Growth is a completely natural process. We are designed not only to grow physically over many years, from infants to “adults,” but also to constantly develop our abilities in all areas, sometimes even growing beyond ourselves.

The opposite would be stagnation or death. As long as we are alive, we should grow and flourish—in every respect. This is obvious to children—they could not survive if they did not grow over the course of approximately 18-20 years: becoming taller, stronger, more intelligent, smarter, and more independent.

From a child’s perspective, growth is easy to understand, intuitive, and completely natural. But what about adults? Is growth still desirable at every age and in every situation, is it always seen as positive, or can it even have negative connotations?

Growth is a question of attitude

In psychology, a distinction is made between two basic human attitudes (mindsets): a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. Below is an overview of the key characteristics of these two mindsets, based on the findings and studies of Carol Dweck.

Growth requires the right growth mindset

Dweck has found that people with a growth mindset are characterized by a growth-oriented way of thinking. In their lives, they focus on growth and development, are resilient, and enjoy trying new things. They are highly resilient, do not let setbacks and difficulties discourage them, but have robust self-confidence in their own abilities and a positive self-image, and have both feet firmly planted in life.

This enables them to use their intelligence for something beneficial and to continuously develop themselves further. They see the success of others as inspiration. They learn from mistakes and accept criticism. The brain and mindset of a person with a growth mindset is open to new things and quickly translates them into new, growth-oriented ideas. This promotes a positive attitude towards life and strengthens self-belief.

A fixed mindset focuses on success

In contrast, according to Dweck, people with a fixed mindset have different beliefs. Their focus is on success, but they often have low confidence in their own abilities, give up quickly, and avoid challenges. Fear of failure reduces their resilience; these people usually behave defensively and view the success of others as a threat.

Unlike a person with a growth mindset, a person with a fixed mindset ignores negative feedback. Their willingness to learn from a mistake or to take on board a different idea or experience is limited. Carol Dweck concludes that people with a fixed mindset have a limited ability to learn in the long term, and their intelligence and abilities are not fully exploited. Fixed beliefs result in a static model of life with limitations that does not allow for mistakes and thus prevents anything new from emerging.

Effects of a growth vs. fixed mindset

Based on this attitude, scientists and researchers such as N. Holmes and Carol Dweck have found that a fixed mindset hardly allows for the development of creativity, intelligence, and talent, while a growth mindset almost always leads to positive development and strengthening of these abilities.

According to Carol Dweck, this is also accompanied by a difference in willingness to make an effort. It is high with a growth mindset, but often very low when the self-image is primarily negative.

In her book “Mindset,” Carol Dweck concludes from her scientific data collection and analysis that people with a growth mindset can usually achieve more than they believe. People with a fixed mindset rarely reach their full potential.

What is the significance of a growth mindset today?

A decisive factor for success in implementing a new corporate culture today is a “digital growth mindset.” Profound change processes brought about by digital transformation often fail due to a lack of employee involvement and support.

Using best practice examples, I will explain what it means in concrete terms to develop a digital mindset and how managers can have a major influence on a forward-looking and positive corporate culture by setting an example with concrete ideas.

There is no recipe for success for healthy and sustainable growth – but there are success factors.

There are no alternatives to growth. At a time when entire industries are undergoing fundamental change within a very short period of time, managers need to wake up to the fact that if they miss the opportunity to leverage their strengths online, they will be overtaken by the competition.

Sustainable corporate growth can only be achieved if companies manage to dynamically transfer their existing core competencies into the digital world as a unique selling point (USP).

The path to achieving this is neither easy nor quick: in addition to a tailor-made growth strategy, a well-thought-out roadmap is needed to implement it step by step throughout the organization.

A holistic and agile approach is essential: all functions and business areas must be involved, clear goals, key performance indicators, and appropriate incentive systems must be developed, change agents must be deployed to continuously drive the necessary changes, and sufficient freedom and resources must be created for new ideas and projects.

All of this takes time and money, but the lasting impact of a systematic and measured growth process pays off. At the end of the day, growth is best achieved from within—with a consistent “people first” attitude, the courage to break new ground, the drive to build innovative ventures, and the commitment to take existing loyal employees along on this exciting journey.

Organizational Growth Mindset: The Key to Cultural Change?

To say that companies need to find their way in a changing landscape borders on cliché; to say that they need to learn from setbacks is obvious; and the need for a “get-up-and-go mentality” is as self-evident as the need for oxygen. But how to meet these requirements remains a mystery to many executives.

“Culture eats Strategy for breakfast”

To make an organization fit and adaptable to our turbulent times, we need to establish a set of habits and systems that support a “growth mindset.” This is where the growth mindset comes in.

Think growth-oriented!

Decades of scientific research and statistical data on motivation show that a growth-oriented mindset leads to high performance, fulfilling relationships, and professional success.

Applied to the organization as a system, in a “growth mindset” culture, “all employees are seen as having potential, are encouraged to develop, and are recognized and rewarded for improvements.”

The benefits of a growth mindset culture in organizations can be significant (see article by leadership-insiders):

• Employees have 47% more confidence in their company.
• Employees are 34% more likely to feel responsible for the future of their company and to be committed to it.
• Employees are 65% more likely to agree that their company supports risk-taking.

