5/24/2020 Mindsets | Psychology Today

US

Find a Therapist (City or Zip) Verified by Psychology Today

Gary Klein Ph.D.

Seeing What Others Don't

Mindsets
What they are and why they matter.
Posted May 01, 2016

A mindset is a belief that orients the way we handle situations—the way we sort out what is going on and what
we should do. Our mindsets help us spot opportunities, but they can also trap us in self-defeating cycles.

This essay isn’t about all the beliefs we might hold. It is about the beliefs that make a difference in our lives—the
beliefs that distinguish people who are successful at what they do versus those who continually struggle.   

The Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck (2006) popularized the idea of mindsets by contrasting
different beliefs about where our abilities come from. If we have a fixed mindset and think that our ability is
innate, then a failure can be unsettling because it makes us doubt how good we are. In contrast, if we have a
growth mindset, then we expect that we can improve our ability—and a failure, therefore, shows us what we
need to work on.

People with a fixed mindset are out to prove themselves, and may get very defensive when someone suggests
they made a mistake—in other words, they measure themselves by their failures. People with a growth mindset,
on the other hand, often show perseverance and resilience when they’ve committed errors—they become more
motivated to work harder. You can imagine how much having a fixed or growth mindset can affect our lives.

My investigation of the nature of insight turned up a major difference between people (and organizations) who
concentrate on ways to reduce errors versus others who, in addition to worrying about errors, are also excited
about chances to make discoveries. The preoccupation with errors—the belief that the only way to improve
performance is by reducing errors—seems to fit the fixed mindset paradigm, and the interest in discoveries—the
belief that performance improvements depend both on cutting errors and on making insights—maps onto the
growth mindset.

Other types of mindset can also make a big difference.

A few years ago, my wife Helen and I studied police officers, soldiers, and marines who had shown outstanding
skills in dealing with civilians. We wanted to see what set them apart from colleagues who typically intimidated
civilians in order to get them to comply. We discovered that these "Good Strangers" (as they were called) shared
one trait—they all had a mindset that their colleagues didn't. 

Sure, they worried about their own safety and that of their buddies. Sure, they wanted to achieve the
mission and to follow the rules. But in addition, the Good Strangers sought to gain the trust of civilians. One
police officer explained to us that in every encounter with civilians, even when he was arresting a lawbreaker, he
tried to conduct himself so that the civilian trusted him more at the end of the encounter than the beginning. He
believed that being a professional meant doing his job in a way that fostered trust. Think back to your
encounters with police—I suspect some of these encounters did not increase your trust in the officer.

We found a fourth important mindset in our work with police and military. Many of them believed that the way to
get someone to do what you want is to command obedience, through intimidation or in other ways. But the
Good Strangers believed that they often could get cooperation voluntarily. It took skill, as well as more time, but
it had a long-term payoff—it built trust.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets 1/4
5/24/2020 Mindsets | Psychology Today

Mindsets aren’t just any beliefs. They are beliefs that orient our reactions and tendencies. They serve a number
of cognitive functions. They let us frame situations: they direct our attention to the most important cues, so that US
we’re not overwhelmed with information. They suggest sensible goals so that we know what we should be
trying to achieve. They prime us with reasonable courses of action so that we don’t have to puzzle out what to
do. When our mindsets become habitual, they define who we are, and who we can become.

We’ve looked at four mindsets that distinguish people who are doomed to struggle versus those who can be
successful:

fixed/growth

preoccupation with failure versus eagerness for discoveries

wanting to build trust

seeking voluntary cooperation

Here is a fifth mindset that emerged from a project my research team did with Child Protective Services
caseworkers. The mediocre caseworkers believed that their job was to follow procedures, but the best
caseworkers saw the job as continually solving problems.  

We found this same following procedures/solving problems contrast in other groups, such as nurses and
petrochemical plant operators. We also found it in another study of police officers. Recent academy graduates
tried to add to their playbook, believing that if they learned enough procedures, they could do the job. 

In contrast, the seasoned police officers appreciated that there were never enough procedures, and they had to
be ready to solve unique problems. In fact, some of the seasoned police officers got a little bored when
everything went too smoothly. They appreciated a good challenge—obviously, they had a growth mindset.

