Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

1 When I was a young researcher: This research was conducted with Dick Reppucci and with Carol Diener.

2 Through the ages, these alleged physical differences: See Steven J. Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man (New York: Norton, 1981) for a history of how people have tried to explain human differences in terms of innate physical characteristics.

3 It may surprise you to know: Alfred Binet (Suzanne Heisler, trans.), Modern Ideas About Children (Menlo Park, CA: Suzanne Heisler, 1975) (original work, 1911). See also: Robert S. Siegler, “The Other Alfred Binet,” Developmental Psychology 28 (1992), 179–190; René Zazzo, “Alfred Binet,” Prospects: The Quarterly Review of Comparative Education 23 (1993), 101–112.

4 “A few modern philosophersȁ: Binet, Modern Ideas, 105–107.

5 In fact, as Gilbert Gottlieb: Gilbert Gottlieb, “Normally Occurring Environmental and Behavioral Influences on Gene Activity: From Central Dogma to Probabilistic Epigenesis,” Psychological Review 105 (1995), 792–802.

6 Robert Sternberg: Robert Sternberg, “Intelligence, Competence, and Expertise.” In Andrew Elliot and Carol S. Dweck (eds.), The Handbook of Competence and Motivation (New York: Guilford Press, 2005).

7 A View from the Two Mindsets: This research was conducted with Wenjie Zhao and Claudia Mueller.

8 In fact, studies show: See the fine work of David Dunning.

9 Recently, we set out to see: This research was conducted with Joyce Ehrlinger.

10 Howard Gardner: Howard Gardner, Extraordinary Minds (New York: Basic Books, 1997).

11 In a poll of 143 creativity researchers: Robert J. Sternberg (ed.), Handbook of Creativity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

12 Which mindset do you have?: These measures were developed with Sheri Levy, Valanne MacGyvers, C. Y. Chiu, and Ying-yi Hong.

1 Benjamin Barber, an eminent sociologist: Carole Hyatt and Linda Gottlieb, When Smart People Fail (New York: Penguin Books, 1987/1993), 232.

2 We offered four-year-olds a choice: This research was done with Charlene Hebert, and was followed up by work with Pat Smiley, Gail Heyman, and Kathy Cain.

3 One seventh-grade girl summed it up: Thanks to Nancy Kim for this quote.

4 It’s another to pass up an opportunity: This work was done with Ying-yi Hong, C. Y. Chiu, Derek Lin, and Wendy Wan.

5 Brain Waves: This research is being conducted with Jennifer Mangels and Catherine Good and is supported by a grant from the Department of Education.

6 It’s not just on intellectual tasks: This research was carried out with Stephanie Morris and Melissa Kamins.

7 Lee Iacocca had a bad case: Doron Levin, Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995).

8 Darwin Smith, looking back: Reported in Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 20.

9 Albert Dunlap, a self-professed fixed mindsetter: Albert Dunlap with Bob Andelman, Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great (New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1996); John A. Byrne, “How Al Dunlap Self-Destructed,” Business Week, July 6, 1998.

10 Lou Gerstner, an avowed growth mindsetter: Lou Gerstnr, m>Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002).

11 “All my life I’ve been playing”: Mia Hamm with Aaron Heifetz, Go for the Goal: A Champion’s Guide to Winning in Soccer and in Life (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 3.

12 Patricia Miranda was a chubby, unathletic: Judy Battista, “A Tiny Female Pioneer for Olympic Wrestling,” The New York Times, May 16, 2004.

13 In 1995, Christopher Reeve, the actor: Christopher Reeve, Nothing Is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life (New York, Random House, 2002).

14 I watched it happen: This work was done with Heidi Grant.

15 We saw the same thing in younger students: This work was with Claudia Mueller.

16 Marina Semyonova, a great Russian dancer: Margaret Henry, “Passion and Will, Undimmed by 80 Years of Ballet,” The New York Times, January 10, 1999.

17 When Do You Feel Smart: This work was carried out with Elaine Elliott and later with Valanne MacGyvers.

18 “We were stars”: Stephen Glass, The Fabulist (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003). This is a moment-by-moment account, which Glass has published as a novel.

19 To find out, we showed: This work was done with Jeremy Stone.

20 So common is the belief: Reported in Steve Young, Great Failures of the Extremely Successful (Los Angeles: Tallfellow Press, 2002).

21 “Morton,” Kennedy told him: Ibid., 47.

22 People with the growth mindset know: This survey was conducted with Catherine Good and Aneeta Rattan.

23 Is there another way: Charles C. Manz, The Power of Failure (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2002), 38.

24 Jack Welch, the celebrated CEO: Jack Welch with John A. Byrne, Jack: Straight from the Gut (New York: Warner Books, 2001).

25 John McEnroe had a fixed mindset: John McEnroe with James Kaplan, You Cannot Be Serious (New York: Berkley, 2002).

26 McEnroe used sawdust: Ibid., 159.

27 He goes on to tell us: Ibid., 160.

28 “Everything was about you”: Ibid., 158.

29 “I was shocked”: From Janet Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks: Lessons from the World’s Greatest Champion (New York: John Wiley, 1999), 95.