These attributes of a growth-oriented corporate culture are crucial for the successful implementation of change processes, because employees with a “growth mindset” do not feel like victims, but rather like co-creators of change processes.

Replacing old maxims such as perfection and performance

Old maxims of “perfection and results” must change to a new maxim of growth. Companies are called upon to admit mistakes and to live and promote continuous learning, creative experimentation, and active knowledge sharing.

An effective way to shape growth-oriented language and change team culture is, for example, to introduce “yet” in statements about limitations (“We can’t do that yet”) and “what if” (“What if we think about it differently?”This can open up the team’s current thinking to new possibilities for tackling a challenge.

Tips: How do you build an organizational growth mindset?

Ensure that your systems enable the right behaviors. For example, people processes can be designed with a growth mindset approach:

Some companies hire talent based on behavior-oriented interview questions and determine their curiosity and willingness to learn without asking questions that directly relate to fixed or growth-oriented mindsets.

Others familiarize new employees with their growth-oriented mindset as part of onboarding programs by illustrating the desired behavior in their organization with concrete examples from everyday life.

Best practice example: HP

Just a few months after HP Inc. spun off from tech giant Hewlett-Packard Company, the company faced a unique opportunity to reinvent the HP culture and was confronted with a profound organizational challenge: getting thousands of employees on board with a completely new way of working.

More than 4,700 managers completed the Growth Mindset learning program, but to maintain growth mindset as a cultural imperative, HP’s HR team embedded growth mindset into a whole menu of people processes: into its performance management, coaching and career discussions, talent assessment, team and leadership development programs, and its approaches to talent acquisition.

As a result of these efforts, the company has increased employee engagement by 22% and received numerous awards for its innovative product range.

Ensure commitment and engagement from top leadership

The support and active engagement of top leaders before and during growth mindset initiatives is the critical factor in creating a shared purpose, as top leaders communicate, teach, and exemplify the growth mindset in their organization.

Leaders can inspire change. Companies leverage the commitment of their leaders to spread a growth mindset and engage the workforce. They use inclusive language with “we” and “us” to reinforce the perceived positive change and belief in a successful transformation within the organization.

Best practice example: Microsoft

As a fundamental cultural attribute at Microsoft, the growth mindset was a key focus of cultural change, and CEO Satya Nadella had the idea of emphasizing continuous learning.

He made it clear that a state of constant learning was necessary for employees at all levels. In Nadella’s words, this strategic realignment would require a shift from a group of “know-it-alls” to a group of “learn-it-alls.”

From “know-it-alls” to “learn-it-alls”

Under his leadership, the talent team worked intensively with the NeuroLeadership Institute to consistently implement his idea and create growth-oriented behaviors and organizational systems for the 131,000 employees worldwide.

Since then, a number of approaches have been pursued to initiate and drive long-term change. To this end, managers were asked to talk about growth mindset and to exemplify it in their own behavior. Awareness campaigns were conducted for employees, which promoted acceptance of a growth mindset. And the company continuously measured what and how employees experience growth mindset within the company.

For Microsoft, continuous measurement is invaluable for cultural change. Daily pulse surveys are used to continuously collect metrics on employees’ experiences with the growth mindset.

Satisfaction with the measurement of growth orientation tends to be between 78% and 80%, and it has been shown to be the primary driver of the other attributes of Microsoft culture: customer-centric, diverse, and inclusive.

Be clear about the growth mindset

Why do companies use growth mindset as a means of cultural change in the first place?

Knowing the common purpose and understanding the strategic goal of cultural change is crucial for successful implementation. A growth mindset is the most important driver and, at the same time, the foundation for successfully implementing digital transformation and anchoring a growth mindset in the company.

Future-proof companies are open to new working models

The world of work as we know it today will no longer exist in a few years’ time. A drastic change in the way we think and work is imminent. What we have learned from the pandemic and what is already becoming apparent today is a rapid change in the world of work. There is a strong desire for (some) more flexibility in working hours and location, and the trend toward hybrid working is unstoppable. Companies should prepare for this shift now if they want to grow successfully and remain competitive in the market in the future.

The digitalization of the world of work is forcing companies to rethink their existing working models. With the emergence of new ways to balance work and family life, there are new standards for keeping employees happy.

Flexible working arrangements are increasingly expected by skilled workers. Many companies that still rely on a culture of constant presence have a lot of catching up to do in this area. But the competition for the best talent will be won by those who can convince with openness to new hybrid models and suitable solutions.

The future of consulting is called enablement

Traditional management consulting alone is no longer sufficient to develop timely and practical solutions in a dynamic “VUCA” environment. What used to be many PowerPoint slides, complicated analyses, and concepts developed over months must now be developed agilely and approached quickly and pragmatically. Modern consulting relies on the early involvement of employees in the development of a holistic digital strategy, which takes place in close cooperation with all stakeholders in agile cross-functional teams.

In addition to the foundation of an open culture with a growth mindset, joint strategy development is a key success factor that requires absolute commitment from management and genuine cooperation. In this way, consultants become enablers by skillfully applying their methodological knowledge and empowering client employees to contribute their experience and ideas in a results-oriented manner. This ensures that the new corporate concept is not only understood but also lived.