can easily be used against you. What if a "friend" is always presenting a
sob story to get you to cover for them, while they continue in some self-destructive behavior? Empathy
may move you to help them, time and time again, even though it's not really what you want to do--and
is also not what's best for your friend.
The ability to "feel" the emotions of others is a valuable tool, but it's only one skill. You're a unique
individual, with a unique emotional response mechanism. Developing emotional intelligence requires
understanding how your emotions work, and then effectively managing those emotions to achieve your
personal goals.
5. Sharpening your EQ is easy.
 On the contrary, developing emotional intelligence is one of the most difficult challenges you'll
ever face.
Think about it: We're born with emotions, so our emotional behavior is years in the making.
Additionally, scientists have demonstrated that attempting to make lasting changes to behavior is a
compound process that requires substantial commitment.
If you're serious about increasing your EQ, you've got to be in it for the long haul.
6. Once you've got it, you've got it.
Since a myriad of factors influence your (and others') emotions, it's easy to fall back into bad habits or
suffer a bout of bad decision making.
Further, when it comes to understanding others' feelings and emotions, time works against us.
Research proves that even if we've experienced the same situation as another, we don't remember it
as well as we think we do.
That's makes working on your emotional intelligence a continuous process.
7. Those with high emotional intelligence always make the best leaders.
Despite the potential of EI for good, there's equal capacity for it to be used to exploit, bully, and
abuse others. Psychologists have documented how narcissists and egomaniacs use
emotionally intelligent skills to manipulate others.
Of course, that's just one more reason for you to sharpen your own emotional intelligence--to protect
yourself when they do.
The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence
In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like
any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil ADAM GRANT

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther
King, Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Instead of honoring
this sacred obligation to liberty, King thundered, America has given the Negro people a bad check. He
promised that a land sweltering with the heat of oppression could be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice, and envisioned a future in which on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

Delivering this electrifying message required emotional intelligencethe ability to recognize, understand, and
manage emotions. Dr. King demonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and in sparking
emotions that moved his audience to action. As his speechwriter Clarence Jones reflected, King delivered a
perfectly balanced outcry of reason and emotion, of anger and hope. His tone of pained indignation matched that
note for note.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has

obscured a dark side.

Recognizing the power of emotions, another one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century spent years
studying the emotional effects of his body language. Practicing his hand gestures and analyzing images of his
movements allowed him to become an absolutely spellbinding public speaker, says the historian Roger
Moorhouseit was something he worked very hard on. His name was Adolf Hitler.

Since the 1995 publication of Daniel Golemans bestseller, emotional intelligence has been touted by leaders,
policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to
manage emotions, the argument goes, well have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional
intelligence among leaders and doctors, well have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare.
As a result, emotional intelligence is now taught widely in secondary schools, business schools, and medical
schools.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side. New evidence
shows that when people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When youre good
at controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling,
you can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In emerging research led by
University of Cambridge professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion,
the audience was less likely to scrutinize the message and remembered less of the content. Ironically, audience
members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One
observer reflected that Hitlers persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotionshe
would tear open his heartand these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would stop thinking
critically and just emote.

"Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always

tried to break their hearts."

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our
own, the results can be devastating. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives, emotional
intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist
Stphane Ct, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian tendencies, and took a test
measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cotes team assessed how
often the employees deliberately undermined their colleagues. The employees who engaged in the most harmful
behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to demean and
embarrass their peers for personal gain. In one computer company studied by Tel-Aviv University professor
Gideon Kunda, a manager admitted to telling a colleague how excited we all are with what he is doing, but at
the same time, distancing my organization from the project, so when it blows up, the companys founder
would blame the colleague.

Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University
College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise
one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Emotionally intelligent people intentionally
shape their emotions to fabricate favorable impressions of themselves, Professor Kilduffs team writes. The
strategic disguise of ones own emotions and the manipulation of others emotions for strategic ends are behaviors
evident not only on Shakespeares stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are
traded.

Of course, people arent always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional
skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. In a study of emotions at the Body Shop, a research
team led by Stanford professor Joanne Martin discovered that founder Anita Roddick leveraged emotions to
inspire her employees to fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff
to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts. However, Roddick also encouraged
employees to be strategic in the timing of their emotion expressions. In one case, after noticing that an employee
often breaks down in tears with frustration, Roddick said it was acceptable to cry, but I told her it has to be
used. I said, Here, cry at this point in the ... meeting. When viewing Roddick as an exemplar of an emotionally
intelligent leader, it becomes clear that theres a fine line between motivation and manipulation. Walking that
tightrope is no easy task.

In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence

translated into better performance. In jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the
results reversed.