30 Tom Wolfe, in The Right Stuff: Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff (New York: Bantam, 1980), 31. Also cited in Morgan W. McCall, High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998), 5.

31 “There is no such thing”: Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos, Yeager (New York: Bantam, 1985), 406. Also cited in McCall, High Flyers, 17.

32 As a New York Times article: Amy Waldman, “Why Nobody Likes a Loser,” The NewYork Times, August 21, 1999.

33 “I would have been a different”: Clifton Brown, “Out of a Bunker, and Out of a Funk, Els Takes the Open,” The New York Times, July 22, 2002.

34 Each April when the skinny envelopes: Amy Dickinson, “Skinny Envelopes,” Time, April 3, 2000. (Thanks to Nellie Sabin for calling my attention to this article.)

35 Jim Marshall, former defensive player: Young, Great Failures of the Extremely Successful, 7–11.

36 Bernard Loiseau was one of the top: Elaine Ganley, “Top Chef’s Death Shocks France, Sparks Condemnation of Powerful Food Critics,” Associated Press, February 25, 2003.

37 In one study, seventh graders: This work was done with Lisa Sorich Blackwell and Kali Trzesniewski.

38 College students, after doing poorly: This work was with David Nussbaum.

39 Jim Collins tells: Collins, Good to Great, 80.

40 It was never his fault: McEnroe, You Cannot Be Serious.

41 John Wooden, the legendary: John Wooden with Steve Jamison, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 1997), 55.

42 When Enron, the energy giant: Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), 414.

43 Jack Welch, the growth-minded CEO: Welch, Jack, 224.

44 As a psychologist and an educator: The work described was carried out with Allison Baer and Heidi Grant.

45 Malcolm Gladwell: Presented in an invited address at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 2002.

46 A report from researchers: “Report of the Steering Committee for the Women’s Initiative at Duke University,” August 2003.

47 Americans aren’t the only people: Jack Smith, “In the Weight Rooms of Paris, There Is a Chic New Fragrance: Sweat,” The New York Times, June 21, 2004.

48 Seabiscuit: Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (New York: Random House, 2001).

49 Equally moving is the parallel story: Laura Hillenbrand, “A Sudden Illness,” The New Yorker, July 7, 2003.

50 Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg made her violin debut: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Nadja, On My Way (New York: Crown, 1989); Barbara L. Sand, Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician (Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 2000).

51 “I was used to success”: Salerno-Sonnenberg, Nadja, 49.

52 “Everything I was going through”: Ibid., 50.

53 Then, one day: Ibid., 50.

54 There were few American women: Hyatt and Gottlieb, When Smart People Failem>, 25–27.

55 “I don’t really understand”: Ibid., 27.

56 “I often thought”: Ibid., 25.

57 Billie Jean King says: Billie Jean King with Kim Chapin, Billie Jean (New York: Harper & Row, 1974).

58 A lawyer spent seven years: Hyatt and Gottlieb, When Smart People Fail, 224.

59 Can everything about people be changed?: Martin Seligman has written a very interesting book on this subject: What You Can Change … And What You Can’t (New York: Fawcett, 1993).

60 Joseph Martocchio conducted a study: Joseph J. Martocchio, “Effects of Conceptions of Ability on Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Learning in Training,” Journal of Applied Psychology 79 (1994), 819–825.

61 The same thing happened with Berkeley students: Richard Robins and Jennifer Pals, “Implicit Self-Theories in the Academic Domain: Implications for Goal Orientation, Attributions, Affect, and Self-Esteem Change,” Self and Identity 1 (2002), 313–336.

62 Michelle Wie is a teenage golfer: Clifton Brown, “An Education with Hard Courses,” The New York Times, January 13, 2004.

63 “I think I learned that I can”: Clifton Brown, “Wie Shows Power but Her Putter Let Her Down,” The New York Times, January 16, 2004.

1 Edison was not a loner: Paul Israel, Edison: A Life of Invention (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998).

2 Yet Darwin’s masterwork: Howard E. Gruber, Darwin on Man: A Psychological Study of Scientific Creativity, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981); Charles Darwin, Autobiographies (Michael Neve and Sharon Messenger, eds.) (New York: Penguin Books, 1903/2002).

3 Mozart labored: Robert W. Weisberg, “Creativity and Knowledge.” In Robert J. Sternberg (ed.), Handbook of Creativity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

4 Back on earth, we measured: This work was done in collaboration with Lisa Sorich Blackwell and Kali Trzesniewski. Thanks also to Nancy Kim for collecting quotes from the students.

5 George Danzig was a graduate student: Told by George Danzig in Cynthia Kersey, Unstoppable (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 1998).

6 John Holt, the great educator: John Holt, How Children Fail (New York: Addison Wesley, 1964/1982), 14.

7 The College Transition: This work was done with Heidi Grant.

8 In her book Gifted Children: Ellen Winner, Gifted Children: Myths and Realities (New York: Basic Books, 1996).

9 Michael’s mother reports: Ibid., 21.

10 Garfield High School: Jay Matthews, Escalante: The Best Teacher in America (New York: Henry Holt, 1998).

11 Marva Collins: Marva Collins and Civia Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way: Returning to Excellence in Education (Los Angeles: Jeremy Tarcher, 1982/1990).

