Building a Growth Mindset Through Behavioural Skills Training

A growth mindset or belief that one’s abilities and traits can always be developed is essential for personal and professional success.

Growth mindset interventions help individuals see challenges as opportunities to learn rather than threats to their competence.

To be effective, these intervention should identify objective behaviour goals with clear performance criteria (what success looks like and how it will be measured).

To ensure competency when teaching new skills, include:

• an explanation or rationale for the skill, and description of the required behaviours

• a model of the behaviour or skill demonstrated to mastery or expert level (i.e. frequency, accuracy, and fluency)

• opportunities to practice the skill in a safe, supportive environment

• corrective and positive feedback until mastery is observed across multiple opportunities

• Gradually increase difficulty to build confidence and competence

Bottom Line

A growth mindset is a set of behaviours, including setting clear goals, meeting mastery criteria and using behavioural skills training to teach. Organizations that foster a growth mindset build resilience, persistence and continuous improvement within their teams.

Burnette, J.L., Billingsly, J., Banks, G.C., Knouse, L. E., Hoyt, C. L., Pollack, J. M., & Simon, S. (2022). A systematic review and meta-analysis of growth mindset interventions: For whom, how and why might such interventions work? Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000368

From Habits to Behaviour Change: Using Nudges to Create Positive Tipping Points

Your behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s shaped and designed by our environments, learning histories of reinforcement, and social norms.

You can however design your environment to create new norms and shape behaviour change.

Positive Tipping. Occurs when a small number of individuals engage in a new behaviour, which is observed by others. The larger group starts to model the behaviour and social contagion takes hold, increasing conformity through continued modelling and social reinforcement, until the new behaviour becomes the norm.

How to Trigger Positive Tipping Points:

• Implement behavioural nudges, and simple prompts that help make the desired behaviour more accessible.

• Frame participation or adoption of the desired behaviour as an invitation to collaborate, and not an obligation.

• Make the desired behaviour the default option and easier than alternatives.

• Model the desired behaviour as social proof that others are doing it too. People will ask, “Is anyone else doing this?” before they start themselves.

• Pair the desired behaviour with positive consequences. For example, collecting rainwater saves potable water and lowers costs.

Motivation Matters

Behaviour change is difficult because it competes with already established habits and immediate rewards.

Long term benefits often feel distant, while our short term habits are reinforced in the moment.

To help overcome this:

• Tie desired behaviours with your current values and who you want to be.

• Highlight immediate benefits as well as the future long term gains.

• Provide more immediate reinforcement or incentives for the new behaviours.

The Science Behind Habits

Habits form through cue -> behaviour -> reward

• Cue: environmental trigger

• Behaviour: automatic response

• Reward: reinforcement that strengthens the habit

Over time, these habits or behaviours become automatic and difficult to change, however:

• start small, breaking big goals into more manageable steps

• pair desired behaviours with existing habits

• modify environmental cues to disrupt old habits and help support new ones

Examples in Action:

• Fitness wearables provide immediate feedback and reinforcement for healthy behaviours.

• Pairing nutritious foods with preferred flavours helps to make healthy choices more rewarding.

• Text/email reminders help encourage physical activity, helping to boost well being and productivity.

Bottom Line

Behaviour science shows us that small changes can lead to big shifts. Combing habit strategies with behavioural tipping can help

• make desired behaviours easy and rewarding

• connect actions to identity and values

• use modelling and reinforcement to spread change

The results are sustainable habits, and stronger community that align with wellbeing and shared goals.

Akash, M.S., & Chowdhury, S. (2025). Small changes, big impact: A mini review of habit formation and behavioral change principles. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews. doi:https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2025.26.101333.

Constantino, S.M. Sparkman, G., Kraft-Todd, G. T., Bicchieri, C., Centola, D., Shell-Duncan, B., Vogt, S. & Weber, E. U. (2022). Scaling up change: a critical review and practical guide to harnessing social norms for climate action. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. doi:10.1177/15291006221105279.

Lenton, T.M., Benson, S., Smith, T., Ewer, T., Lanel, V., Petykowski, E., Power, T. W. R., Abrams, J.F., Blomsma, F., & Sharpe, S. (2022). Operationalising positive tipping points towards global sustainability. Global Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2021.30.

