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 COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS SURROUNDING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is emerging as a key attribute of high performing business leaders. Companies
such as American Express have realized the power of using emotional intelligence to recruit and train top
sales people.
Do you hear the words Emotional Intelligence and run screaming in the other direction? Do the words
conjure up a picture of shiny, happy, people holding hands? If so, you may be looking at the concept of
emotional intelligence in the wrong way. In his book, Working With Emotional Intelligence, Daniel
Goleman expells some of the myths surrounding emotional intelligence.

7 Dangerous Myths About Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is extremely powerful. But it's also easy to misunderstand.
The skills of emotional intelligence are powerful, to say the least.
The ability to identify different emotions, to understand their effect, and to use that information to guide
thinking and behavior, greatly increases the chances of successfully achieving your goals. A high EQ can
make you a more effective leader and can improve the quality of your personal relationships.
However, there's a lot to misunderstand about emotional intelligence.
My forthcoming book, EQ, Applied, explores a number of these myths--and shows just how EQ works-
-and doesn't work--in the real world.]
For example, here are seven of the most significant myths about EQ:
1. Emotional intelligence doesn't exist.
As emotional creatures, we must acknowledge the role our feelings play in influencing thinking and
decision making. Only then can we begin working to understand them.
2. Emotional intelligence is just common sense.
Some argue that emotional intelligence is a simply a fancy term for what most of us know better as
"common sense," defined by Merriam-Webster as "the ability to think and behave in a reasonable way and
to make good decisions."
But that takes away from the reality of EI: It takes great effort and deep thinking to understand emotional
behavior--both our own and others'--and the reasons behind it. Additionally, even the simplest skills of
EI, such as pausing to think before we speak, are much easier in theory than they are in practice.
3. You can control your feelings.
It would be great if we could self-regulate our emotions, dialing back on our anger when we feel
ourselves losing control (for example).
But emotions involve our natural, instinctive feelings. Sometimes these are in response to a specific
situation or event; other times they're influenced by our own brain chemistry. In other words, we can't always
control how we feel.
What we can control is our reaction to those feelings. By becoming aware of how our emotions affect
us, and then focusing on our thoughts, we can often prevent our emotions from causing us to behave
irrationally.
4. More emotional people are naturally more emotionally intelligent.
If you're the type that cries easily when watching a sad movie, that could be a sign that you
have empathy, and can easily identify with others' feelings.
However, too much empathy can easily be used against you. What if a "friend" is always presenting a
sob story to get you to cover for them, while they continue in some self-destructive behavior? Empathy
may move you to help them, time and time again, even though it's not really what you want to do--and is
also not what's best for your friend.
The ability to "feel" the emotions of others is a valuable tool, but it's only one skill. You're a unique
individual, with a unique emotional response mechanism. Developing emotional intelligence requires
understanding how your emotions work, and then effectively managing those emotions to achieve your
personal goals.
5. Sharpening your EQ is easy.
On the contrary, developing emotional intelligence is one of the most difficult challenges you'll ever face.
Think about it: We're born with emotions, so our emotional behavior is years in the making. Additionally,
scientists have demonstrated that attempting to make lasting changes to behavior is a compound process
that requires substantial commitment.
If you're serious about increasing your EQ, you've got to be in it for the long haul.
6. Once you've got it, you've got it.
Since a myriad of factors influence your (and others') emotions, it's easy to fall back into bad habits or
suffer a bout of bad decision making.
 Further, when it comes to understanding others' feelings and emotions, time works against us.
Research proves that even if we've experienced the same situation as another, we don't remember it as
well as we think we do.
That's makes working on your emotional intelligence a continuous process.
7. Those with high emotional intelligence always make the best leaders.
Despite the potential of EI for good, there's equal capacity for it to be used to exploit, bully, and abuse
others. Psychologists have documented how narcissists and egomaniacs use emotionally intelligent skills to
manipulate others.
Of course, that's just one more reason for you to sharpen your own emotional intelligence--to protect
yourself when they do.
The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence
In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like
any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil ADAM GRANT
Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther
King, Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Instead of honoring this
sacred obligation to liberty, King thundered, America has given the Negro people a bad check. He promised that
a land sweltering with the heat of oppression could be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice, and
envisioned a future in which on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners
will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
Delivering this electrifying message required emotional intelligencethe ability to recognize, understand, and
manage emotions. Dr. King demonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and in sparking emotions
that moved his audience to action. As his speechwriter Clarence Jones reflected, King delivered a perfectly
balanced outcry of reason and emotion, of anger and hope. His tone of pained indignation matched that note for
note.
Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side.
Recognizing the power of emotions, another one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century spent years
studying the emotional effects of his body language. Practicing his hand gestures and analyzing images of his
movements allowed him to become an absolutely spellbinding public speaker, says the historian Roger
Moorhouseit was something he worked very hard on. His name was Adolf Hitler.