In settings where emotions arent running high, emotional intelligence may have hidden costs. Recently,
psychologists Dana Joseph of the University of Central Florida and Daniel Newman of the University of
Illinois comprehensively analyzed every study that has ever examined the link between emotional intelligence and
job performance. Across hundreds of studies of thousands of employees in 191 different jobs, emotional
intelligence wasnt consistently linked with better performance. In jobs that required extensive attention to
emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better performance. Salespeople, real-estate agents, call-
center representatives, and counselors all excelled at their jobs when they knew how to read and regulate emotions
they were able to deal more effectively with stressful situations and provide service with a smile.

However, in jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed. The more emotionally intelligent
employees were, the lower their job performance. For mechanics, scientists, and accountants, emotional
intelligence was a liability rather than an asset. Although more research is needed to unpack these results, one
promising explanation is that these employees were paying attention to emotions when they should have been
focusing on their tasks. If your job is to analyze data or repair cars, it can be quite distracting to read the facial
expressions, vocal tones, and body languages of the people around you. In suggesting that emotional intelligence
is critical in the workplace, perhaps weve put the cart before the horse.

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where
and when it matters. In a recent study at a healthcare company, I asked employees to complete a test about
managing and regulating emotions, and then asked managers to evaluate how much time employees spent helping
their colleagues and customers. There was no relationship whatsoever between emotional intelligence and helping:
Helping is driven by our motivations and values, not by our abilities to understand and manage emotions.
However, emotional intelligence was consequential when examining a different behavior: challenging the status
quo by speaking up with ideas and suggestions for improvement.

Emotionally intelligent employees spoke up more often and more effectively. When colleagues were treated
unjustly, they felt the righteous indignation to speak up, but were able to keep their anger in check and reason with
their colleagues. When they went out on a limb to advocate for gender equity, emotional intelligence helped them
keep their fear at bay. When they brought ideas for innovation to senior leaders, their ability to express enthusiasm
helped them avoid threatening leaders. On a much smaller scale, they were able to follow Martin Luther King Jr.s
lead in rocking the boat while keeping it steady.

----------------------------------------------------

How the Brain Creates Personality: A New Theory

More than two decades have passed since psychologists Peter Salovey at Yale and John Mayer at the University
of New Hampshire introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in 1990. Why has it taken us so long to
develop a more nuanced view? After Daniel Goleman popularized the idea in 1995, many researchersperhaps
awestruck themselves by enthusiasm for the concept of emotional intelligenceproceeded to conduct studies that
were fatally flawed. As University of Lausanne professor John Antonakis observed, practice and voodoo science
is running way ahead of rigorous research.

One of the most persistent problems was the use of self-report measures, which asked employees to rate their
own emotional abilities on items like I can tell how people are feeling even if they never tell me and I am
generally very good at calming someone down when he or she is upset. Abilities cannot be accurately measured
with self-reports. As emotion experts Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of Fairfield University lament,
One might compare this approach to assessing mathematical skills by asking respondents, How good are you at
solving algebraic equations? rather than asking the person to actually solve an algebraic equation.

Thanks to more rigorous research methods, there is growing recognition that emotional intelligencelike any
skillcan be used for good or evil. So if were going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at
work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where its actually useful. As Professor Kilduff and
colleagues put it, it is high time that emotional intelligence is pried away from its association with desirable
moral qualities.

