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