Since the 1995 publication of Daniel Golemans bestseller, emotional intelligence has been touted by leaders,
policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to
manage emotions, the argument goes, well have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional
intelligence among leaders and doctors, well have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare. As
a result, emotional intelligence is now taught widely in secondary schools, business schools, and medical schools.
Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side. New evidence shows
that when people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When youre good at
controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you
can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.
Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In emerging research led by
University of Cambridge professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the
audience was less likely to scrutinize the message and remembered less of the content. Ironically, audience members
were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.
The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One
observer reflected that Hitlers persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotionshe would
tear open his heartand these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would stop thinking critically
and just emote.
"Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their
hearts."
Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own,
the results can be devastating. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives, emotional
intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist
Stphane Ct, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian tendencies, and took a test
measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cotes team assessed how often
the employees deliberately undermined their colleagues. The employees who engaged in the most harmful behaviors
were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to demean and embarrass
their peers for personal gain. In one computer company studied by Tel-Aviv University professor Gideon Kunda, a
manager admitted to telling a colleague how excited we all are with what he is doing, but at the same time,
distancing my organization from the project, so when it blows up, the companys founder would blame the
colleague.
 Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University
College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise
one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Emotionally intelligent people intentionally shape
their emotions to fabricate favorable impressions of themselves, Professor Kilduffs team writes. The strategic
disguise of ones own emotions and the manipulation of others emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident
not only on Shakespeares stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.
Of course, people arent always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional
skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. In a study of emotions at the Body Shop, a research
team led by Stanford professor Joanne Martin discovered that founder Anita Roddick leveraged emotions to inspire
her employees to fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support
a particular project we always tried to break their hearts. However, Roddick also encouraged employees to be
strategic in the timing of their emotion expressions. In one case, after noticing that an employee often breaks down
in tears with frustration, Roddick said it was acceptable to cry, but I told her it has to be used. I said, Here, cry at
this point in the ... meeting. When viewing Roddick as an exemplar of an emotionally intelligent leader, it becomes
clear that theres a fine line between motivation and manipulation. Walking that tightrope is no easy task.
In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better
performance. In jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed.
In settings where emotions arent running high, emotional intelligence may have hidden costs. Recently,
psychologists Dana Joseph of the University of Central Florida and Daniel Newman of the University of
Illinois comprehensively analyzed every study that has ever examined the link between emotional intelligence and
job performance. Across hundreds of studies of thousands of employees in 191 different jobs, emotional intelligence
wasnt consistently linked with better performance. In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher
emotional intelligence translated into better performance. Salespeople, real-estate agents, call-center representatives,
and counselors all excelled at their jobs when they knew how to read and regulate emotionsthey were able to deal
more effectively with stressful situations and provide service with a smile.
However, in jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed. The more emotionally intelligent
employees were, the lower their job performance. For mechanics, scientists, and accountants, emotional intelligence
was a liability rather than an asset. Although more research is needed to unpack these results, one promising
explanation is that these employees were paying attention to emotions when they should have been focusing on their
tasks. If your job is to analyze data or repair cars, it can be quite distracting to read the facial expressions, vocal
tones, and body languages of the people around you. In suggesting that emotional intelligence is critical in the
workplace, perhaps weve put the cart before the horse.
Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where
and when it matters. In a recent study at a healthcare company, I asked employees to complete a test about managing
and regulating emotions, and then asked managers to evaluate how much time employees spent helping their
colleagues and customers. There was no relationship whatsoever between emotional intelligence and helping:
Helping is driven by our motivations and values, not by our abilities to understand and manage emotions. However,
emotional intelligence was consequential when examining a different behavior: challenging the status quo by
speaking up with ideas and suggestions for improvement.
Emotionally intelligent employees spoke up more often and more effectively. When colleagues were treated
unjustly, they felt the righteous indignation to speak up, but were able to keep their anger in check and reason with
their colleagues. When they went out on a limb to advocate for gender equity, emotional intelligence helped them
keep their fear at bay. When they brought ideas for innovation to senior leaders, their ability to express enthusiasm
helped them avoid threatening leaders. On a much smaller scale, they were able to follow Martin Luther King Jr.s
lead in rocking the boat while keeping it steady.
----------------------------------------------------
How the Brain Creates Personality: A New Theory
More than two decades have passed since psychologists Peter Salovey at Yale and John Mayer at the University
of New Hampshire introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in 1990. Why has it taken us so long to develop
a more nuanced view? After Daniel Goleman popularized the idea in 1995, many researchersperhaps awestruck
themselves by enthusiasm for the concept of emotional intelligenceproceeded to conduct studies that were fatally
flawed. As University of Lausanne professor John Antonakis observed, practice and voodoo science is running
way ahead of rigorous research.
One of the most persistent problems was the use of self-report measures, which asked employees to rate their
own emotional abilities on items like I can tell how people are feeling even if they never tell me and I am
generally very good at calming someone down when he or she is upset. Abilities cannot be accurately measured
with self-reports. As emotion experts Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of Fairfield University lament,
One might compare this approach to assessing mathematical skills by asking respondents, How good are you at
solving algebraic equations? rather than asking the person to actually solve an algebraic equation.