Misconceptions about Mindset, Rigor, and Grit

I am that teacher who greets each new idea that is spawned with both curiosity and a
healthy dose of skepticism.
Among the educational ideas that have gained momentum in recent years are the
concepts of Mindset, Rigor, and Grit. While all of these ideas may have merit, as with all
 shiny new objects that attract our attention we need to proceed with caution and think
about whether and why these concepts fit into our personal pedagogy.
Being willing to implement the hot new thing is admirable, but not if it is done feet first
with our eyes closed.
MINDSET: It doesnt thrive in a hostile environment
First, let me say that I believe in the Mindset theory. Several years ago, while teaching in
San Jose, CA, I was lucky enough to see a presentation on Carol Dwecks book Mindset:
The New Psychology of Success given by one of the graduate students who worked on the
book with her.
The growth mindset framework is wonderful, inspiring, and perfectly logical to anyone
who has ever worked with children. The problem is that many schools have jumped on the
Mindset bandwagon without changing the school policies that work against the concept.
Many teachers and schools who say they believe in fostering a growth mindset in their
students still have an environment that encourages a fixed mindset.
Growth mindset . . .
Is not summed up by a grade. We tell students that they should grow and learn from
mistakes and if they practice they will improve. However, we grade using an F for failure
when we should be using a Not There Yet and allowing them to keep trying.
In fact, we should encourage re-dos and re-takes because, by trying again, students are
more likely to learn the material. (See the writings of Rick Wormeli for more on this
concept.) What is more important to us as teachers: that they learn the material or that
they learn the material the first time?
Is not a now-or-never experience. In too many classrooms, something is taught and
assessed once and if a student doesnt get it, the teacher moves on anyway.
Is not a race to the finish. When we encourage speed and competition rather than
thoughtfulness and collaboration, we tend to reward some students for perfect products
and fail to encourage effort and growth over time.
Is not about intimidation. Students do not develop growth mindsets in emotionally
unsafe classrooms where they do not feel free to take risks where there is one right
answer and only the teacher and certain students know it.
Is not encouraged by lazy assessment practices. Grading or awarding points for every
little thing a student does in class and then averaging them together at the end of the
marking period does nothing to promote growth. If we truly want kids to learn, we need to
be providing regular, constructive feedback throughout and letting them demonstrate their
mastery toward the end.
Reverse all of these behaviors, and we are really onto something!
RIGOR: Its not a throwback to the good old days
I have read Rigor is Not a Four-Letter Word by Barbara Blackburn and I like her
definition:
Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at a high
level, and each is supported so he or she can learn at a high level, and each student
demonstrates learning at a high level. (Blackburn, 2008)
I know that this kind of rigor is good practice, and some teachers are getting it right.
Sadly, however, many in education are still longing for the good old days (which have
never existed in the ways they think) when kids worked hard, werent babied through life,
learned difficult material with ease, and knew their place in the scheme of things.
According to some, rigor from back in the day is defined as the hard work that they used
to do when they were in school. They will post on social media that ridiculous test from the
1890s that has made its way around the internet. If you look at that test closely, you will
see that much of it is rote learning and also specific to time and place. Much of what is on
the test is no longer relevant in todays society.
We need to get over the idea that somehow there were these miraculous, genius
students that existed when we went to school, but now all young people are lazy,
coddled, and addle-brained. The idea of increasing rigor appeals to these stuck-in-time
educators. Unfortunately, rigor is often misinterpreted as just meaning really, really hard.
Rigor does NOT mean:
a classroom that resembles a bootcamp
more and harder homework
 a text or material several grade levels above the students current ability
high expectations, but no support to reach them
So if youre doing that, stop it, okay? Thanks.
GRIT: Maybe we need to just drop this word
I have to say the current buzzword that most grinds on me is grit. Maybe its because so
many of the grown-ups responsible for running the world have so eagerly embraced it.
Human society, they are sure, will be much more likely to survive if we teach these lazy,
spoiled, whiny children a thing or two.
They are remembering fondly our Puritan ancestors who worked hard and got ahead and
pulled themselves up by their bootstraps while eating acorns and tree bark during those
first freezing New England winters.
If these kids today would only put forth that kind of effort, they would be more
successful adults. These are the people who say that children need to learn how to fail
because it builds character. The trouble is that it often doesnt.
Misinterpretations of grit:
If perseverance were all it took to be successful, we would all have the capacity to be
Olympic athletes if we just put our minds to it. Not true. Yes, it is always possible to
improve, but it is a lot easier to hit a home run if you begin life on third base (through
special talent or special circumstances). For the rest of us starting at home plate, we may
need a little more support and encouragement to round those bases.
Sometimes the students are working at their peak capacity; the task is just beyond