12 He saw four-year-olds: Ibid., 160.

13 As the three- and four-years-olds: Marva Collins, “Ordinary” Children, Extraordinary Teachers (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing, 1992), 4.

14 Benjamin Bloom: Benjamin S. Bloom, Developing Talent in Young People (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985).

15 Bloom concludes: Ibid., 4.

16 Falko Rheinberg, a researcher in Germany: Falko Rheinberg, Leistungsbewertung und Lernmotivation [Achievement Evaluation and Motivation to Learn] (Göttingen: Hogrefe, 1980), 87, 116. Also reported at the conference of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, April 2001.

17 “Come on, peach”: Collins and Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way, 19.

18 On the opposite page are the before-and-after: Betty Edwards, The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1979/1999), 18–20.

19 Jackson Pollock: Elizabeth Frank, Pollock (New York: Abbeville Press, 1983); Evelyn Toynton, “A Little Here, A Little There,” The New York Times Book Review, January 31, 1999.

20 Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003).

21 “There are no ‘natural’ geniuses”: Ibid., 7.

22 The Danger of Praise: This work was conducted with Claudia Mueller and with Melissa Kamins.

23 Adam Guettel has been called: Jesse Green, “A Complicated Gift,” The New York Times Magazine, July, 6, 2003.

24 Research by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson: Claude M. Steele and Joshua Aronson, “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance of African-Americans,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68 (1995), 797–811.

25 We asked African American students: This research was done with Bonita London.

26 To find out how this happens: This work was done with Catherine Good and Aneeta Rattan, and is being supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

27 Many females have a problem not only with: This has been studied by Tomi-Ann Roberts and Susan Nolen-Hoeksema.

28 When we observed in grade school: This research was conducted with William Davidson, Sharon Nelson, and Bradley Enna.

29 Frances Conley: Frances K. Conley, Walking Out on the Boys (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999).

30 “Is a honey,” she wondered: Ibid., 65.

31 Julie Lynch, a budding techie: Michael J. Ybarra, “Why Won’t Women Write Code?Sky, December 1999.

32 The Polgar family: Carlin Flora, “The Grandmaster Experiment,” Psychology Today, August 2005.

1 As Michael Lewis tells us: Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (New York: Norton, 2003).

2 “It wasn’t merely”: Ibid., 9.

3 As one scout said: Ibid., 48.

4 “He had no concept of failure”: Ibid., 46.

5 Beane continues, “I started to get”: Ibid., 47.

6 Muhammad Ali failed these measurements: Felix Dennis and Don Atyeo, Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (New York: Hyperion, 2003).

7 He pulled back his torso: Ibid., 14.

8 Not only did he study Liston’s: Ibid., 92.

9 Ali said, “Liston had to believe”: Ibid., 96.

10 Float like a butterfly: Ibid., 74.

11 “He was a paradox”: Ibid., 14.

12 Michael Jordan: Janet Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks: Lessons from the World’s Greatest Champion (New York: John Wiley, 1999).

13 His mother says: Ibid., 7.

14 Former Bulls assistant coach John Bach: Ibid., 29.

15 For Jordan, success stems: Ibid., 35.

16 The Babe was not a natural, either: Robert W. Creamer, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life (New York: Penguin Books, 1974/1983).

17 Robert Creamer, his biographer: Creamer, Babe, 301.

18 “He could experiment at the plate”: Ibid., 109.

19 Yet we cling fast: Stephen J. Gould, Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball (New York: Norton, 2003).

20 What about Wilma Rudolph: Tom Biracree, Wilma Rudolph (New York: Chelsea House, 1988).

21 After her incredible career, she said: Ibid., 107.

22 What about Jackie Joyner-Kersee: Jackie Joyner-Kersee with Sonja Steptoe, A Kind of Grace (New York: Warner Books, 1997).

23 “There is something about seeing myself improve”: Ibid., 60.

24 Did you know: Clifton Brown, “On Golf: It’s Not How for Tiger, It’s Just by How Much,” The New York Times, July 25, 2000.

25 Wills was an eager baseball player: Cynthia Kersey, Unstoppable (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 1998).

26 He proudly announced to friends: Ibid., 152.

27 At the seven-and-a-half: Ibid., 153.

28 This really hit me: Buster Olney, “Speedy Feet, but an Even Quicker Thinker,” The New York Times, February 1, 2002.

29 Bruce Jenner, 1976 Olympic gold medalist: Mike McGovern and Susan Shelly, The Quotable Athlete (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000), 113.

30 They hadn’t won a World Series: Gould, Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville.

31 As New York Times writer: Jack Curry, “After Melee, Spin Control Takes Over,” The New York Times, October 13, 2003.

32 Even the Boston writers were aghast: Dan Shaughnessy, “It Is Time for Martinez to Grow Up,” The New York Times, October 13, 2003. (During this series, the Globe sportswriters’ columns appeared in the Times and vice versa.)

