MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

This second module shifts the focus from learning ideas to application and the Cultivating Potential process for personal transformation.

A growth foundation begins with helping participants to adopt a growth mindset. Too often, we fall prey to the false belief that we as individuals have fixed strengths, talents, and abilities. Recent neuroscience and positive psychology have shown that skills and abilities are not a fixed variable but can continue to develop throughout a person’s life. Adopting a growth mindset (the focus for this module) provides the context for tapping into innate abilities that have yet to be revealed and processing for honing skills, gaining knowledge, and developing habits that reinforce personal growth.

Once a growth mindset is adopted, the possibilities for increased performance and heightened achievement become near limitless. This change starts with learning to accept full responsibilities for our individual actions and the outcomes we experience in life. Shifting the locus of control over our outcomes to the thoughts, visions, and actions we can control is a personally liberating and incredibly empowering skill to develop. Participants will leverage new tools to analyze how they can best respond to events and circumstances to get the outcomes they seek, regardless of external factors that influence the situation.

By the end of this module, participants will be ready to give up old habits of complaining, blaming, and excuse-making to focus their attention on their personal ownership of the situation and the responses that will lead to constructive outcomes. Through process-oriented performance evaluations, leaders at every level will learn to promote a growth mindset in their team members and co-workers.

With sights set on what is possible with a proper growth foundation, any participant’s inclination to shy away from one’s most ambitious goals will be addressed through processing limiting beliefs. Too often, it is not one’s innate ability that limits their level of achievement as much as it is false beliefs about what is possible for that individual, team, or organization to achieve. These false beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies as we as individuals or groups limit our expectations for future outcomes; our performance is governed to meet the falsely perceived limitation we hold.

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Objectives

01. Growth Mindset: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Intention Sets the Course: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Three-Part Brain: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Basic Human Needs: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Self-Esteem & Self-Efficacy: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. PERMA Model of Human Flourishing: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Illness/Wellness Continuum: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. Positivity-Focused: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Strengths-Based: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Cognitive Biases: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Limiting Beliefs: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Leadership: Process Feedback: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Growth Mindset: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. Intention Sets the Course: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Three-Part Brain: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Basic Human Needs: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Self-Esteem & Self-Efficacy: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. PERMA Model of Human Flourishing: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Illness/Wellness Continuum: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. Positivity-Focused: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Strengths-Based: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Cognitive Biases: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Limiting Beliefs: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Leadership: Process Feedback: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Growth Mindset.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Intention Sets the Course.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Three-Part Brain.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Basic Human Needs.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Self-Esteem & Self-Efficacy.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze PERMA Model of Human Flourishing.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Illness/Wellness Continuum.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Positivity-Focused.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Strengths-Based.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Cognitive Biases.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Limiting Beliefs.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Leadership: Process Feedback.

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Introduction

This second module shifts the focus from learning ideas to application and the Cultivating Potential process for personal transformation.

A growth foundation begins with helping participants to adopt a growth mindset. Too often, we fall prey to the false belief that we as individuals have fixed strengths, talents, and abilities. Recent neuroscience and positive psychology have shown that skills and abilities are not a fixed variable but can continue to develop throughout a person’s life. Adopting a growth mindset (the focus for this module) provides the context for tapping into innate abilities that have yet to be revealed and processing for honing skills, gaining knowledge, and developing habits that reinforce personal growth.

Once a growth mindset is adopted, the possibilities for increased performance and heightened achievement become near limitless. This change starts with learning to accept full responsibilities for our individual actions and the outcomes we experience in life. Shifting the locus of control over our outcomes to the thoughts, visions, and actions we can control is a personally liberating and incredibly empowering skill to develop. Participants will leverage new tools to analyze how they can best respond to events and circumstances to get the outcomes they seek, regardless of external factors that influence the situation.

By the end of this module, participants will be ready to give up old habits of complaining, blaming, and excuse-making to focus their attention on their personal ownership of the situation and the responses that will lead to constructive outcomes. Through process-oriented performance evaluations, leaders at every level will learn to promote a growth mindset in their team members and co-workers.

With sights set on what is possible with a proper growth foundation, any participant’s inclination to shy away from one’s most ambitious goals will be addressed through processing limiting beliefs. Too often, it is not one’s innate ability that limits their level of achievement as much as it is false beliefs about what is possible for that individual, team, or organization to achieve. These false beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies as we as individuals or groups limit our expectations for future outcomes; our performance is governed to meet the falsely perceived limitation we hold.