their realm. Meeting the individual where he/she is and working within their zone of
proximal development is more likely to yield positive results. It is destructive to tell
children that if they only tried harder, they would be successful. Realistically, that may
never happen for some.
Generally, repeated failure does not motivate one to work harder. Usually, it becomes
a self-fulfilling prophecy and the child believes himself/herself to be a failure. Thatll teach
em to study harder next time doesnt work.
Now, if what we mean by grit is the ability to stick with an assignment or pay attention
in class, then we must be darn sure we are asking students to do work worth doing and
making class engaging. Students who have creative, challenging work to do in a positive
classroom environment do not need nearly as much grit.
The need for grit is primarily useful when the task involves drudgery. Not every task is
worth doing, and we need to be able to let go of the mind-numbing assignments of the
past and move into the 21st century. Not that we still cant teach the required material, we
just need to do it in ways that we know engage their brains and work within a modern
construct. The kids are already there and if you are not with them, you are against them.
What teachers think is grit is often merely compliance. Creating an environment where
students do what the teacher asks just to achieve a high grade or get the work finished is a
sure recipe to crush souls.
Head-first and eyes wide open
There are often good ideas embedded in the educational jargon we serially embrace.
Just be careful that when you decide to try something new, you understand the research
and the actions required to make the ideas work. Be sure youre ready to make the
changes in your own practice necessary to support the concept.
Keep your eyes (and heart) wide open and your students best interests front and center.
Then dive in!
THE 180 BLOG Apr 1, 2016
7 Things Growth Mindset is Not
Catherine Good, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist and Michael Regnier, Vice President,
Organizational Learning and Impact
At Turnaround for Children, we recognize growth mindset as one of the Building Blocks for
Learning that paves the way for academic success. Turnaround is hardly alone in recognizing the
importance of growth mindset; Carol Dwecks pioneering research has drawn the attention of educators
nationwide.
 But like any popular concept, growth mindset risks becoming a victim of its own success. If stretched
and misapplied, it risks losing meaning and becoming clich, instead of a powerful insight for students
and educators.
As a research psychologist who has contributed to the field of growth mindset and as a seasoned
reformer of educational practices and policies we would hate for that to happen. So allow us to offer
some important insights.
Growth mindset is not:
1. the power of positive thinking. Someone with a growth mindset understands the
biological fact that our efforts and strategies have the potential to physically change our brains, growing
and strengthening the neural connections that make us, literally, smarter. Its not about wishing or
hoping for a problem to improve on its own.
2. only about effort. Internalizing a growth mindset helps students embrace effort and
productive persistence as one of the many tools they can bring to their learning experiences. Students
recognize that their strategies and engagement with learning are the path to success, rather than signs
of low intelligence. But directing students to simply try harder in the face of difficulty does not foster a
growth mindset, nor does it motivate students, many of whom need help and guidance about how to be
most effective in their efforts.
3. only praising effort. Its true that teacher feedback matters a lot, and the type of
praise we give is a form of feedback. Unfortunately, praise such as, Youre so smart can actually
reinforce a fixed mindset. But does praise such as Nice try! reinforce a growth mindset? No. Praising
effort for efforts sake is not the same thing as a growth mindset. Instead, celebrate your students
successes by applauding their hard work and growth, and encourage students to keep trying by helping
them find new strategies and approaches when they are struggling.
4. about celebrating mistakes. Students need to know how they can learn from
mistakes and that EVERYONE, including even the most naturally talented made and still makes
mistakes. But taking the sting out of mistakes is just the first step. The next step is to help students
identify their misconceptions and errors and give them strategies to do better next time.
5. a way to blame students. If you find yourself saying, These students would be fine
if they only had a growth mindset, youre doing it wrong. There are a variety of reasons students may
struggle many of which may have more to do with our own pedagogy than our students mindsets.
Fostering a growth mindset can open students to realizing their potential, but they need good instruction,
good curriculum and supportive classroom communities in order to reap the benefits of their growth
mindsets.
6. only for low-achieving students. High-achieving students may hold a fixed mindset
about intelligence, seeing their success as validation of their natural abilities. Thats not a problem
until they arent high-achieving anymore. Think about transitioning from high school to that first year of
college. Everybody struggles eventually, but how students react to that experience can make all the
difference.
7. only about students. Yes, whether or not your students have a growth mindset can
impact their academic success, but your own mindset as a teacher is also important! It can impact
everything from the way you run classroom discussions to the way you track academic progress. So
make sure you are reflecting on your own classroom discourse and practices that can either help or
hinder the development of a hardy growth mindset.