33 Let’s take it from the top: William Rhoden, “Momentous Victory, Most Notably Achieved,” The New York Times, July 10, 2000.

34 “Just keep pumping your arms”: Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 280.

35 “The strength for that sixth jump”: Ibid., 298.

36 But, as Billie Jean King tells us: King, Billie Jean, 236.

37 When the match: Ibid., 78.

38 Jackie Joyner-Kersee had her Eureka!: Joyner-Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 63.

39 Often called the best woman soccer player: Mia Hamm with Aaron Heifetz, Go for the Goal: A Champion’s Guide to Winning in Soccer and in Life (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 31.

40 “It is,” said Hamm: Ibid., 36.

41 By the way, did Hamm think: Ibid., 3.

42 Jack Nicklaus, the famed golfer: Tom Callahan, In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Gold with Tiger Woods (New York: Crown, 2003), 24.

43 John Wooden: John Wooden with Jack Tobin, They Call Me Coach (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1972), 63–65.

44 “I believe ability”: John Wooden with Steve Jamison, Wooden (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 1997), 99.

45 Stuart Biddle and his colleagues: “Goal Orientation and Conceptions of the Nature of Sport Ability in Children: A Social Cognitive Approach,” British Journal of Social Psychology 35 (1996), 399–414; “Motivation for Physical Activity in Young People: Entity and Incremental Beliefs About Athletic Ability,” Journal of Sports Sciences 21 (2003), 973–989. See also Yngvar Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability and Self-Regulation Strategies in Physical Education Classes,” Educational Psychology 23 (2003), 141–157; “Self-Handicapping Strategies in Physical Education Classes: The Influence of Implicit Theories of the Nature of Ability and Achievement Goal Orientations,” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 2 (2001), 139–156.

46 Finding #1: This finding is from the research by Biddle and his colleagues.

47 “For me the joy of athletics”: Joyner-Kersee, A Kind of Grace, 60.

48 In fact, he says: Wooden, Wooden, 53.

49 After the ’98 Masters tournament: Dave Anderson, “No Regrets for Woods,” The New York Times, April 4, 1998.

50 Or after a British Open: Callahan, In Search of Tiger, 219.

51 Tiger is a hugely ambitious man: Ibid., 220.

52 Mia Hamm tells us: Hamm, Go for the Goal, 201.

53 “They saw that we truly love”: Ibid., 243.

54 “There was a time”: John McEnroe with James Kaplan, You Cannot Be Serious (New York: Berkley, 2002), 10.

55 “Some people don’t want to rehearse”: Ibid., 155.

56 Finding #2: Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability,” 141–157.

57 “You can’t leave”: Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks, 99.

58 Michael Jordan embraced his failures: Ibid., 107.

59 Here’s how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Wooden, Wooden, 100.

60 For example, he hoped desperately: McEnroe, You Cannot Be Serious, 112.

61 “God, if I lose to Patrick”: Ibid., 259.

62 Here’s how failure motivated him: Ibid., 119.

63 In 1981, McEnroe bought: Ibid., 274.

64 Here’s how failure motivated Sergio Garcia: Callahan, In Search of Tiger, 164, 169.

65 Finding #3: Ommundsen, “Implicit Theories of Ability and Self-Regulation Strategies,” Educational Psychology, 2003, 23, 141–157; “Self-Handicapping Strategies,” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2001 2, 139–156.

66 How come Michael Jordan’s skill: Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks, 177.

67 Butch Harmon, the renowned coach: Callahan, In Search of Tiger, 75.

68 With this in mind, Tiger’s dad: Ibid., 237.

69 “I know my game”: Ibid., 219.

70 “I love working on shots”: Ibid., 300.

71 “He’s twelve”: Ibid., 23.

72 Mark O’Meara, Woods’s golf partner: Ibid., 25.

73 For example, when he didn’t: McEnroe, You Cannot Be Serious, 166.

74 In fact, rather than combating: Ibid., 29.

75 He wished someone else: Ibid., 207.

76 “The system letme get away”: Ibid., 190.

77 “In our society”: Lowe, Michael Jordan Speaks, 37.

78 Coach John Wooden claims: Wooden, Wooden, 113.

79 “I believe, for example”: Ibid., 78.

80 When asked before a game: Charlie Nobles, “Johnson Is Gone, So Bucs, Move On,” The New York Times, November 20, 2003; Dave Anderson, “Regarding Johnson, Jets Should Just Say No,” The New York Times, November 21, 2003.

81 “I am a team player, but”: Anderson, “Regarding Johnson.”

82 When Nyad hatched her plan: Kersey, Unstoppable, 212.

83 Iciss Tillis is a college: Viv Bernstein, “The Picture Doesn’t Tell the Story,” The New York Times, January 24, 2004.

84 It’s six-foot-three Candace Parker: Ira Berkow, “Stardom Awaits a Prodigy and Assist Goes to Her Father,” The New York Times, January 20, 2004.

1 According to Malcolm Gladwell: Malcolm Gladwell, “The Talent Myth,” The New Yorker, July 22, 2002.

2 Remember the study where we interviewed: That study was performed with Ying-yi Hong, C. Y. Chiu, Derek Lin, and Wendy Wan.