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Growth Foundation: reaching your full potential

Many athletes have been predicted to be the next big thing over the years, but they have failed to live up to their full potential. Freddy Adu, for example, became the youngest athlete in America to sign a professional contract when he signed with D.C United of Major League Soccer at the age of 14 in 2004. (MLS). He was dubbed “the next Pele” since he was the youngest player to appear and score in the MLS. Many people thought he was going to be one of the best soccer players ever.

Let’s jump ahead 13 years. Is Freddy Adu considered one of the best soccer players in the world? Regrettably, no. Adu has played for ten different professional clubs in the ten years since his big money move to Benfica in 2007, and at the age of just 28, he is currently a ‘free agent’ and does not play for any club.

So, why didn’t Freddy Adu achieve the heights that everyone expected him to, and why do so many other athletes share his fate? One possibility is that some athletes lack the attitude required to reach their full potential and compete at the highest level. If that’s the case, what kind of mindset does a good athlete require?

People have two types of mindsets, according to psychologist Carol Dweck: fixed and growth mindsets. Everyone will have both mindsets, but they will frequently favor one over the other.

Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that some characteristics, such as intelligence, talent, and athleticism, are unchangeable no matter what they do or try (Dweck, 2006, 2009). As a result, these people place a lower value on work and are more concerned with looking their best. People with a fixed mindset frequently fail to reach their full potential because they do not put in the necessary effort to achieve. Due to the fear of failure and looking stupid, research has consistently shown that people with a fixed mindset are more likely to give up easily when confronted with setbacks (Dweck, 2006, 2009). If you can’t succeed at something, they believe there’s no use in persevering since you simply lack the brains to succeed. This is frequently the reason why many young athletes with great potential fail to make the move to the next level.

People with a growth mindset believe that success and achievement are the result of a protracted process that requires hard work, dedication, and perseverance. They believe that talents and intelligence can be developed and improved through time, and that if they work hard enough, they can reach their full potential. According to research, cultivating a growth mindset can lead to good outcomes such as increased resilience in the face of adversity (Yeager & Dweck, 2012; Hinton & Hendrick, 2015), persistence for longer periods of time (Mueller & Dweck, 1998), and greater results (Dweck, 2008).

When examining the processes of the two mindset types, it’s easy to understand how Freddy Adu’s professional inability to achieve the heights anticipated of him might be related to a fixed mindset. His early professional success was sometimes attributed to his inherent ability and similarities to Pele, the Brazilian soccer legend. Hard work, commitment, and tenacity, on the other hand, were rarely mentioned as growth mindset behaviors. Freddy Adu may have developed a fixed mindset, believing his success was primarily due to his innate skill, as a result of the repeated praise on his ability. This research builds on Mueller and Dweck’s (1998) findings, which found that when students were commended for their intelligence/ability rather than their hard effort, their motivation and performance suffered.

According to research, having a growth mindset is a predictor of long-term success. The main question is: how can individuals learn to create growth mindset processes and boost their chances of reaching their maximum potential? The first step is to recognize that long-term success does not come solely from aptitude and ability. For example, was it easy to become a successful athlete, if you asked any elite athlete? They would argue no, claiming that high levels of work, perseverance, and a constant desire to learn are necessary factors for success. The following quotations from Michael Phelps (the most decorated Olympian) and Cristiano Ronaldo (the four-time world footballer of the year) illustrate the importance of trying to learn and progress at all times.

Michael Phelps: ‘There will be obstacles, there will be doubters, there will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits’.

Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans, but also feel satisfied with myself’.

The second phase is to have no limitations. Restricting what you can achieve will limit what you can accomplish. Always keep in mind that there is always something new to learn, and that every experience you have will help you grow.

The ability to embrace setbacks/failure and learn from them, as well as what you need to do to better, is a critical component in developing a growth mindset. Above all, utilize that failure to drive your desire to succeed and reach your greatest potential. Because they have learned from their previous mistakes and failures, the most successful business people can perform successfully in any circumstances, both typical and tough.

Finally, identify your sources of inspiration that pushes you to develop and succeed. Your source of inspiration could be the ambition to become the best in your field.

Embracing a growth mindset, could be the answer to you reaching your full potential.