1. Misconception: the theory of mindset says that anyone can learn and
achieve anything
2. Misconception: the theory of mindset says that anyone either has a
fixed or a growth mindset
3. Misconception: not much can be done about what kind of mindset you
have
4. Misconception: the theory of mindset is only about intelligence
5. Misconception: people with a growth mindset are obsessive about
learning and always want to be the best
6. Misconception: improving learning and performance is purely a matter
of changing mindsets
7. Misconception: the concept of mindset is only about children
8. Misconception: the concept of the growth mindset puts too much
pressure on children
9. Misconception: the theory of mindset is only useful for individuals
10. Misconception: the concept of mindset is not relevant for people with
an intellectual disability

How The Growth Mindset Can Harm Your Learning

March 30, 2016
When a Good Idea Becomes a Bad Idea
Its hard to think of an idea thats received as much attention in learning and education in recent
years than the growth mindset. Thousands of schools around the world claim to have transformed
themselves into Growth Mindset institutions. Ed-tech companies like Amazon Education and
Class Dojo are now producing tech products based on the concept. Growth mindset panels are an
increasingly common part of industry and professional conferences and the Internet is full of talks
on the subject.
So what exactly is this idea and whats all the hype about?
For those unfamiliar with the concept, its based on the work of Stanford psychologist Carol
Dweck, whose research with children and adults over a period of twenty years identified that our
belief systems influence our behaviour, which in turn affects our success in learning.
Specifically, Dweck found that those who believed their abilities could be developed (a growth
mindset) consistently outperformed those who believed that they were fixed (a fixed mindset)
see this post here for more on this.
Dwecks work really started to gain traction after she published her book Mindset: The New
Psychology of Success and did a series of TED talks on the subject. Many educators and self-
directed learners have applied the principles shes brought to our attention with amazing results,
so why should we be concerned with its mass adoption?
The problem, as is so often the case, is one of interpretation and application. Even Dweck felt
the need to revisit her ideas in a recent post to clarify the common pitfalls and misunderstandings
and what to do about them.
The main problems from these misinterpretations are that they cause students and adult
learners to:
1) Persist with ineffective learning strategies by obsessing over effort.
2) Become frustrated when they continue to display thoughts and actions associated with the
fixed mindset, throwing their learning off course.
Effort isnt Everything
The most common misconception about the growth mindset is equating it directly with effort.
Its so easy to do this this in a world where motivational quotes are plastered on walls and our
heroes from the worlds of sports and business tell us that hard work and dedication is all we need
to succeed at anything.
This simply isnt true. While hard work is definitely a necessary condition for success in learning
its definitely not sufficient. Another piece of research thats been misinterpreted in this context is
Anders Ericssons 10,000 hour rule popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers (see this post for
more).
 If we believe effort is all we need to succeed in learning, well keep plugging away with
ineffective strategies and fail to reach our learning goals. If a particular method isnt working well
benefit more from acknowledging it and trying something different than from praising ourselves
for working hard and sticking with it.
To avoid this pitfall, we need to regularly reflect on what were doing and ask ourselves if its
really working. We also need to use calibration, by seeking objective feedback from others who are
more skilled than us, in order to steer clear of our tendency to overestimate our own competence,
known as the Dunning Kruger effect (more on this here).
Accepting the Fixed Mindset
False growth mindsets are increasingly common in students and adult learners alike, largely
because of the tendency to equate knowing about the growth mindset with applying it. Its very
easy to claim the growth mind-set after reading a book or a piece of research but its another thing
to put it into practice on a regular basis.
From experience with my students and my own learning, a genuine growth mindset needs to be
practiced just like anything elsedeveloping it is more of a journey than a declaration and takes a
certain amount of time.
In reality, the growth and fixed mindsets simply represent two poles along a spectrum. Almost
all of us a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets and well all be at different points on that
spectrum depending on our mental and emotional state and the environment we find ourselves
in.
In order to access a genuine growth mindset more often, we need to accept the fixed mindset
and be aware of the associated thoughts and actions that it produces. We wont get over our fear
of public speaking, our block with using numbers or our difficulty with languages by pretending
that the thoughts we have dont exist. Its only by accepting them and watching for the triggers that
set them off that well really be able to deal with them.
The Takeaway
The growth mindset can be an extremely powerful learning tool when applied correctly but can
be harmful when misinterpreted.
Some common misconceptions about the idea are that hard work is all thats required for
learning success and that a growth mindset can be appropriated simply through intellectually
understanding the idea and talking about it. To sidestep these, we can use metacognitive
strategies such as reflection and calibration to direct and monitor our own learning.
In reality very few of us have a purely growth or fixed mindset but posess some mixture of the
two, which is affected by context. To develop our capacity to access the growth mindset, we need
to accept the fixed mindset and identify the triggers that set it off.
Actions
Here are three metalearning skills you can use to avoid the pitfalls of misapplying the growth
mindset:
1) Use a Learning Journal
Keep a journal related to what youre learning and write down any new insights as you progress.
Track how youre feeling, what strategies seem to be working well and what youre finding difficult.
Note down your successes and failures. I personally prefer to use pen and paper first before
storing everything digitally on Evernote at the end of the week.
2) Identify Limiting Beliefs in Different Contexts
You may have a growth mindset in your career but still believe youre incapable of learning a
new language or a new sport. Identify these fixed mindset, limiting beliefs as they arise and rather
than dismissing them, re-examine them through the lens of a growth mindset. Youll find that
theyll often lose their power over you and you can get on with learning.
3) Calibrate Through Measurement
 As Peter Drucker said, what gets measured gets managed. Do your best to accurately and
objectively assess your performance by observing others and asking for feedback from those who
are more skilled. Join a community of learners or hire a coach if you can afford one. By getting
objective feedback, youll be able to see whether what youre doing is actually working.
s why.
This table lays out the characteristics of the two mindsets. In our last post we dove DEEP into
how it all works. Click here to check that out.

After a little dissecting its clear that the top two characteristics are really the driving force
behind everything else.
They are the key to it all. In Trevor terms these are the Makers & Breakers of the mindsets.
We can use these two characteristics as a guide to help us understand where we (and our
students are) on the mindset spectrum at any given time.
Its time to build a matrix together. Lets start at the top with the core belief of the two mindsets:
Maker & Breaker #1: Beliefs Towards Learning
People with a fixed mindset believe that things like skills and intelligence are set and you have
what you have. So in short they do NOT believe in their ability to learn and grow. This has long and
short term ramifications that well look at in a second.
People with a growth mindset believe that skills and intelligence can be grown and developed
that they are in control of their ability to learn and grow.
So
 Enter Maker & Breaker #2
Maker & Breaker #2: Main Focus/Main Concern
The #1 priority of someone with a fixed mindset (in any situation) is how they look. We can call
this performance focus.
The #1 priority of someone with a growth mindset is learning and getting better process
focus
When these are added to the matrix things get interesting