 Thanks to more rigorous research methods, there is growing recognition that emotional intelligencelike any
skillcan be used for good or evil. So if were going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at
work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where its actually useful. As Professor Kilduff and
colleagues put it, it is high time that emotional intelligence is pried away from its association with desirable moral
qualities.
Misconceptions about Mindset, Rigor, and Grit
I am that teacher who greets each new idea that is spawned with both curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Among the educational ideas that have gained momentum in recent years are the concepts of Mindset, Rigor, and
Grit. While all of these ideas may have merit, as with all shiny new objects that attract our attention we need to
proceed with caution and think about whether and why these concepts fit into our personal pedagogy.
Being willing to implement the hot new thing is admirable, but not if it is done feet first with our eyes closed.
MINDSET: It doesnt thrive in a hostile environment
First, let me say that I believe in the Mindset theory. Several years ago, while teaching in San Jose, CA, I was
lucky enough to see a presentation on Carol Dwecks book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success given by one
of the graduate students who worked on the book with her.
The growth mindset framework is wonderful, inspiring, and perfectly logical to anyone who has ever worked
with children. The problem is that many schools have jumped on the Mindset bandwagon without changing the
school policies that work against the concept.
Many teachers and schools who say they believe in fostering a growth mindset in their students still have an
environment that encourages a fixed mindset.
Growth mindset . . .
Is not summed up by a grade. We tell students that they should grow and learn from mistakes and if they
practice they will improve. However, we grade using an F for failure when we should be using a Not There Yet
and allowing them to keep trying.
In fact, we should encourage re-dos and re-takes because, by trying again, students are more likely to learn the
material. (See the writings of Rick Wormeli for more on this concept.) What is more important to us as teachers:
that they learn the material or that they learn the material the first time?
Is not a now-or-never experience. In too many classrooms, something is taught and assessed once and if a
student doesnt get it, the teacher moves on anyway.
Is not a race to the finish. When we encourage speed and competition rather than thoughtfulness and
collaboration, we tend to reward some students for perfect products and fail to encourage effort and growth over
time.
Is not about intimidation. Students do not develop growth mindsets in emotionally unsafe classrooms where
they do not feel free to take risks where there is one right answer and only the teacher and certain students know
it.
Is not encouraged by lazy assessment practices. Grading or awarding points for every little thing a student
does in class and then averaging them together at the end of the marking period does nothing to promote growth. If
we truly want kids to learn, we need to be providing regular, constructive feedback throughout and letting them
demonstrate their mastery toward the end.
Reverse all of these behaviors, and we are really onto something!
RIGOR: Its not a throwback to the good old days
I have read Rigor is Not a Four-Letter Word by Barbara Blackburn and I like her definition:
Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at a high level, and each is supported
so he or she can learn at a high level, and each student demonstrates learning at a high level. (Blackburn, 2008)
I know that this kind of rigor is good practice, and some teachers are getting it right. Sadly, however, many in
education are still longing for the good old days (which have never existed in the ways they think) when kids worked
hard, werent babied through life, learned difficult material with ease, and knew their place in the scheme of things.
According to some, rigor from back in the day is defined as the hard work that they used to do when they were
in school. They will post on social media that ridiculous test from the 1890s that has made its way around the
internet. If you look at that test closely, you will see that much of it is rote learning and also specific to time and
place. Much of what is on the test is no longer relevant in todays society.
We need to get over the idea that somehow there were these miraculous, genius students that existed when we
went to school, but now all young people are lazy, coddled, and addle-brained. The idea of increasing rigor appeals
to these stuck-in-time educators. Unfortunately, rigor is often misinterpreted as just meaning really, really hard.
Rigor does NOT mean:
a classroom that resembles a bootcamp
more and harder homework
a text or material several grade levels above the students current ability
high expectations, but no support to reach them
 So if youre doing that, stop it, okay? Thanks.
GRIT: Maybe we need to just drop this word
I have to say the current buzzword that most grinds on me is grit. Maybe its because so many of the grown-ups
responsible for running the world have so eagerly embraced it. Human society, they are sure, will be much more
likely to survive if we teach these lazy, spoiled, whiny children a thing or two.
They are remembering fondly our Puritan ancestors who worked hard and got ahead and pulled themselves up
by their bootstraps while eating acorns and tree bark during those first freezing New England winters.
If these kids today would only put forth that kind of effort, they would be more successful adults. These are
the people who say that children need to learn how to fail because it builds character. The trouble is that it often
doesnt.
Misinterpretations of grit:
If perseverance were all it took to be successful, we would all have the capacity to be Olympic athletes if we
just put our minds to it. Not true. Yes, it is always possible to improve, but it is a lot easier to hit a home run if you
begin life on third base (through special talent or special circumstances). For the rest of us starting at home plate,
we may need a little more support and encouragement to round those bases.