3 And remember how we put students: This research was conducted with Claudia Mueller.

4 Jim Collins set out to discover: Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t (New York: HarperCollins, 2001).

5 “They used to call me the prosecutor”: Ibid., 75.

6 Robert Wood and Albert Bandura: Robert Wood and Albert Bandura, “Impact of Conceptions of Ability on Self-Regulatory Mechanisms and Complex Decision Making,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56 (1989), 407–415.

7 As Collins puts it: Collins, Good to Great, 26.

8 Says Collins: The good-to-great Kroger: Ibid., 65–69.

9 According to James Surowiecki: James Surowiecki, “Blame Iacocca: How the Former Chrysler CEO Caused the Corporate Scandals,” Slate, July 24, 2002.

10 Warren Bennis, the leadership guru: Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 1989/2003), xxix.

11 Iacocca wasn’t like that: Lee Iacocca with William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography (New York: Bantam Books, 1984).

12 What’s more, “If Henry was king”: Ibid., 101.

13 “I was His Majesty’s special protégé”: Ibid., 83.

14 “All of us … lived the good life”: Ibid., 101.

15 “I had always clung to the idea”: Ibid., 144.

16 He wondered whether Henry Ford: Doron P. Levin, Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995), 31.

17 “You don’t realize what a favor”: Ibid., 231.

18 Just a few years after: Iacocca, Iacocca, xvii.

19 Within a short time, however: Levin, Behind the Wheel at Chrysler.

20 In an editorial: Ibid., 312.

21 So in a bid: “Iacocca, Spurned in Return Attempts, Lashes Out,” USA Today, March 19, 2002.

22 Albert Dunlap saved dying companies: Albert J. Dunlap with Bob Andelman, Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great (New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1996).

23 “Did I earn it?”: Ibid., 21.

24 “If you’re in business”: Ibid., 199.

25 A woman stood up and asked: Ibid., 62.

26 “Making my way in the world”: Ibid., 107–108.

27 “The most ridiculous term”: Ibid., 196.

28 “Eventually, I have gotten bored”: Ibid., 26.

29 Then in 1996: John A. Byrne, “How Al Dunlap Self-Destructed,” Business Week, July 6, 1998.

30 Ken Lay, the company’s founder: Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (New York: Penguin Group, 2003).

31 Kinder was also the only person: Ibid., 92.

32 Even as Lay: Ibid., 89.

33 “Ron doesn’t get it”: Ibid., 69.

34 “Well, it’s so obvious”: Ibid., 233.

35 As McLean and Elkind report: Ibid., 40.

36 Said Amanda Martin, an Enron executive: Ibid., 121.

37 Resident geniuses almost brought down: Alec Klein, Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003).

38 Speaking about AOL executives: Ibid., 171.

39 As Morgan McCall: Morgan W. McCall, High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998), xiii. McCall also analyzes the effects on corporate culture of believing in natural talent instead of the potential to develop. “The message of High Flyers,” he says, “is that leadership ability can be learned, that creating a context that supports the development of talent can become a source of competitive advantage, and that velopment of leaders is itself a leadership responsibility,” xii.

40 Harvey Hornstein, an expert: Harvey A. Hornstein, Brutal Bosses and Their Prey (New York: Riverhead Books, 1996), 49.

41 Hornstein describes Paul Kazarian: Ibid., 10.

42 An engineer at a major aircraft: Ibid., 54.

43 In Good to Great, Collins notes: Jim Collins, Good to Great, 72.

44 According to Collins and Porras: James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (New York: HarperCollins, 1994/2002), 165.

45 Ray Macdonald of Burroughs: Ibid., 166.

46 The same thing happened at Texas: Ibid.

47 Andrew Carnegie once said: John C. Maxwell, Developing the Leaders Around You (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 15.

48 Warren Bennis has said: Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, 19.

49 When Jack Welch took over: “Overvalued: Why Jack Welch Isn’t God,” The New Republic, June 11, 2001. Even this article, which explains why Welch should not be regarded as a god-like figure, details his remarkable accomplishments.

50 Fortune magazine called Welch: Ibid.

51 But to me even more impressive: Steve Bennett, “The Boss: Put It in Writing Please,” The New York Times, May 9, 2004.

52 Instead, it’s “I hate having to”: Jack Welch with John A. Byrne, Jack: Straight from the Gut (New York: Warner Books, 2001), ix.

53 Or “[These people] filled my journey”: Ibid., 439.

54 In 1971, Welch was being considered: Ibid., 42.

55 One day, young “Dr.”Welch: Ibid., 36.

56 “The Kidder experience never left me”: Ibid., 228–229.

57 What he learned was this: Ibid., 384.

58 When Welch was a young engineer: Ibid., 27.

59 “Eventually I learned”: Ibid., 54.

60 One evening, Welch addressed: Ibid., 97–98.

61 In front of five hundred managers: Ibid., 189.

62 “As a result, leaders were encouraged”: Ibid., 186.

63 “You owe it to America”: Louis V. Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), p. 16.