Lets look at these boxes and see how they impact our ability to learn.
Box #1 Breakdown
People in Box #1 do not believe in their ability to learn and grow (fixed mindset). This can be
their belief towards a certain subject, skill, or even a particular project: I am not a math person,
Ill never be able to figure this out, Im just not a dancer, I cant shoot, I am just naturally good
at drawing its a gift and I dont need to work at it.
BUT
The good news is that theyre not obsessed with what others think of them (priority #1 is NOT
how they look).
However, because of their fixed mindset approach to learning they are likely to give up when
they cant figure something out right away and theyre likely to avoid new and challenging
situations.
The Approach to Learning Emoji Score:

Box #2 Breakdown
 People in Box #2 believe in their ability to learn and develop (growth mindset). This is hard but I
can figure it out, I am good at math because Ive worked hard, If I want to get better at shooting,
Ill need to practice more.
AND
Rather than obsessing over how they look their #1 priority is learning and getting better. Theyre
more concerned with the process than performance. They are down to get a little ugly because
they know that is how they learn.
People in this box are able to thrive in the wild and deal with all of the difficulties, mistakes, and
failures that come with learning.

Box #3 Breakdown
People in Box #3 do not believe in their ability to learn and grow (fixed mindset). This can be
their belief towards a certain subject, skill, or even a particular project: I am not a math person,
Ill never be able to figure this out, Im just not a dancer, I cant shoot, I am just naturally good
at drawing its a gift and I dont need to work at it.
AND
Their #1 priority is how they look.
This group is the MOST likely to give up and avoid challenges, get defensive when they get
feedback, and absolutely freak out when they make mistakes.
And its easy to see why. They dont ever want to look bad AND they dont believe in their ability
to learn. Not really a healthy approach to learning, eh?
The Approach to Learning Emoji Score:
 Box #4 Breakdown
People in Box #4 believe in their ability to learn and develop (growth mindset). This is hard but I
can figure it out, I am good at math because Ive worked hard, If I want to get better at shooting
Ill need to practice more.
BUT
They are so worried about looking bad that they miss out and avoid opportunities to learn.
This is why a lot of us cant dance
We WANT to learn, we would love to be good at it, but we are so worried about looking bad that
we avoid getting the reps needed to get good at it.
Using the Matrix
In a recent interview, Carol Dweck touched on some of the major misconceptions and hurdles
involved with the growth mindset. One of the biggest (and I agree with her 100%) problems she
has noticed is coaches, teachers, and parents telling their kids that its important to have a growth
mindset but their practice and actions dont reflect this at all. They still punish mistakes, they still
create a culture that values performance over process, they still label kids and tell them what they
can and cant do
Hopefully this matrix can help change that.
Hang this by your desk, in the locker room, or in the gym as reminder. Ask yourself what box
does your group culture align with? What box does your feedback put a student in? What box are
you in? What box are they in?
By MindShift NOVEMBER 16, 2015 By Eduardo Briceo
A growth mindset is the understanding that personal qualities and abilities can change. It leads
people to take on challenges, persevere in the face of setbacks, and become more effective learners.
As more and more people learn about the growth mindset, which was first discovered by Stanford
Professor Carol Dweck, we sometimes observe some confusions about it. Recently some critiques have
emerged. Of course we invite critical analysis and feedback, as it helps all of us learn and improve, but
some of the recent commentary seems to point to misunderstandings of growth mindset research and
practice. This article summarizes some common confusions and offers some reflections.
Confusion #1: What a growth mindset is
When we ask people to tell us what the growth mindset is, we often get lots of different answers, such
as working hard, having high expectations, being resilient, or more general ideas like being open or
flexible. But a growth mindset is none of those things. It is the belief that qualities can change and that
we can develop our intelligence and abilities. The opposite of having a growth mindset is having a fixed
mindset, which is the belief that intelligence and abilities cannot be developed. The reason that this
definition of growth mindset is important is that research has shown that this specific belief leads
people to take on challenges, work harder and more effectively, and persevere in the face of struggle, all
of which makes people more successful learners. It is hard to directly change these behaviors without
also working to change the underlying understanding of the nature of abilities.
Confusion #2: To foster a growth mindset, simply praise children for working hard
A body of research has shown that telling children that theyre smart and implying that their success
depends on it fosters fixed mindsets. When these children later experience struggle, they tend to
conclude that their ability is not high after all, and as a result they lose confidence, so our praise has the
opposite effect of what we intended. On the other hand, praising hard work or strategies used, things
that children control, has been shown to support a growth mindset.
This research was designed to learn more about one of the ways to support a growth mindset, not to
identify all there is to fostering a growth mindset. When people newer to the growth mindset framework
initially learn about this research, they sometimes conclude that we should simply praise children for
working hard. But this is a nascent level of understanding. First, exhorting students to work hard would
be an attempt to directly change behaviors without changing the underlying belief about the nature of
abilities.