Sometimes the students are working at their peak capacity; the task is just beyond their realm. Meeting the
individual where he/she is and working within their zone of proximal development is more likely to yield positive
results. It is destructive to tell children that if they only tried harder, they would be successful. Realistically, that
may never happen for some.
Generally, repeated failure does not motivate one to work harder. Usually, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
and the child believes himself/herself to be a failure. Thatll teach em to study harder next time doesnt work.
Now, if what we mean by grit is the ability to stick with an assignment or pay attention in class, then we must
be darn sure we are asking students to do work worth doing and making class engaging. Students who have creative,
challenging work to do in a positive classroom environment do not need nearly as much grit.
The need for grit is primarily useful when the task involves drudgery. Not every task is worth doing, and we
need to be able to let go of the mind-numbing assignments of the past and move into the 21st century. Not that we
still cant teach the required material, we just need to do it in ways that we know engage their brains and work within
a modern construct. The kids are already there and if you are not with them, you are against them.
What teachers think is grit is often merely compliance. Creating an environment where students do what the
teacher asks just to achieve a high grade or get the work finished is a sure recipe to crush souls.
Head-first and eyes wide open
There are often good ideas embedded in the educational jargon we serially embrace. Just be careful that when
you decide to try something new, you understand the research and the actions required to make the ideas work. Be
sure youre ready to make the changes in your own practice necessary to support the concept.
Keep your eyes (and heart) wide open and your students best interests front and center. Then dive in!
THE 180 BLOG Apr 1, 2016
7 Things Growth Mindset is Not
Catherine Good, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist and Michael Regnier, Vice President,
Organizational Learning and Impact
At Turnaround for Children, we recognize growth mindset as one of the Building Blocks for
Learning that paves the way for academic success. Turnaround is hardly alone in recognizing the
importance of growth mindset; Carol Dwecks pioneering research has drawn the attention of educators
nationwide.
But like any popular concept, growth mindset risks becoming a victim of its own success. If stretched
and misapplied, it risks losing meaning and becoming clich, instead of a powerful insight for students
and educators.
Growth mindset is not:
1. the power of positive thinking. Someone with a growth mindset understands the
biological fact that our efforts and strategies have the potential to physically change our brains, growing
and strengthening the neural connections that make us, literally, smarter. Its not about wishing or hoping
for a problem to improve on its own.
2. only about effort. Internalizing a growth mindset helps students embrace effort and
productive persistence as one of the many tools they can bring to their learning experiences. Students
recognize that their strategies and engagement with learning are the path to success, rather than signs
of low intelligence. But directing students to simply try harder in the face of difficulty does not foster a
growth mindset, nor does it motivate students, many of whom need help and guidance about how to be
most effective in their efforts.
3. only praising effort. Its true that teacher feedback matters a lot, and the type of praise
we give is a form of feedback. Unfortunately, praise such as, Youre so smart can actually reinforce a
fixed mindset. But does praise such as Nice try! reinforce a growth mindset? No. Praising effort for
efforts sake is not the same thing as a growth mindset. Instead, celebrate your students successes by
applauding their hard work and growth, and encourage students to keep trying by helping them find new
strategies and approaches when they are struggling.
4. about celebrating mistakes. Students need to know how they can learn from
mistakes and that EVERYONE, including even the most naturally talented made and still makes
mistakes. But taking the sting out of mistakes is just the first step. The next step is to help students identify
their misconceptions and errors and give them strategies to do better next time.
5. a way to blame students. If you find yourself saying, These students would be fine if
they only had a growth mindset, youre doing it wrong. There are a variety of reasons students may
struggle many of which may have more to do with our own pedagogy than our students mindsets.
Fostering a growth mindset can open students to realizing their potential, but they need good instruction,
good curriculum and supportive classroom communities in order to reap the benefits of their growth
mindsets.
6. only for low-achieving students. High-achieving students may hold a fixed mindset
about intelligence, seeing their success as validation of their natural abilities. Thats not a problem
until they arent high-achieving anymore. Think about transitioning from high school to that first year of
college. Everybody struggles eventually, but how students react to that experience can make all the
difference.
7. only about students. Yes, whether or not your students have a growth mindset can
impact their academic success, but your own mindset as a teacher is also important! It can impact
everything from the way you run classroom discussions to the way you track academic progress. So
make sure you are reflecting on your own classroom discourse and practices that can either help or hinder
the development of a hardy growth mindset.

1. Misconception: the theory of mindset says that anyone can learn and achieve anything
2. Misconception: the theory of mindset says that anyone either has a fixed or a growth mindset
3. Misconception: not much can be done about what kind of mindset you have
4. Misconception: the theory of mindset is only about intelligence
5. Misconception: people with a growth mindset are obsessive about learning and always want to be the best
6. Misconception: improving learning and performance is purely a matter of changing mindsets
7. Misconception: the concept of mindset is only about children
8. Misconception: the concept of the growth mindset puts too much pressure on children
9. Misconception: the theory of mindset is only useful for individuals
10. Misconception: the concept of mindset is not relevant for people with an intellectual disability

How The Growth Mindset Can Harm Your Learning

March 30, 2016
When a Good Idea Becomes a Bad Idea
Its hard to think of an idea thats received as much attention in learning and education in recent years than the
growth mindset.