64 Six days after he arrived: Ibid., 78.

65 He dedicated his book to them: Ibid., v.

66 “Hierarchy means very little to me”: Ibid., 24.

67 “[IBM stock] has done nothing”: Ibid., 57.

68 That was the Xerox Anne Mulcahy: Betsy Morris, “The Accidental CEO,” Fortune, June 23, 2003.

69 Fortune named Mulcahy “the hottest turnaround”: “Most Powerful Women in Business 2004,” Fortune, October 18, 2004.

70 For example, as Fortune writer Betsy: Morris, “The Accidental CEO.”

71 She was tough: Ibid.

72 After slaving away: Ibid.

73 But a year later she knew: Ibid.

74 Women now hold more key positions: “Most Powerful Women in Business 2004.”

75 In fact, Fortune magazine called Meg: Eryn Brown, “How Can a Dot-Com Be This Hot?” Fortune, January 21, 2002; Patricia Sellers, “eBay’s Secret,” Fortune, October 18, 2004.

76 Researcher Robert Wood and his colleagues: Robert E. Wood, Katherine Williams Phillips, and Carmen Tabernero, “Implicit Theories of Ability, Processing Dynamics and Performance in Decision-Making Groups,” Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia.

77 In the early 1970s, Irving Janis: Irving Janis, Groupthink, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972/1982).

78 “Everything had broken right for him”: Ibid., 35.

79 Schlesinger also said, “Had one senior”: Ibid., 38.

80 To prevent this from happening: Collins, Good to Great, 71.

81 An outside consultant kept asking Enron: McLean and Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room, 241.

82 “We got to the point”: Ibid., 230.

83 Alfred P. Sloan, the former CEO: Janis, Groupthink, 71. From Peter F. Drucker, The Effective Executive (New York: Harper & Row, 1966).

84 Herodotus, writing: Janis, Groupthink, 71.

85 He said the new, rounder cars: Levin, Behind the Wheel, 102–103.

86 David Packard, on the other hand: David Packard, The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).

87 You can’t pick up a magazine: Jean M. Twenge, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever Before (New York: Free Press, 2007).

88 Laura Kray and Michael Haselhuhn have shown: Laura Kray and Michael Haselhuhn, “Implicit Theories of Negotiating Ability and Performance: Longitudinal and Experimental Evidence.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 93 (2007), 49–64.

89 Studies by Peter Heslin: Peter Heslin, Gary Latham, and Don VandeWalle. “The Effect of Implicit Person Theory on Performance Appraisals.” Journal of Applied Psychology 90 (2005), 842–56; Peter Heslin, Don VandeWalle, and Gary Latham. “Keen to Help? Managers’ IPT and Their Subsequent Employee Coaching” Personnel Psychology 59 (2006), 871–902.

90 When Warren Bennis interviewed: Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, xxix.

91 Bennis concurred: “I believe”: Ibid., xxxii.

92 John Zenger and Joseph Folkman: John H. Zenger and Joseph Folkman, The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002).

93 Or, as Morgan McCall argues: McCall, High Flyers.

1 What separates them?: This work was carried out with Israela Silberman.

2 The Contos family: Shown on Weddings Gone Wild, ABC, June 14, 2004.

3 In his study of gifted people: Benjamin S. Bloom, Developing Talent in Young People (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985).

4 Maybe that’s why Daniel Goleman’s: Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ (New York: Bantam, 1995).

5 Aaron Beck, noted marriage authority: Aaron T. Beck, Love Is Never Enough (New York: Harper & Row, 1988), 202.

6 Says John Gottman: John Gottman with Nan Silver, Why Marriages Succeed or Fail (New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1994), 69.

7 Elayne Savage, noted family psychologist: Elayne Savage, Don’t Take It Personally: The Art of Dealing with Rejection (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger, 1997).

8 Raymond Knee and his colleagues: C. Raymond Knee, “Implicit Theories of Relationships: Assessment and Prediction of Romantic Relationship Initiation, Coping, and Longevity,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74 (1998), 360–370.

9 John Gottman reports: Gottman, Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, 155.

10 And they assign blame to a trait: This has been studied by Raymond Knee, and I have found this in my work with Lara Kammrath. (See also the work of Frank Fincham.)

11 So once people with the fixed mindset: The idea that a fixed mindset can undermine relationships is also found in the work of Roy Eidelson and Norman Epstein, and of Susan Hendrick and Clyde Hendrick. The idea of criticism—attacking the partner’s personality or character—leading to contempt is explored in the work of John Gottman.

12 Brenda and Jack were clients: Daniel B. Wile, After the Honeymoon: How Conflict Can Improve Your Relationship (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988).

13 The story of Ted and Karen: Beck, Love Is Never Enough.

14 “Everything she says and does”: Ibid., 36.

15 “She never takes anything seriously”: Ibid., 36.

16 “What is the mature thing”: Ibid., 246.

17 Aaron Beck tells couples: Ibid., 199.

18 Hillary defended him: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), 465.

19 Through counseling, Bill came to understand: Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Knopf, 2004); Bill Clinton on The Charlie Rose Show, June 23, 2004.