Second, students often havent learned that working hard involves thinking hard, which involves
reflecting on and changing our strategies so we become more and more effective learners over time, and
we need to guide them to come to understand this. For example, a novice teacher who sees a student
trying very hard but not making any progress may think well, at least shes working hard, so Ill praise
her effort, but if the student continues to do what shes doing, or even more of it, its unlikely to lead to
success. Instead, the teacher can coach the student to try different approaches to working, studying, and
learning, so that she is thinking more deeply (i.e. mentally working harder) to become a better learner,
and of course the teacher should do the same: reflect on how to adjust instruction. Its not just about
effort. You also need to learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way. . . to get better at
something. (Yeager & Dweck, 2012.)
Third, cultivating growth mindsets involves a gradual process of releasing responsibility to students
for them to become more self-sufficient learners, and praise is a communications technique that tends
to be more helpful earlier in that process of building agency. Later on, adults can ask students questions
that prompt them to reflect, so that theyre progressing down the path toward independence.
Fourth, praise and coaching are not the only, or most powerful, ways to foster growth mindsets. For
example, another method is modeling lifelong learning and making it visible, which gets us to the next
confusion.
Confusion #3: Growth mindset is about changing young people, not adults
Some recent criticisms paint growth mindset work as solely focused on the students and not the
adults. This is a misunderstanding of what growth mindset efforts are about. In our work with
educators, we encourage the adults to start with themselves. If we dont work to shift our own mindset
about ourselves and our students, then we wont work to change many other important things in the
system necessary to improve education. Furthermore, our efforts to foster growth mindsets in students
are likely to fail because we will say and do things that reflect our fixed mindset beliefs, which students
will notice. We must deeply explore mindsets within ourselves and then gradually work to develop our
own growth mindsets and our habits as learners. This means authentically working to become better at
what we do throughout our lives, including how we teach and how we create contexts that help students
thrive, and making our learning process visible to one another and to students.
We encourage the schools we serve to train teachers early in their growth mindset efforts, involving
reflections and discussions on adult beliefs and continuous improvement practices. We
provide professional learning resources to help them do so. Dr. Dweck and other mindset researchers
speak about the importance of fostering a growth mindset in adults and have researched the mindsets of
educators, managers, leaders, and other grownups. Growth mindset research is about learning how we
humans can all become more motivated and effective learners, not about how we can change students
but not ourselves.
Confusion #4: All that matters is whats in the mind
Another confusion about mindset is that the only determinant of success is our mindset. But thats
not the case. Context, culture, environment, and systems matter. For one thing, peoples mindsets (as
well as other beliefs and behaviors) are strongly shaped by the people around them. Beyond that,
peoples destiny is not only a function of whats within them, but also of whats around them. A lot of the
early mindset research studies focused on individuals minds because they were seeking to understand
how humans work. But mindset researchers recognize, research, and speak about the importance of
shifting culture, context, and systems, and both researchers and practitioners actively work on that
aspect of change efforts.
Confusion #5: Improvement is all about changing beliefs and not doing anything else
Related to that, another confusion we see, also reflected in recent commentaries, is that growth
mindset work is solely about fostering the belief that we can improve, but not about changing the
educational system or actually doing anything about that belief. Carol Dweck has talked extensively
about changing learning tasks, testing practices, and grading systems. Too many tasks and teaching
approaches are superficial, irrelevant, unengaging, and not learner-centered. We do need to change
these tasks, the curriculum, and the pedagogy. We need to change the idea that school is about testing
rather than about learning. We also need to better tackle broader issues such as childhood trauma and
lack of exposure to early reading. People who dive deeper into growth mindsets learn about how
important these issues are and how we might begin to address them, and a growth mindset helps them
take on the challenges. As David Yeager and Gregory Walton point out:
[Mindset] interventions complementand do not replacetraditional educational reforms. They do
not teach students academic content or skills, restructure schools, or improve teacher training.
Instead, they allow students to take better advantage of learning opportunities that are present in
schools and tap into existing recursive processes to generate long-lasting effects . . . Indeed, [Mindset]
interventions may make the effects of high-quality educational reforms such as improved instruction
or curricula more apparent (Yeager & Walton, 2011).
Deepening our understanding over time
As with anything else, the deeper we go into mindsets, the deeper our understanding becomes. Over
time, more nuanced questions arise, such as about the relationship between mindset and performance,
results, failure, potential, assessments, mistakes, and many other things. For example, early on a teacher
who is learning about mindset may start oversimplifying mistakes as always being good, but this can
confuse learners, as mistakes are not always something we should seek to do. With time we start
distinguishing stretch mistakes, sloppy mistakes, aha-moment mistakes, and high-stakes mistakes.