Dwecks work really started to gain traction after she published her book Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success and did a series of TED talks on the subject. Many educators and self-directed learners have applied the
principles shes brought to our attention with amazing results, so why should we be concerned with its mass
adoption?
The problem, as is so often the case, is one of interpretation and application. Even Dweck felt the need to revisit
her ideas in a recent post to clarify the common pitfalls and misunderstandings and what to do about them.
The main problems from these misinterpretations are that they cause students and adult learners to:
1) Persist with ineffective learning strategies by obsessing over effort.
2) Become frustrated when they continue to display thoughts and actions associated with the fixed mindset,
throwing their learning off course.
Effort isnt Everything
The most common misconception about the growth mindset is equating it directly with effort. Its so easy to do
this this in a world where motivational quotes are plastered on walls and our heroes from the worlds of sports and
business tell us that hard work and dedication is all we need to succeed at anything.
This simply isnt true. While hard work is definitely a necessary condition for success in learning its definitely
not sufficient. Another piece of research thats been misinterpreted in this context is Anders Ericssons 10,000 hour
rule popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers (see this post for more).
 If we believe effort is all we need to succeed in learning, well keep plugging away with ineffective strategies
and fail to reach our learning goals. If a particular method isnt working well benefit more from acknowledging it
and trying something different than from praising ourselves for working hard and sticking with it.
To avoid this pitfall, we need to regularly reflect on what were doing and ask ourselves if its really working.
We also need to use calibration, by seeking objective feedback from others who are more skilled than us, in order
to steer clear of our tendency to overestimate our own competence, known as the Dunning Kruger effect (more on
this here).
Accepting the Fixed Mindset
False growth mindsets are increasingly common in students and adult learners alike, largely because of the
tendency to equate knowing about the growth mindset with applying it. Its very easy to claim the growth mind-set
after reading a book or a piece of research but its another thing to put it into practice on a regular basis.
From experience with my students and my own learning, a genuine growth mindset needs to be practiced just
like anything elsedeveloping it is more of a journey than a declaration and takes a certain amount of time.
In reality, the growth and fixed mindsets simply represent two poles along a spectrum. Almost all of us a mixture
of fixed and growth mindsets and well all be at different points on that spectrum depending on our mental and
emotional state and the environment we find ourselves in.
In order to access a genuine growth mindset more often, we need to accept the fixed mindset and be aware of the
associated thoughts and actions that it produces. We wont get over our fear of public speaking, our block with using
numbers or our difficulty with languages by pretending that the thoughts we have dont exist. Its only by accepting
them and watching for the triggers that set them off that well really be able to deal with them.
The Takeaway
The growth mindset can be an extremely powerful learning tool when applied correctly but can be harmful when
misinterpreted.
Some common misconceptions about the idea are that hard work is all thats required for learning success and
that a growth mindset can be appropriated simply through intellectually understanding the idea and talking about it.
To sidestep these, we can use metacognitive strategies such as reflection and calibration to direct and monitor our
own learning.
In reality very few of us have a purely growth or fixed mindset but posess some mixture of the two, which is
affected by context. To develop our capacity to access the growth mindset, we need to accept the fixed mindset and
identify the triggers that set it off.
Actions
Here are three metalearning skills you can use to avoid the pitfalls of misapplying the growth mindset:
1) Use a Learning Journal
Keep a journal related to what youre learning and write down any new insights as you progress. Track how
youre feeling, what strategies seem to be working well and what youre finding difficult. Note down your successes
and failures. I personally prefer to use pen and paper first before storing everything digitally on Evernote at the end
of the week.
2) Identify Limiting Beliefs in Different Contexts
You may have a growth mindset in your career but still believe youre incapable of learning a new language or a
new sport. Identify these fixed mindset, limiting beliefs as they arise and rather than dismissing them, re-examine
them through the lens of a growth mindset. Youll find that theyll often lose their power over you and you can get
on with learning.
3) Calibrate Through Measurement
As Peter Drucker said, what gets measured gets managed. Do your best to accurately and objectively assess your
performance by observing others and asking for feedback from those who are more skilled. Join a community of
learners or hire a coach if you can afford one. By getting objective feedback, youll be able to see whether what
youre doing is actually working.
s why.
This table lays out the characteristics of the two mindsets. In our last post we dove DEEP into how it all works.
Click here to check that out.
 After a little dissecting its clear that the top two characteristics are really the driving force behind everything
else.
They are the key to it all. In Trevor terms these are the Makers & Breakers of the mindsets.