20 One evening, Stevie Wonder: H. R. Clinton, Living History.

21 Jennifer Beer studied hundreds of people: Jennifer S. Beer, “Implicit Self-Theories of Shyness,” Journal of Personality & Social Psychology 83 (2002), 1009–1024. See also the excellent work of Phil Zimbardo on shyness.

22 Scott Wetzler, a therapist and professor: Scott Wetzler, Is It You or Is It Me? Why Couples Play the Blame Game (New York: HarperCollins, 1998).

23 “It doesn’t matter to me”: Ibid., 134.

24 At Columbine, the most notorious: Brooks Brown and Rob Merritt, No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine (New York: Lantern Books, 2002).

25 Brooks Brown, a classmate: Ibid.

26 He rejected the fixed mindset: Ibid., 47.

27 In his own words: Ibid., 107.

28 “It’s to use your mind”: Ibid., 263.

29 “We can just sit back”: Ibid., 21.

30 Stan Davis, a therapist: Stan Davis, Schools Where Everyone Belongs: Practical Strategies for Reducing Bullying (Wayne, ME: Stop Bullying Now, 2003). See also Dan Olweus, Bullying at School (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1993).

31 “I notice that you have been”: Ibid., 34.

32 Haim Ginott, the renowned child psychologist: Haim G. Ginott, Teacher and Child (New York: Macmillan, 1972), 167.

33 In a New York Times article: Jane Gross, “Hot Topic at Summer Camps: Ending the Rule of the Bullies,” The New York Times, June 28, 2004.

1 Haim Ginott, the childrearing sage: Haim G. Ginott, Between Parent & Child (New York: Avon Books, 1956), 22–24.

2 Remember chapter 3: This work was with Claudia Mueller and Melissa Kamins.

3 Ginott tells of Philip: Haim G. Ginott, Between Parent & Teenager (New York: Macmillan, 1969), 88.

4 Children Learn the Messages: This research was done with Chauncy Lennon and Eva Pomerantz.

5 Here’s a kindergarten boy: This is from work with Gail Heyman and Kathy Cain: Gail D. Heyman, Carol S. Dweck, and Kathleen Cain, “Young Children’s Vulnerability to Self- and Helplessness,” Child Development 63 (1992), 401–415.

6 We asked second-grade children: This research was with Gail Heyman: Gail D. Heyman and Carol S. Dweck, “Children’s Thinking About Traits: Implications for Judgments of the Self and Others,” Child Development 64 (1998), 391–403.

7 Mary Main and Carol George: Mary Main and Carol George, “Responses of Abused and Disadvantaged Toddlers to Distress in the Day Care Setting,” Developmental Psychology 21 (1985), 407–412.

8 “My parents pushed me”: John McEnroe with James Kaplan, You Cannot Be Serious (New York: Berkley, 2002), 31.

9 However, he says, “Many athletes”: Ibid., 30.

10 “If Tiger had wanted to be”: Tom Callahan, In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Gold with Tiger Woods (New York: Crown, 2003), 213.

11 Tiger says in return: Tiger Woods, How I Play Golf (New York: Warner Books, 2001), 302.

12 Dorothy DeLay, the famous violin teacher: Barbara L. Sand, Teaching Genius: Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician (Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 2000).

13 One set of parents: Ibid., 79.

14 DeLay spent countless hours: Ibid., 144.

15 Says Yura, “I’m always happy”: Ibid., 153.

16 We asked college students to describe: This work was with Bonita London.

17 Haim Ginott describes Nicholas: Ginott, Between Parent & Teenager, 132.

18 For thirty-five years, Sheila Schwartz taught: Sheila Schwartz, “Teaching’s Unlettered Future,” The New York Times, August 6, 1998.

19 Marva Collins taught Chicago children: Marva Collins and Civia Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way: Returning to Excellence in Education (Los Angeles: Jeremy Tarcher, 1982/1990); Marva Collins, “Ordinary” Children, Extraordinary Teachers (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing, 1992).

20 When 60 Minutes did a segment: Collins, “Ordinary” Children, 43–44.

21 Chicago Sun-Times writer Zay Smith: Collins and Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way, 160.

22 As Collins looks back: Ibid., 47.

23 “I know most of you can’t”: Ibid., 21–22.

24 As they changed from children: Ibid., 68.

25 Rafe Esquith teaches Los Angeles: Rafe Esquith, There Are No Shortcuts (New York: Pantheon, 2003).

26 DeLay’s husband always teased her: Sand, Teaching Genius, 23.

27 Her mentor and fellow teacher: Ibid., 54.

28 “I think it’s too easy”: Ibid., 70.

29 Itzhak Perlman was her student: Ibid., 201.

30 “I think she has something special”: Ibid., 85.

31 Yet she established on Day One: Collins and Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way, 19.

32 When Benjamin Bloom studied his 120: Benjamin S. Bloom, Developing Talent in Young People (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985).

33 When Collins expanded her school: Collins, “Ordinary” Children.

34 Esquith bemoans the lowering of standards: Esquith, There Are No Shortcuts, 53.

35 “That is part of Miss DeLay’s”: Sand, Teaching Genius, 219.