Growth Mindset Enables Change

Research has shown that developing a growth mindset is beneficial in a variety of contexts, from
education to the workplace to interpersonal relationships to sports to health. It leads people to take on
challenges they can learn from, to find more effective ways to improve, to persevere in the face of
setbacks, and to make greater progress, all of which we need to further cultivate in education.
Furthermore, there is evidence that its benefits are most pronounced for people who face negative
stereotypes, such as underserved minorities and females in STEM, and as a result growth mindset
efforts can narrow the achievement gap.
Lets Learn Together
Growth mindset is a seemingly simple concept, but there is a lot of nuance to the framework and its
applications. I hope that this article helps clarify common misconceptions. We invite people to continue
diving deeper into this body of work and engage in explorations together. We welcome further feedback
because it takes a village, or more precisely, all of us, to foster better learning.
Your Gut Feeling: Fear or Intuition
By Rosalie Puiman
At the very end of our almost 2.5-hour deep coaching conversation, my client asked me
this: How do I know when to trust my intuition and when to disregard it?
Shed had several situations where shed had a negative gut feeling about a situation,
ignored it and later found that ignoring the feeling was the best thing she could have done.
Basically she wondered: Why would I trust my intuition when its so often wrong?
Now thats an interesting question, because I believe intuition is never wrong. So what
was going on here?
Suddenly I realized the problem: She wasnt experiencing intuition, but fear.
And then, obviously, she asked me: But if thats true, how do I know when my gut
feeling is fear and when its intuition?
Yep. Great question.
Even though I know how I distinguish between fear and intuition, I didnt have a set of
concrete tips handy to offer her in the few minutes that we had left.
So I owe her an answer, and because I guess she and I may not be the only ones who
are not absolutely sure how to distinguish a gut feeling based in fear, from a gut feeling
based in intuition, I decided to write about it here.
What is Intuition?
Lets first start with the basics. Intuition is such a buzzword that almost everyone has
their own personal definition of what intuition is.
I did some research online, and found this straightforward definition:
Intuition is the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for
conscious reasoning.
And I think this is partly true, but intuition is more then just instinctive. Theres more to
it then the instinctive urge to run from danger or to have food and water.
 Even though I agree that intuition doesnt need conscious reasoning, I believe it is not
without cognitive elements. Its more consideration than reasoning though. Intuition uses
past knowledge and experiences to assess a situation, as well as a very quick assessment
of the present, based on clues and details that may not be obvious to the rational mind,
but are definitely there.
My definition of intuition is:
Intuition is a subconscious assessment of various elements:
the past (e.g. experiences, knowledge),
personal needs and preferences (e.g. how do I want to feel) and
the present (e.g. feelings that arise, choice of words, surroundings and signs
other people are giving), leading to a calculation of the best way to handle a
situation.
I basically see intuition as a knowing that is based on more, rather then different
elements than the rational mind can deal with at one given moment.
Is it Fear or Intuition?
Fear and intuition are easily confused, and that has to do with the fact that they are both
experienced as a gut feeling and I mean that literally: a feeling in your gut area.
Many of us have fallen a little out of touch with our gut feelings, to put it mildly. Were so
occupied with our thoughts and intelligent reasoning, that its hard to understand what our
gut means when it has a feeling.
There are ways to distinguish gut feelings based in fear from gut feelings that signal
intuition. Heres how:
The difference between Fear and Intuition
The two most important things that separate fear from intuition are
1) Intuition being only about the present. Theres NO worrying about past or future
involved.
2) Intuition being neutral, unemotional, whereas fear is highly emotionally charged.
Reliable intuition feels right, it has a compassionate, affirming tone to it.
It confirms that you are on target, without having an overly positive or negative feel to
it.
Fear is often anxious, dark or heavy. It has cruel, demeaning or delusional content (to
yourself or to others) and it reflects unhealed psychological wounds.

How to distinguish Fear from Intuition

I have two practices to learn how to distinguish fear from intuition.
The first one is a little heavy, but very helpful: Make a list of everything you are afraid off.
After that, it will be easier to recognize when a gut feeling is referring to one of your fears.
The second practice is from Christine Gutierrez:
Imagine a baby or pet you love try to get a clear image in your head and notice the
feeling in your belly that goes with this picture. It will be expansive.
 Then, imagine a destructive image, like failing to get your dream job, gaining lots of kilos
or whatever gets you upset. Notice the feeling: it will be restrictive, shrinking.
Lastly, imagine a fearful feeling based on intuitive guidance, e.g. going to see a
therapist to deal with the destructive feeling you just thought of, even though youve
always been afraid to go into therapy.
Close your eyes, and experience BOTH the fear AND the underlying good feeling that
indicates you know you are doing the right thing.
Practice feeling the difference between Fear and Intuition
Its extremely powerful, and very handy, to know how to separate the gut feeling that
you can (and should) trust immediately (intuition) from the one you should look at in
compassion (fear). Getting to know the difference between fear and intuition takes practice
and it is absolutely worth the effort.
On a side note: Fearful feelings can be interfering, but they are not all without use.
Sometimes fear signals that moment just before you start something new. In that case, a
gut feeling based in fear can be a signal for you to push on.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic of fear and intuition. Take a moment to
add your voice to the discussion in the comments below