How would you define organizational culture?
It certainly involves behaviors, attitudes, traditions, values, unwritten rules, and many other intangibles. But of this we may be certain: culture is not about warm and fuzzy stuff. Nor is it about singing Kumbaya around a campfire.
For good or ill, culture is a powerful influence in your organization. It affects your mental—and even physical—health. It impacts your performance and that of everyone around you.
Culture, in short, is a big deal.
Dr. Mary C. Murphy offers some excellent insights in her book CULTURES OF GROWTH: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations.
Murphy, an award-winning social psychologist at Indiana University, offers a thoughtful reconsideration of individual and team success. She shows how to create and sustain a growth mindset in any organization’s culture.
Murphy studied under Stanford professor Carol Dweck who coined the terms “fixed” and “growth” mindset. In a “fixed” mindset, talent and intelligence are viewed as predetermined traits. In a “growth” mindset, talent and intelligence can be nurtured.
So, what does Murphy see as the keys to influencing business leaders to put more focus on mindset in the workplace?
“In my experience, many business leaders are motivated by the challenges they face in rapidly changing environments—from energy to technology and beyond,” she says. “The only broadly effective way to meet these challenges is to create Cultures of Growth.”
Murphy’s research shows that such cultures enable the kind of innovation, agility, resilience, measured risk-taking, and deep collaboration necessary to meet the world’s increasingly complex demands.
“We also know that Cultures of Growth maximize employee engagement and development. The combined effect is greater bottomline success than their fixed-mindset counterparts.”
How can you determine if your environment is fixed or growth oriented?
Murphy says that in a fixed mindset culture—she calls it a Culture of Genius—the focus is primarily on star performers, with the belief that these people are inherently more capable due to their superior intelligence or ability. Conversely, she says, the main belief in a Culture of Growth is that given the right supports, everyone can succeed. The reality, she believes, is that most cultures aren’t one or the other, but a mixture.
Wouldn’t an organization want to hire geniuses? Aren’t they the high performers?
“In a Culture of Genius, most of the focus is on a handful of geniuses who are counted on to make the biggest impact, much like a sports team that has a few standouts who carry the team,” Murphy says. “In a Culture of Growth, everyone has the potential to be a high performer. My research reveals that high performers actually perform better in Cultures of Growth. Why? These environments are both more rigorous and more supportive. They expect more, but they also provide the tools and resources necessary to learn and grow.”
As it turns out, Murphy says, even geniuses don’t fare well in Cultures of Genius. She says that in these environments, high performers are put on a pedestal, and that puts them in a fragile place where they’re afraid to fall. “We see this when we label schoolchildren as ‘gifted,’” she says. “They’re terrified of underperforming, so they play it safe or hide their mistakes.”
Murphy says there are three main points commonly misunderstood about mindset:
1. There are two mindsets—fixed and growth—and you have either one or the other. In reality, it’s not either/or. Instead, mindset is on a continuum, and we all move along that continuum between our fixed and growth mindset. What causes us to move one way or another is actually the basis of the second misunderstanding.
2. Mindset is located only in your mind. It’s false that if you have a certain mindset, it’s based only on who you are. In reality, mindset is influenced largely by our environment.
3. Mindset is all about effort. With a true growth mindset, effort is not the only important factor. Rather, it’s about what Murphy calls effective effort: working hard and moving in the right direction.
Because all this has such an impact on performance, how can people shape their environments to encourage a growth mindset?
“I’m not saying we’re victims of our environment. We’re all culture creators, meaning we shape our surroundings,” Murphy says. “Shifting an entire culture is a group effort, but we each play an important role. The key is to look at everything through the lens of learning—how you can grow and develop in each task and interaction.”
She offers an example. “Say your boss says, ‘Good job’ after your presentation. That feedback doesn’t exactly tell you what you did well and how you can repeat that success in the future. You can ask what they specifically liked about what you did—and what you could improve in the future. You are getting the growth-minded feedback you need and you’re moving your boss toward their growth mindset too.”
So, what if you are the boss? “You can give clear and specific feedback that includes suggested ways your subordinates can replicate success and stretch further,” Murphy says. “This helps gear the whole team toward their growth mindset and maximizes learning and development.”
How does mindset impact the bottom line?
“Let’s say you have two companies,” Murphy suggests. “One is rife with internal competition. Backbiting and information hoarding are common because people are trying to maintain their advantage. Risk-taking and mistakes expose who is smart and belongs. In the second company, collaboration is encouraged, incentivized, and praised. Mistakes are normalized and the learning is shared widely so that everyone benefits. Risk-taking is encouraged and supported, and the attitude is that good ideas come from everywhere, not just a select few ‘geniuses.’ Which do you think is going to have a stronger bottom line? The second company—the Culture of Growth.”
Murphy cites a study that she and her team did with hundreds of startups and early-stage organizations. “We found that those with strong Cultures of Growth were more likely to meet and exceed their fundraising goals. In more established companies, those with strong Cultures of Growth are more innovative, resilient, and financially successful than those with strong Cultures of Genius.”
For jobseekers who appreciate the importance of a growth mindset culture, Murphy offers advice on how to assess the culture of an organization that’s trying to recruit them.
She says that to assess corporate culture, she typically engages something called a “cues audit,” reviewing how companies present themselves in public materials such as mission statements, websites, and so on. “Individuals can do that, too,” she says. “But just like when you’re considering a new doctor or mechanic, one of the most effective methods is to ask others about their experiences. For instance, inquire how decisions are typically made and where ideas come from. Are they top-down or from a select set of stars, or does input come from anywhere? Ask about performance appraisal and promotions. Do managers celebrate flawless performance, or do they reward measured risk-taking, collaboration, and learning rapidly from failure?”
How can you cultivate a growth mindset?
It sounds counterintuitive, Murphy acknowledges, but one of the best ways to lean into your growth mindset is to normalize your fixed mindset.
“Recognize that we all have times when we embody our growth mindset and when we embody our fixed mindset,” she says. “Then, identify which triggers shift you toward your fixed mindset. When those situations arise, you can be vigilant for signs that you’re moving along the continuum and take actions to shift yourself toward your growth mindset.”
For example, Murphy says, if the success of others is something that pushes you toward your fixed mindset, you can approach the person who just got praised for their presentation or scored well on the test. “Ask them what they did to prepare so that you can find ways to authentically pursue your own success. If critical feedback sends you right into your fixed mindset, you can ask your supervisor to share critiques in a way that maximizes your learning and development, and you can ask for resources and support to help you build those skills.”