36 “I know which child will handle”: Esquith, There Are No Shortcuts, 40.

37 Collins echoes that idea: Collins and Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way, 21.

38 One student was sure he couldn’t: Sand, Teaching Genius, 64.

39 Another student was intimidated: Ibid., 114.

40 As Marva Collins said to a boy: Collins and Tamarkin, Marva Collins’ Way, 208.

41 Here is a shortened version: Ibid., 85–88.

42 “It’s sort of like Socrates says”: Ibid., 159.

43 For a class assignment, he wrote: Ibid., 165.

44 And she let her students know: Ibid., 87.

45 Michael Lewis, in The New York Times: Michael Lewis, “Coach Fitz’s Management Theory,” The New York Times Magazine, March 28, 2004.

46 Bobby Knight, the famous and controversial: Bob Knight with Bob Hammel, Knight: My Story (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002); Steve Alford with John Garrity, Playing for Knight (New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1989); John Feinstein, A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers (New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1987).

47 John Feinstein, author of Season: Feinstein, Season on the Brink, 3.

48 In Daryl Thomas, Feinstein says: Ibid., 3–4.

49 “You know what you are Daryl?”: Ibid., 7.

50 An assistant coach had given this advice: Ibid., 4.

51 “What I like best about this team”: Ibid., 25.

52 Steve Alford, who went on: Alford, Playing for Knight, 101.

53 “The atmosphere was poisonous”: Ibid., 169.

54 Says Alford, “Coach’s Holy Grail”: Ibid., 63.

55 In the “season on the brink”: Feinstein, Season on the Brink, xi.

56 “You know there were times”: Ibid., 8–9.

57 Coach John Wooden produced: John Wooden with Jack Tobin, They Call Me Coach (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1972); John Wooden with Steve Jamison, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court (Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 1997).

58 “You have to apply yourself”: Wooden, Wooden, 11.

59 “Did I win? Did I lose?”: Ibid., 56.

60 If so, he says: Ibid., 55.

61 If the players were coasting: Ibid., 119.

62 “I looked at each one”: Ibid., 95.

63 “Other fellows who played”: Ibid., 67.

64 But he promised him: Ibid., 141–142.

65 Bill Walton, Hall of Famer: Ibid., ix.

66 Denny Crum, successful coach: Ibid., xii.

67 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hall of Famer: Ibid., xiii.

68 It was the moment of victory: Wooden, They Call Me Coach, 9–10.

69 “There are coaches out there”: Wooden, Wooden, 117.

70 Pat Summitt is the coach: Pat Summitt with Sally Jenkins, Reach for the Summit (New York: Broadway Books, 1998).

71 Wooden calls it being “infected”: Wooden, Wooden.

72 Pat Riley, former coach: Pat Riley, The Winner Within (New York: Putnam, 1993).

73 Summitt explains, “Success lulls you”: Summitt, Reach for the Summit, 237.

74 The North Carolina coach: Ibid., 5.

75 “Get your heads up”: Ibid., 6.

76 “You never stay the same”: Tyler Kepner, “The Complete Package: Why A-Rod Is the Best in Business, Even While Learning a New Position,” The New York Times, April 4, 2004.

1 In the 1960s, psychiatrist Aaron Beck: Aaron T. Beck, “Thinking and Depression: Idiosyncratic Content and Cognitive Distortions,” Archives of General Psychology 9 (1963), 325–333; Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence (New York: HarperCollins, 1999). (At about the same time, therapist Albert Ellis was discovering a similar thing: that beliefs are the key to how people feel.)

2 In several studies, we probed: This work was done with Ying-yi Hong, C. Y. Chiu, and Russell Sacks.

3 It does not confront the basic: However, see Jeffrey E. Young and Janet Klosko, Reinventing Your Life (New York: Plume/Penguin, 1994). Although Young and Klosko are working in a cognitive therapy tradition, a core assumption of their approach and one that they teach their clients is that people can change in very basic ways.

4 A Mindset Workshop: This workshop was developed with Lisa Sorich Blackwell with grants from the William T. Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation: L. S. Blackwell, C. S. Dweck, and K. Trzesniewski, Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention, 2003. I would also like to acknowledge other psychologists who have developed their own student workshops based on the growth mindset: Jeff Howard, founder of the Efficacy Institute, and Joshua Aronson, Catherine Good, and Michael Inzlicht of New York University and Columbia University.

5 “Many people think of the brain”: This was written for the workshop by Lisa Sorich Blackwell.

6 Brainology: The Brainology computer-based program was also developed with Lisa Sorich Blackwell, with a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation.

7 Psychologists Karen Horney and Carl Rogers: Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Toward Self-Realization (New York: Norton, 1950); Our Inner Conflicts: A Constructive Theory of Neurosis (New York: Norton, 1945). Carl R. Rogers, Client-Centered Therapy (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1951); On Becoming a Person (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1961).

8 Research by Peter Gollwitzer: Peter M. Gollwitzer, “Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans,” American Psychologist 54 (1999), 493–503.

10 Mindset and Willpower: I am researching this issue with Abigail Scholer, Eran Magen, and James Gross.