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Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: How what you think affects what you achieve

Can the way we think about ourselves and our skills impact our lives, whether we have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? Absolutely. The way we think about our intellect and talents has an impact on not just how we feel, but also on what we achieve, whether we cling to new habits, and whether we continue to learn new skills.

If you have a growth mindset, you feel that your intelligence and abilities can be improved through time. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe that intelligence is fixed, therefore if you’re not excellent at something, you may believe that you’ll never be good at it.

Let’s look at growth vs. fixed mindsets together, explore the science, and see how people can change their mindsets over time.

Growth vs. fixed mindsets for life

The human brain was once thought to end developing in childhood, but we now know that it is always altering and changing. Many regions of the brain respond to events, and we can update our ‘software’ by learning.

Despite the scientific evidence, some individuals believe you are stuck with the abilities and ‘smarts’ you were born with. Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist, was the first to investigate the concept of fixed and development mindsets.

Dr. Dweck characterized the two primary ways individuals think about intelligence or ability in her foundational work as being either:

• A fixed mindset: in this mindset, people believe that their intelligence is fixed and static.

• A growth mindset: in this mindset, people believe that intelligence and talents can be improved through effort and learning.

People who have a fixed mindset feel that their intelligence and abilities are predetermined. Fixed mindset people believe that “they have a specific amount (of knowledge) and that’s it,” according to Dr. Dweck, and that their goal is to “appear clever all the time and never look dumb.”

People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, recognize that not knowing or being good at anything is a transient state, so they don’t have to feel embarrassed or strive to prove they’re smarter than they are.

Dweck states that in a growth mindset, “students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence.”

What is a growth mindset?

Intelligence and talent are seen as attributes that can be developed over time under a growth mentality.

This isn’t to say that people with a growth mindset believe they can become the next Einstein; there are still limits to what we can accomplish. People with a growth mindset believe that by putting up effort and taking action, they may increase their intelligence and talents.

A growth mindset also acknowledges that setbacks are an unavoidable part of the learning process, allowing people to ‘bounce back’ by boosting motivating effort.

A growth mindset views ‘failures’ as temporary and adaptable, making it essential for learning, resilience, motivation, and performance.

People that have a growth mindset are more likely to undertake the following:

• Be open to lifelong learning.

• Belief that intelligence may be enhanced

• Make a greater effort to learn

• Believe that hard work leads to mastery

• Believe that setbacks are just temporary.

• Consider criticism as a source of information.

• Takes on challenges with enthusiasm

• Take inspiration from others’ achievements.

• Look at feedback as an opportunity to improve.

What is a fixed mindset?

People with a fixed mindset believe that traits like talent and intelligence are fixed—that is, they believe they are born with the amount of intelligence and natural talents they will achieve as adults.

A fixed-minded individual avoids life’s obstacles, gives up easily, and is intimidated or threatened by other people’s success. This is due to the fact that a fixed mindset views intelligence and talent as something you “are,” rather than something you “grow.”

Negative thinking can be exacerbated by fixed mindsets. A person with a fixed mindset, for example, may fail at a task and assume it is because they aren’t smart enough to do it. A person with a growth mindset, on the other hand, can fail at the same task and assume it’s because they need to practice more.

Individual traits cannot change, no matter how hard you try, and people with a fixed mindset are more likely to:

• Believe intelligence and talent are static
• Avoid challenges to avoid failure
• Ignore feedback from others
• Feel threatened by the success of others
• Hide flaws so as not to be judged by others
• Believe putting in effort is worthless
• View feedback as personal criticism
• Give up easily

Who identified the growth mindset?

The growth mindset was originally presented by Stanford University psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck. Dweck’s ground-breaking research looked at why some people fail while others flourish.

High school pupils were given puzzles that ranged from easy to challenging in one research. Some students accepted failure and viewed it as a learning experience, much to the surprise of researchers, and this positive attitude was eventually termed by Dweck as the ‘growth mindset.’

Dweck’s research also discovered that, contrary to popular belief, it is more effective to praise the process rather than skill or innate qualities. Effort, strategies, perseverance, and resilience, in particular, should be praised. These procedures are crucial for providing constructive feedback and establishing a positive student-teacher connection.

While effort is an important aspect of a growth mindset, it shouldn’t be the primary focus of praise, according to Dweck in a 2015 paper