The Growth Mindset

When my daughter in law was studying to become a teacher she introduced me to the  Growth Mindset. 

What I have discovered via Google was:-

Every so often a truly ground breaking idea comes along and the Growth Mindset is one.

• Why brains and talent don’t bring success
• How they can stand in the way of it
• Why praising brains and talent doesn't foster self-esteem and accomplishment, but jeopardizes them
• How teaching a simple idea about the brain raises grades and productivity
• What all great CEOs, parents, teachers, athletes know

The Growth Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.

Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. When you read Mindset, you’ll see how.

The following excellent video really illustrates what we should be doing with the development of our children, and as I found out it could be applied to adults as well.

This is another video explaining the Growth Mindset/

The Power of Conversation

After many years of coaching individuals and teams, I observed that the people that tended to succeed as leaders were those that were able to harness the full power of conversation. People seemed to love working for these leaders for the following reasons:-

- They had developed a high degree of mutual trust

- Ideas and views flowed easily 

- People were not talked over and everyone was given enough airtime to express their views

- People felt respected 

- Conversations were well facilitated with people ‘encouraged’ to get to the point and as a result meetings were well managed and outcomes were delivered

- There was a good balance of challenge and encouragement

I’ve recorded a short video to provide you with an overview of the value and skills of  powerful conversations. During your coaching programme you will work on the component skills such as .Listening with Empathy’, ‘Asking Thoughtful Questions’. Etc

 

Get a L.I.F.E.

 When I was developing the Simpler Smarter Quicker programme I spent time analysing where people allocated their time and energy each day. I tried many categories until I finally felt I had a solution and I liked the word that, with a bit of creative license, became the acronym.

I started off with two categories that came out of my early training on continuous quality improvement. I remember the trainer saying we all have two jobs, doing our job and improving our job.  

I took the initial categories and called them Everyday Routines and Improvement Projects. Then when I analysed deeper I realised there was a category that wasn't accounted for. It was for non value added activities like correcting mistakes, commuting, office chatter and wasted time at meetings. I called this category Fuzzy Stuff. Finally one of the most important categories was Leisure, the category that makes work worthwhile. Going out and having fun, enjoying your family and friends. 

I asked teams to estimate on an average working day how they would split their hours. That is each day from the time they woke up until they went to sleep at night. Over many teams, consistently, they all complained that they had very little 'pure quality leisure' time. They recognised big chunks of waste / non value added activity in Fuzzy Stuff. Everyday Routines were taking too long and left little time for Improvement Projects. This simple analysis proved to be a very powerful wake up call. 

Typically people looked at Fuzzy Stuff and identified areas that could be saved. Pre-pandemic this quite often meant staying at home one day each week, saving commute time and investing that time into leisure e.g. early end to Friday.

Then by focusing on one area at a time, the amount of time spent on everyday routines could be reduced and the saved time repurposed as improvement time.

During the coaching sessions, even though the assessment of how the 'pie' was split was inexact, it provided a broad brush to support sensible improvements. It also gave team members a language that they all easily understood. 

It also supported the need to make changes to GET A LIFE!!!

 

Understanding your Comfort Zone

 

It was on Jay Shetty's programme that I first became fully aware of the detail of the Comfort Zone.

My next blog post will cover my take on the whole area of the comfort zone and how to escape it and grow. 

Escaping your Comfort Zone

 This is my take on the comfort zone and how to exit from its clutches.

To summarise this module

• The comfort zone is not a bad place to be. You feel safe, you have the right skills and your anxiety levels are very low

• The problems happen when your motivation levels drop, you know you not growing BUT you don’t have the courage to take the first step

• What this module explains is that there is a process and with the help of a coach, you can manage your anxiety and move on

• Getting through the fear zone into the learning zone can be fun and fulfilling and you are GROWING!

Life skills for young adults

I am busy watching 'The Time Travelers Wife', a series on the TV. Henry, the key character, is an ordinary man with an extraordinary gift, a gene that allows him to travel through time involuntarily. The time travelling takes some doing, so adult Henry is able to go back in time and help young Henry to learn to live with his time travel ability.

As a retired trainer, coach and facilitator with many years in leadership, team and personal efficiency development, I have asked myself this question. If I could time travel back to Ian aged 17, what advice would I give him and what life skills would I teach him, that would enable him to live a more fulfilling life. I feel at 78 that I have lived a meaningful and very happy life, but I know along the way I could have benefited from coaching from an older Ian. Coaching would not have changed the route of my learning journey, but I think I would have appreciated and learned more from the learning events I encountered along the way.

  

The picture on the left was taken in the prefects cottage (called the bush and yes we were allowed to smoke) at Plumtree School in (what is now) Zimbabwe. 

Advice I would give young Ian:-

1. Focus on LESS = MORE (by focusing on the few areas that really matter, you will achieve far more). 
2. Communicate in a simple but compelling way, making sure people get the message and buy in to what you want to change.
3. Assume nothing ... always ask questions to clarify.
4. Success and happiness are seldom the same thing, so periodically check to make sure you are not sacrificing too much of your happiness for your success.
5. Forget the rule book but always live by your personal values.
1. Put family first and let them know through your behaviour how much they mean to you.
2. Surround yourself with caring and challenging friends.
3. Trust, being open and honest is fundamental to all relationships.
4. Keep life simple and easy to manage.
5. Have fun, be free, enjoy life ...be HAPPY.

Skills I would teach young Ian:-

1. How to live a mindful life. [WHY: I learned mindfulness late in my life and wished I had been able to meditate, switch off autopilot and achieve a calm state during my youth]
2. How to work simpler, smarter and quicker.[WHY: my time management / personal effectiveness was rubbish up until I completed a personal efficiency programme. That transformed the way I worked and helped me achieve more in less time plus improved my work life balance]
3. How to communicate effectively. [WHY: learning presentation skills, influencing skills and the storyboard approach gave me a powerful skill that served me well throughout my career]
4. How to solve problems. [WHY: Exposure to quality improvement taught me tools and techniques that I could apply to solving problems and I have used them ever since for work and life] 
5. How to make decisions. [WHY: Possibly one of the most powerful tools that I learned in my 30s and have used ever since]

My proudest coaching challenge now awaits me

My two awesome 17 year old granddaughters, are into the second years of their A levels and then they are destined to go on to university to do meaningful degrees. Well the good news is that have accepted me as their life coach ... a very proud moment!

So we have decided that the starting point will be for me to help them to approach their lives in a Simpler Smarter and Quicker way. 

I admit I'm a bit rusty using the latest version of Camtasia but I have recorded a 12 minute video to explain what Simpler Smarter Quicker will cover.

I will be using this new blog to share hints, tips, tricks and skill modules that I believe will help my granddaughters succeed in life. Helping them to achieve their full potential but with plenty of fun, laughter and happiness.