REVIEW: "Flexible consciousness. A new look at the psychology of development of adults and children", Carol Dweck

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Carol Dweck discovered that there are 2 types of attitudes: the DATA setting and the GROWTH setting. You will learn about what it is and what setting determines your life from this review.

Were you small?

Yes? I never would have thought.

Did the adults tell you then that you were a genius? Or handsome? Or a hero?

Well, they've done you a disservice or even ruined your entire life. So says Carol Dweck.

This post provides an overview of her new book.

Carol discovered that there are two kinds of attitudes:

• setting to DATA
• installation on GROWTH

The fixed mindset makes you care first and foremost about how you will be appreciated; growth mindset - thinking about self-improvement.

The fixed mindset	Growth mindset
Wants to look better	Wants to get better
Does not tolerate risks	No risk, no progress
Talent is essential	Talent is not the main thing. The main thing is work
Failure equals loser	Failure - training personality and motivation
Criticism is bad. No need to substitute for it	Criticism is good. It is food for introspection
Rate and be appreciated	Learn and help learn
From stress to all diseases	What doesn't kill us makes us stronger
I am not to blame for my failures	I am responsible for my failures

»

As you can imagine, the author praises the growth mindset and criticizes the fixed mindset.

She describes countless examples from sports, business and family relationships. A man lived and lived with a fixed mindset, he lived poorly. And then he changes his mind, and his personal life flourishes, and success itself knocks on the door. Typical American business literature … In a good way))

New old look

In the title of the book we see - "a new look", but is it so new?

Look, we add:

• Covey's first skill "Be proactive" (be a master, not a slave to circumstances, create your own destiny)
• The seventh skill of Covey "Sharpen the saw" (constantly improve)
• And flow orientation instead of results orientation from Mihai Chikszentmihalyi

And we get - TA-DAM! - growth mindset from Carol Dweck.

Do not think that I am accusing Carol of plagiarism. In no case! In many ways, she develops the above ideas and goes further. In addition, she is a practitioner who reinforces everything with experiments (especially with children). What's wrong with great ideas seeing the light from a different angle and for a completely different audience?

Carol misses a lot of things through her theory. I will list some of them.

Attitudes and policies

Have you noticed that many politicians and even entire states have a fixed mindset?

In such countries, they often remember about traditions, about the great past, about the exclusivity of their people, and the leader is often considered the messiah and an irreplaceable person. You can recall, for example, Nazi Germany and Hitler with his theory of the superiority of the Aryan race - this is the extreme degree of the fixed mindset in politics.

Installations and business

In business, a fixed-mindset leader also risks falling into dictatorship and tyranny. In particular, Carol strongly criticizes Lee Iacocca, a legendary manager who is usually praised. Carol smashes it to smithereens.

Installations and children

A good half of the book is devoted to raising children. After all, you don't have to be Freud to understand that all our adult cockroaches appear in childhood.

But how is it customary for us to raise our child? By and large, only carrots and sticks are used - criticism and praise.

… no one laughs at newborns and does not think that they are stupid, since they cannot speak.

Carol says the traditional model of criticism and praise is based on a fixed mindset. I have to agree with her.

How NOT to	How to
Got an A? You are my little genius!	Got an A? You are my little workaholic!
You are the smartest in the class! The rest are just rams	You are the best. No wonder you did so much. The rest did less
Ranked 5th? Bad luck, it happens. You will definitely win next time!	Ranked 5th? The first 4 boys worked harder. We need to prepare even better next year.
Got a deuce? An idiot piece!	Got a deuce? This is what happens when you watch TV all day.
Poured tea? The crooked goat!	Poured tea? Don't pour so much more. Pour a little.

I came up with examples myself. An idiot piece, a crooked goat - someone will say that parents do not scold children like that. Believe me, they are scolding, and not so! I see it almost every day.

And the idea is simple - no need to hang labels on children, be they good ones, such as "genius" or "handsome", be they bad ones, such as "moron" or "crooked-handed". A positive label discourages the child, makes him arrogant. Negative label spreads rot and suppresses initiative.

I am a young father myself, and the book got me thinking.

Installations and education system

At my school, first graders were sent for testing. The best ones were enrolled in "A" and "B" classes. I got into "A". Then they paid more attention to us, provided the best teachers, sent us to the Olympiads, and so on. We thought we were very smart. The chosen ones. And the rest were deprived.

Both were the losers. The first ones have a positive label on their neck, and the second ones have a negative one.

But tell me, what the hell? This is, by and large, a matter of chance, isn't it?

Stupid, stupid system.

Summarizing

The book promotes the right ideas and motivates you to grow. Moreover, it does it well. At least she improved my mood and fighting spirit))

This is not surprising, because Carol opposes herself to all this positive literature in the spirit of "Smile, relax, and the universe will bring you success by itself", which I frankly do not digest.

In general, the book is easy to read. A minimum of reasoning, a maximum of examples.

Read: Yes. Especially if you are raising children.

Grade: 7/10

What attitude were you brought up with as a child? And how do you bring up your children?