Verplanken, B. & Orbell, S. (2021). Attitudes, Habits, and Behaviour Change. Annual Review of Psychology. Review in Advance. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-011744.

From Stress to Success: How ACT and Performance Feedback Drive Workplace Change

How can organizations supports their employees in managing stress in fast-paced work environments, while improving performance?

Research supports Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and structured performance feedback as a powerful combination.

High stress increases errors, reduces efficiency, and contributes to burnout. All of which lead to reduced productivity.

As stress levels increase, employee technical performance suffers and increased supervision can often feel like heightened pressure to perform, leading employees to engage in avoidance behaviours and disengage from work culture.

Enter ACT.

ACT is not about getting rid of internal discomfort, which leads to avoidance, but about building psychological flexibility. The ability to take actions towards values even when stress, and unhelpful thoughts or feelings show up.

ACT encourages employees to move forward with meaningful goals instead of getting stuck in avoidance patterns.

Verbal and written performance feedback, along with reinforcement, and removal of barriers to performance, has been shown to reduce stress levels in employees, however…including ACT produced even greater and more consistent performance improvements, higher employee engagement and stronger technical skills. Additionally, employees found ACT strategies enjoyable and practical (Pingo et al., 2020).

Why it works.

ACT aims to address the root causes of stress; typically avoidance. By clarifying workplace and personal values, breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, and reinforcing actions aligned with values, employees increase their ability to adapt and thrive, even under pressure.

Bottom line.

While stress is inevitable, it’s impact doesn’t have to be. Combine performance feedback with ACT to create a compelling formula for

• reducing burnout and psychological stress,

• increasing engagement and productivity, and

• driving sustainable behaviour change

Organizations that invest in these strategies don’t just improve employee performance, they help build resilient, value-driven teams ready to thrive.

Paliliunas, D., Belisle, J., & Dixon, M.R. (2018). A randomized control trial to evaluate the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to increase academic performance and psychological flexibility in graduate students. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-0252-x

Pingo, J. C., Dixon, M.R., Paliliunas, D. (2020). An examination of the intervention-enhancing effect of acceptance and commitment therapy-based training on direct service professionals’ performance in the workplace. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00275-9.

Pingo, J. C., Dixon, M. R. & Paliliunas, D. (2020). Intervention enhancing effects of acceptance and commitment training on performance feedback for direct support professional work performance, stress, and job satisfaction. Behavior Analysis in Practice. http://doi.org/10.1007/s-40617-019-00999-w

Prudenzi, A., Graham, C. D., Flaxman, P.E., Wilding, S., Day, F., & O’Connor, D. B.(2022). A workplace acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) intervention for improving healthcare staff psychological distress: A randomized controlled trial. PLoSONE. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266357.

How ACT Builds Resilience, Emotional Regulation, and Value-Aligned Living

We all experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, which we often try to control or suppress, through a coping strategy called Experiential Avoidance (EA).

EA is linked to a variety of psychological and behavioural difficulties, despite offering short term relief, leading to potentially harmful long term consequences.

Typically individuals will engage in EA to escape or control negative internal states or experiences (thoughts, emotions, memories), leading to the development of common coping patterns such as substance use, social withdrawal, and risky behaviours. Frequent engagement in EA is associated with PTSD, increased hospital visits, depression, increased school dropouts and an overall decrease in quality of life.

Combined with environmental stressors such as grief, pain, racism or violence, EA can exacerbate psychological or behavioural difficulties.

Psychological Flexibility

Psychological flexibility is the capacity to engage with difficult internal experiences while still acting in alignment with your values.

Lack of psychological flexibility means we become fused with our thoughts, such as “This is my fault”, “I’m not good enough,” and we regularly engage in EA coping strategies that help us avoid or escape these unpleasant thoughts and associated feelings.

These patterns of - trigger -> unpleasant thought -> escape/avoidance behaviour - is shaped by our own individual histories of reinforcement, operant conditioning and modelling, which teach us how to interpret and respond to emotions.

While these patterns of responding may feel protective, they often lead to more distress and disconnection from what matters most.