We can use these two characteristics as a guide to help us understand where we (and our students are) on the
mindset spectrum at any given time.
Its time to build a matrix together. Lets start at the top with the core belief of the two mindsets:
Maker & Breaker #1: Beliefs Towards Learning
People with a fixed mindset believe that things like skills and intelligence are set and you have what you have.
So in short they do NOT believe in their ability to learn and grow. This has long and short term ramifications that
well look at in a second.
People with a growth mindset believe that skills and intelligence can be grown and developed that they are in
control of their ability to learn and grow.
So

Enter Maker & Breaker #2

Maker & Breaker #2: Main Focus/Main Concern
The #1 priority of someone with a fixed mindset (in any situation) is how they look. We can call this performance
focus.
The #1 priority of someone with a growth mindset is learning and getting better process focus
When these are added to the matrix things get interesting
 Lets look at these boxes and see how they impact our ability to learn.
Box #1 Breakdown
People in Box #1 do not believe in their ability to learn and grow (fixed mindset). This can be their belief towards
a certain subject, skill, or even a particular project: I am not a math person, Ill never be able to figure this out,
Im just not a dancer, I cant shoot, I am just naturally good at drawing its a gift and I dont need to work at
it.
BUT
The good news is that theyre not obsessed with what others think of them (priority #1 is NOT how they look).
However, because of their fixed mindset approach to learning they are likely to give up when they cant figure
something out right away and theyre likely to avoid new and challenging situations.

The Approach to Learning Emoji Score:

Box #2 Breakdown
People in Box #2 believe in their ability to learn and develop (growth mindset). This is hard but I can figure it
out, I am good at math because Ive worked hard, If I want to get better at shooting, Ill need to practice more.
AND
Rather than obsessing over how they look their #1 priority is learning and getting better. Theyre more concerned
with the process than performance. They are down to get a little ugly because they know that is how they learn.
People in this box are able to thrive in the wild and deal with all of the difficulties, mistakes, and failures that
come with learning.
 Box #3 Breakdown
People in Box #3 do not believe in their ability to learn and grow (fixed mindset). This can be their belief towards
a certain subject, skill, or even a particular project: I am not a math person, Ill never be able to figure this out,
Im just not a dancer, I cant shoot, I am just naturally good at drawing its a gift and I dont need to work at
it.
AND
Their #1 priority is how they look.
This group is the MOST likely to give up and avoid challenges, get defensive when they get feedback, and
absolutely freak out when they make mistakes.
And its easy to see why. They dont ever want to look bad AND they dont believe in their ability to learn. Not
really a healthy approach to learning, eh?

The Approach to Learning Emoji Score:

Box #4 Breakdown
People in Box #4 believe in their ability to learn and develop (growth mindset). This is hard but I can figure it
out, I am good at math because Ive worked hard, If I want to get better at shooting Ill need to practice more.
BUT
They are so worried about looking bad that they miss out and avoid opportunities to learn.
This is why a lot of us cant dance
We WANT to learn, we would love to be good at it, but we are so worried about looking bad that we avoid getting
the reps needed to get good at it.
Using the Matrix
In a recent interview, Carol Dweck touched on some of the major misconceptions and hurdles involved with the
growth mindset. One of the biggest (and I agree with her 100%) problems she has noticed is coaches, teachers, and
parents telling their kids that its important to have a growth mindset but their practice and actions dont reflect this
at all. They still punish mistakes, they still create a culture that values performance over process, they still label kids
and tell them what they can and cant do
Hopefully this matrix can help change that.
Hang this by your desk, in the locker room, or in the gym as reminder. Ask yourself what box does your group
culture align with? What box does your feedback put a student in? What box are you in? What box are they in?
By MindShift NOVEMBER 16, 2015 By Eduardo Briceo
A growth mindset is the understanding that personal qualities and abilities can change. It leads people
to take on challenges, persevere in the face of setbacks, and become more effective learners. As more and
more people learn about the growth mindset, which was first discovered by Stanford Professor Carol
Dweck, we sometimes observe some confusions about it. Recently some critiques have emerged. Of course
we invite critical analysis and feedback, as it helps all of us learn and improve, but some of the recent
commentary seems to point to misunderstandings of growth mindset research and practice. This article
summarizes some common confusions and offers some reflections.
Confusion #1: What a growth mindset is
When we ask people to tell us what the growth mindset is, we often get lots of different answers, such
as working hard, having high expectations, being resilient, or more general ideas like being open or
flexible. But a growth mindset is none of those things. It is the belief that qualities can change and that we
can develop our intelligence and abilities. The opposite of having a growth mindset is having a fixed
mindset, which is the belief that intelligence and abilities cannot be developed. The reason that this
definition of growth mindset is important is that research has shown that this specific belief leads people
to take on challenges, work harder and more effectively, and persevere in the face of struggle, all of which
makes people more successful learners. It is hard to directly change these behaviors without also working
to change the underlying understanding of the nature of abilities.