The wrong mindsets can get in our way. A fixed mindset about our ability will inhibit our progress. So will a
procedural mindset, governed by the belief that adding more plays to our playbook will turn us into experts. A
mindset to eliminate mistakes will stifle our curiosity. A mindset about dominating civilians will damage a police
officer’s interactions with the community and will result in more physical fights and reduced safety.

One of the most powerful aspects of mindsets is how quickly they can be shifted, and how powerful the
consequences can be. Unlike skills that have to be practiced again and again, mindsets sometimes show
dramatic shifts. Reading Dweck’s book Mindset for an hour or two is enough to alter our beliefs about our
abilities and motivate us to change to the growth mindset. In my work with police officers, I heard many stories
of officers who expected to demand obedience—until they saw a supervisor speaking quietly and getting
compliance.

One police officer remembered an event, decades earlier, at the beginning of his career. It was a dark night in a
dangerous neighborhood. He and his supervisor, Raymond, had spotted a suspect and were closing in to make
the arrest. On the way, they passed a mildly inebriated homeless man, sitting on a stoop, and the man
whispered, “He’s got a gun, Raymond.” Sure enough, the suspect was armed and they were able to make the
arrest safely.

Afterwards, he asked his supervisor why the vagrant had warned them. Raymond explained that the man was
harmless; he tried to look out for him and get him to shelters when necessary. In that instant, the rookie officer
decided he wanted to have that kind of Good Stranger relationship with the people in the community. He
wanted them to trust him and look out for him, rather than fear him. 

Of course, it doesn’t always go this easily—some of the police and military I encountered were just too
determined to take no unnecessary risks. And I suspect some of the people Dweck has encountered couldn’t let
go of their fear of failure. But others are able to shift their beliefs and mindsets.

Dweck tells the story of Jimmy, a junior high school student who had shown little interest in his classes. When he
sat through a session describing the growth mindset, he tearfully asked, “You mean I don’t have to be dumb?”
From that point, Jimmy became a hard-working student. Mindsets are powerful, and shifting them can be

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets 2/4
5/24/2020 Mindsets | Psychology Today

sudden and transformative.

US

About the Author

Gary Klein, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at MacroCognition LLC. His most recent book is Seeing What Others Don't:
The remarkable ways we gain insights.
Online: MacroCognition LLC

Read Next

Is COVID-19 a Black Swan Event? Is Teaching Overrated?

Explicit and Tacit

Knowledge

15 Ways to Build a Have a Great School Year Nurturing a Culture of The Emotionally Healthy Getting Smarter
Growth Mindset Growth Mindset (in Children)

What's Your Political

Mindset?

Most Popular

Understanding the Links Between

How Parents May Turn Children Into
Personality and Happiness
Narcissistic Young Adults

In Lockdown with a Narcissist? 5 Things

Six Signs of Emotional Cheating
Not to Do

Find a Therapist

Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today.

City or Zip
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets 3/4
5/24/2020 Mindsets | Psychology Today
City or Zip

US
Cities:
Atlanta, GA Jacksonville, FL Phoenix, AZ
Austin, TX Las Vegas, NV Pittsburgh, PA
Baltimore, MD Los Angeles, CA Portland, OR
Boston, MA Louisville, KY Raleigh, NC
Brooklyn, NY Memphis, TN Sacramento, CA
Charlotte, NC Miami, FL Saint Louis, MO
Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI San Antonio, TX
Columbus, OH Minneapolis, MN San Diego, CA
Dallas, TX Nashville, TN San Francisco, CA
Denver, CO New York, NY San Jose, CA
Detroit, MI Oakland, CA Seattle, WA
Houston, TX Omaha, NE Tucson, AZ
Indianapolis, IN Philadelphia, PA Washington, DC

Are you a Therapist?

Get Listed Today

Recent Issues
May 2020 March 2020 January 2020
magazine cover magazine cover magazine cover

Subscribe Today!

About Privacy Terms Accessibility United States

Psychology Today © 2020 Sussex Publishers, LLC

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets 4/4