Book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck.
What was the general theme or argument of the book?
The general theme of this book is distinguishing between the two types of mindsets, which are a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is one that believes that a person's abilities are set and avoids trying things that they do not believe they can do. A growth mindset believes that a persons skills and abilities can be improved and will try new things to cultivate or improve new and existing skills. The book then argues why the growth mindset is more beneficial.
How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
This book actually connects to blog post 26 about failure. The fixed mindset avoids new challenged because of a fear of failure, while the growth mindset will try new things regardless of the opportunity for failure. So the blog we just did on failure reaffirms a lot of what the book discusses.
If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
The exercise I would suggest is to try 5 new things that require skills you are weaker in throughout the course of the semester and to document them with successes or failures. If they believed they failed make them reflect on the activity and ways they could improve. I think would show the students the ways a growth mindset could help them in life.
What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
For me this would be when Carol Dweck says that a persons mindset is a choice that they make themselves. While there are outside influences that shape our mindset growing up, it is never set in stone and can be changed. I thought this was interesting because before reading this I never really thought about my own mental attitude in this way and it allowed me to think about choices I can make to improve my mindset.
Connor,
ReplyDeleteYou did a really good job summarizing the book that you read in this post. After reading your summary I sort of wish that I read this book instead of the book that I read for this assignment. For this assignment, I read the book Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc. My book was a biography and yours was not, so there aren't many similarities between our books and our tasks were different for the assignment. Overall very good job.
Connor,
ReplyDeleteI read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck for one of the previous reading reflections. I like how interactive your exercise is when it comes to people trying five new things that requires them to test their weaker skills. This promotion for a growth mindset would most definitely allow one to exercise being an individual who seeks improvement.
Connor,
ReplyDeleteI read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck. I think the concepts in the book is very fascinating and interesting. The author example how different people with different mindset will act differently in a similar situation. The author also led us to know how can we make a change to our mindset if we have a fixed mindset. Overall, I think it is a great book to read.