Confusion #2: To foster a growth mindset, simply praise children for working hard
A body of research has shown that telling children that theyre smart and implying that their success
depends on it fosters fixed mindsets. When these children later experience struggle, they tend to conclude
that their ability is not high after all, and as a result they lose confidence, so our praise has the opposite
effect of what we intended. On the other hand, praising hard work or strategies used, things that children
control, has been shown to support a growth mindset.
This research was designed to learn more about one of the ways to support a growth mindset, not to
identify all there is to fostering a growth mindset. When people newer to the growth mindset framework
initially learn about this research, they sometimes conclude that we should simply praise children for
working hard. But this is a nascent level of understanding. First, exhorting students to work hard would
be an attempt to directly change behaviors without changing the underlying belief about the nature of
abilities.
Second, students often havent learned that working hard involves thinking hard, which involves
reflecting on and changing our strategies so we become more and more effective learners over time, and
we need to guide them to come to understand this. For example, a novice teacher who sees a student trying
very hard but not making any progress may think well, at least shes working hard, so Ill praise her
effort, but if the student continues to do what shes doing, or even more of it, its unlikely to lead to
success. Instead, the teacher can coach the student to try different approaches to working, studying, and
learning, so that she is thinking more deeply (i.e. mentally working harder) to become a better learner,
and of course the teacher should do the same: reflect on how to adjust instruction. Its not just about
effort. You also need to learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way. . . to get better at
something. (Yeager & Dweck, 2012.)
Third, cultivating growth mindsets involves a gradual process of releasing responsibility to students
for them to become more self-sufficient learners, and praise is a communications technique that tends to
be more helpful earlier in that process of building agency. Later on, adults can ask students questions that
prompt them to reflect, so that theyre progressing down the path toward independence.
Fourth, praise and coaching are not the only, or most powerful, ways to foster growth mindsets. For
example, another method is modeling lifelong learning and making it visible, which gets us to the next
confusion.
Confusion #3: Growth mindset is about changing young people, not adults
Some recent criticisms paint growth mindset work as solely focused on the students and not the adults.
This is a misunderstanding of what growth mindset efforts are about. In our work with educators, we
encourage the adults to start with themselves. If we dont work to shift our own mindset about ourselves
and our students, then we wont work to change many other important things in the system necessary to
improve education. Furthermore, our efforts to foster growth mindsets in students are likely to fail
because we will say and do things that reflect our fixed mindset beliefs, which students will notice. We
must deeply explore mindsets within ourselves and then gradually work to develop our own growth
mindsets and our habits as learners. This means authentically working to become better at what we do
throughout our lives, including how we teach and how we create contexts that help students thrive, and
making our learning process visible to one another and to students.
We encourage the schools we serve to train teachers early in their growth mindset efforts, involving
reflections and discussions on adult beliefs and continuous improvement practices. We
provide professional learning resources to help them do so. Dr. Dweck and other mindset researchers
speak about the importance of fostering a growth mindset in adults and have researched the mindsets of
educators, managers, leaders, and other grownups. Growth mindset research is about learning how we
humans can all become more motivated and effective learners, not about how we can change students but
not ourselves.
Confusion #4: All that matters is whats in the mind
Another confusion about mindset is that the only determinant of success is our mindset. But thats not
the case. Context, culture, environment, and systems matter. For one thing, peoples mindsets (as well as
other beliefs and behaviors) are strongly shaped by the people around them. Beyond that, peoples destiny
is not only a function of whats within them, but also of whats around them. A lot of the early mindset
research studies focused on individuals minds because they were seeking to understand how humans
work. But mindset researchers recognize, research, and speak about the importance of shifting culture,
context, and systems, and both researchers and practitioners actively work on that aspect of change
efforts.
Confusion #5: Improvement is all about changing beliefs and not doing anything else
Related to that, another confusion we see, also reflected in recent commentaries, is that growth mindset
work is solely about fostering the belief that we can improve, but not about changing the educational
system or actually doing anything about that belief. Carol Dweck has talked extensively about changing
learning tasks, testing practices, and grading systems. Too many tasks and teaching approaches are
superficial, irrelevant, unengaging, and not learner-centered. We do need to change these tasks, the
curriculum, and the pedagogy. We need to change the idea that school is about testing rather than about
learning. We also need to better tackle broader issues such as childhood trauma and lack of exposure to
early reading. People who dive deeper into growth mindsets learn about how important these issues are
and how we might begin to address them, and a growth mindset helps them take on the challenges. As
David Yeager and Gregory Walton point out:
[Mindset] interventions complementand do not replacetraditional educational reforms. They do
not teach students academic content or skills, restructure schools, or improve teacher training. Instead,
they allow students to take better advantage of learning opportunities that are present in schools and
tap into existing recursive processes to generate long-lasting effects . . . Indeed, [Mindset] interventions
may make the effects of high-quality educational reforms such as improved instruction or curricula
more apparent (Yeager & Walton, 2011).