The ACT Approach

Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) provides an alternative path. Instead of fighting discomfort, we learn to accept thoughts and feelings as they come. The goal is to notice them without judgement, and make the choice to take action aligned with our values.

Key processes include:

• Acceptance. A willingness to experience psychological discomfort, when choosing a value-aligned action.

• Defusion. Creating distance from thoughts; observing them rather than identifying with them.

  • Fusion: “I am a bad person”

  • Defusion: “I am having the thought that I’m a bad person”.

  This simple shift helps to reduce judgement and see thoughts as just thoughts, not facts.

• Mindfulness (Present Moment Awareness). Instead of arguing with thoughts and telling ourselves stories about the past or future, mindfulness brings attention back to the here and now. By practicing noticing exercises and engaging in the present, we help reduce EA and reinforce more adaptive coping.

• Values. Clarify what truly matters to you and develop meaningful, objective, measurable and realistic goals.

• Committed Action. Taking objective steps towards your values, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Why it Matters

ACT not only helps reduce EA, it helps to increase emotional regulation, resulting in decreased defensiveness, and improved communication in relationships (Nallepalli & Murugesan, 2025).

Using ACT also helps you to recognize the emotional distress of making the hard choices to live according to your values.

The practice of acceptance, defusion and mindfulness helps to decrease negative thoughts, improve resilience and foster a life that is aligned with what matters most.

Bottom Line

EA keeps us stuck and ACT helps us move forward. By accepting the discomfort, defusing from unhelpful thoughts, practicing mindfulness and taking committed action toward what matters most, we move towards better mental health, stronger resilience and a life aligned with your values.

Belisle, J. & Dixon, M.R. (2022). Relational behaviour and ACT: a Dynamic Relationship. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00599-z

Biglan, A., Hayes, S. C., & Pistorello, J. (2008). Acceptance and commitment: Implications for Preventative Science. Preventative Science. doi:10.1007/s11121-008-0099-4

Nallepalli, V. & Murugesan, K. S. (2025). Enhancing marital resilience through psychological flexibility: An acceptance and committment therapy-based case study. IAPS Journal of Practice in Mental Health. doi:10.4103/IJPMH.JPMH_6_25

Driving Performance While Supporting Employee Wellbeing

Individuals are motivated to act in ways and pursue goals that align with their values and what matters most. When management, organizational and personal values align, research predicts:

• higher job satisfaction

• lower employee turnover

• greater trust and collaborations among teams

Values alone, however are not enough. Employees require the right job resources, both workplace and personal and access to these resources show:

• reduced stress and discomfort

• increased engagement and performance

• more effective responding to challenges

The Case for Resilience

Developing employee resilience should be a core goal for organizations because while workplace challenges inevitably do increase job stress, resilient individuals:

• demonstrate less distress,

• greater persistence, and

• ability to adapt to meet goals.

Resilience is about more than just coping, it’s about the ability to thrive under pressure.

The Missing Link: Engagement

Engaged employees who see value in their work are motivated to invest time and effort into organizational goals. Engaged employees are also tend to experience greater personal life satisfaction.

Yet most employees are not engaged at work, resulting in billions lost in productivity (Lu et al., 2023).

Happy and engaged employees are productive employees, so how do we increase engagement?

Strategies for Sustainable Engagement

• Identify and provide appropriate job resources to help reduce stress and boost motivation.

• Connect work tasks to employee values and identity, helping them see why their work matters.

• Reinforce engagement behaviours consistently and regularly, through recognition, positive feedback and growth opportunities.

• Have leadership model value-driven behaviours, for employees to look to for guidance.

Bottom Line

Sustainable workplace engagement is about creating an environment based on shared values, appropriate resources and building resilient employees. The result is a workforce that is more engaged and ready to meet the challenges ahead.

Arieli, S., Sagiv, L. & Roccas, S. (2020). Values at work: The impact of personal values in organisations. Applied Psychology: An International Review. doi:10.1111/apps.12181.

Lu, Y., Zhang, M. M., Yang, M. M. & Wang, Y. (2023). Sustainable human resource management practices, employ resilience, and employee outcomes: Toward common good values. Human Resources Management. doi:10.1002hrm.22153.