Deepening our understanding over time
As with anything else, the deeper we go into mindsets, the deeper our understanding becomes. Over
time, more nuanced questions arise, such as about the relationship between mindset and performance,
results, failure, potential, assessments, mistakes, and many other things. For example, early on a teacher
who is learning about mindset may start oversimplifying mistakes as always being good, but this can
confuse learners, as mistakes are not always something we should seek to do. With time we start
distinguishing stretch mistakes, sloppy mistakes, aha-moment mistakes, and high-stakes mistakes.
 Your Gut Feeling: Fear or Intuition
By Rosalie Puiman
At the very end of our almost 2.5-hour deep coaching conversation, my client asked me this: How do I know
when to trust my intuition and when to disregard it?
Shed had several situations where shed had a negative gut feeling about a situation, ignored it and later found
that ignoring the feeling was the best thing she could have done.
Basically she wondered: Why would I trust my intuition when its so often wrong?
Now thats an interesting question, because I believe intuition is never wrong. So what was going on here?
Suddenly I realized the problem: She wasnt experiencing intuition, but fear.
And then, obviously, she asked me: But if thats true, how do I know when my gut feeling is fear and when its
intuition?
Yep. Great question.
Even though I know how I distinguish between fear and intuition, I didnt have a set of concrete tips handy to
offer her in the few minutes that we had left.
So I owe her an answer, and because I guess she and I may not be the only ones who are not absolutely sure
how to distinguish a gut feeling based in fear, from a gut feeling based in intuition, I decided to write about it here.
What is Intuition?
Lets first start with the basics. Intuition is such a buzzword that almost everyone has their own personal
definition of what intuition is.
I did some research online, and found this straightforward definition:
Intuition is the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.
And I think this is partly true, but intuition is more then just instinctive. Theres more to it then the instinctive
urge to run from danger or to have food and water.
Even though I agree that intuition doesnt need conscious reasoning, I believe it is not without cognitive
elements. Its more consideration than reasoning though. Intuition uses past knowledge and experiences to assess
a situation, as well as a very quick assessment of the present, based on clues and details that may not be obvious
to the rational mind, but are definitely there.
My definition of intuition is:
Intuition is a subconscious assessment of various elements:
the past (e.g. experiences, knowledge),
personal needs and preferences (e.g. how do I want to feel) and
the present (e.g. feelings that arise, choice of words, surroundings and signs other people are
giving), leading to a calculation of the best way to handle a situation.
I basically see intuition as a knowing that is based on more, rather then different elements than the rational
mind can deal with at one given moment.
Is it Fear or Intuition?
Fear and intuition are easily confused, and that has to do with the fact that they are both experienced as a gut
feeling and I mean that literally: a feeling in your gut area.
 Many of us have fallen a little out of touch with our gut feelings, to put it mildly. Were so occupied with our
thoughts and intelligent reasoning, that its hard to understand what our gut means when it has a feeling.
There are ways to distinguish gut feelings based in fear from gut feelings that signal intuition. Heres how:
The difference between Fear and Intuition
The two most important things that separate fear from intuition are
1) Intuition being only about the present. Theres NO worrying about past or future involved.
2) Intuition being neutral, unemotional, whereas fear is highly emotionally charged.
Reliable intuition feels right, it has a compassionate, affirming tone to it.
It confirms that you are on target, without having an overly positive or negative feel to it.
Fear is often anxious, dark or heavy. It has cruel, demeaning or delusional content (to yourself or to others) and
it reflects unhealed psychological wounds.

How to distinguish Fear from Intuition

I have two practices to learn how to distinguish fear from intuition.
The first one is a little heavy, but very helpful: Make a list of everything you are afraid off. After that, it will be
easier to recognize when a gut feeling is referring to one of your fears.
The second practice is from Christine Gutierrez:
Imagine a baby or pet you love try to get a clear image in your head and notice the feeling in your belly that
goes with this picture. It will be expansive.
Then, imagine a destructive image, like failing to get your dream job, gaining lots of kilos or whatever gets you
upset. Notice the feeling: it will be restrictive, shrinking.
Lastly, imagine a fearful feeling based on intuitive guidance, e.g. going to see a therapist to deal with the
destructive feeling you just thought of, even though youve always been afraid to go into therapy.
Close your eyes, and experience BOTH the fear AND the underlying good feeling that indicates you know you
are doing the right thing.
Practice feeling the difference between Fear and Intuition
Its extremely powerful, and very handy, to know how to separate the gut feeling that you can (and should)
trust immediately (intuition) from the one you should look at in compassion (fear). Getting to know the difference
between fear and intuition takes practice and it is absolutely worth the effort.
On a side note: Fearful feelings can be interfering, but they are not all without use. Sometimes fear signals that
moment just before you start something new. In that case, a gut feeling based in fear can be a signal for you to
push on.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic of fear and intuition. Take a moment to add your voice to the
discussion in the comments below