The book ‘Mindset’ delves into two primary mindsets that reflect our underlying beliefs about our abilities and potential: Fixed mindsets and Growth mindsets. Over the years, I am finding I have a stronger growth mindset, continually seeking ways to improve both personally and professionally. The topic of different mindsets fascinates me, especially as I look for ways to help my kids as they grow, and seek ways to improve within my team lead role to effectively collaborate with colleagues.

Fixed Mindsets have the desire to look smart, with the following tendencies: 

• Avoid challenges
• Gets defensive or gives up easily
• Sees effort as fruitless or worse
• Ignores useful negative feedback
• Feels threatened by the success of others
• As a result, they may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential

Growth Mindsets have the desire to learn, with the following tendencies: 

• Embraces challenges
• Persists in the face of setbacks
• Sees effort as the path to mastery
• Learns from criticism
• Finds lessons and inspiration in the success of others
• As a result, they reach ever-higher levels of achievement

The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.

I work at Automattic, where a large part of the company culture is based on sharing and receiving feedback, including sharing timely critical feedback. It’s interesting to see how different colleagues and teams approach feedback. With a growth mindset, feedback and criticism are learning opportunities, and offer the opportunity to improve future performance. When receiving critical feedback one should not be discouraged by failure, but see it as a learning opportunity. 

Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them?

Even when you complete a project well or get praise, there are always takeaways which can be applied to future similar projects, always areas where you can improve. This also reminds me of hearing people talk about all the things they are going to do, what they plan to do, what they want to do, but nothing comes of it. They don’t actually do the thing. I find this approach frustrating. Don’t boast about what you are going to do, but show off the results when it’s complete, and learn from mistakes. 

Character grows out of mindset.

Success and the mark of a champion is not to only win or succeed when things are in your favor, but to have the ability to succeed when things are not quite right. It’s about overcoming obstacles, managing emotions, and still reaching the finish line with a positive outcome. Successful leaders embody a growth mindset, fueled by a passion for learning and teaching, openness to constructive feedback, and a determined ability to face and overcome setbacks.

I feel that Automattic embraces a culture for development. It’s an organization that prizes the development of abilities, where leaders emerge, and enables space to foster alternative views and constructive criticism. 

Praising children’s intelligence harms their motivation and it harms their performance.

As a mum of two young boys, I want to offer my children the best opportunities in life and set them up for success. With this in mind, I’m working on changing my approach and looking to highlight their efforts which lead to different outcomes, instead of giving praise to outcomes that don’t merit such praise. 

My 6 year old is learning to read, he doesn’t like reading and does all he can to avoid reading daily. Over the past few weeks I’ve encouraged him to see how much he’s improving and highlighting the importance of practicing to develop his reading skills. Being encouraged in this way is motivating him to make time to read and it’s becoming easier each day.

It’s important for kids to understand the amount of effort that is needed to achieve different outcomes. You can turn up to football practice everyday but still not be very good, with other kids beating you. If you want to excel, more effort would be required.

No one criticizes or laughs at a baby that can’t walk or talk, these are skills that are learnt as babies develop. Everything we do in life are skills we have learned, we can develop new skills, and it’s never too late to learn something new. 

It’s the parents who respond to their children’s setbacks with interest and treat them as opportunities for learning who are transmitting a growth mindset to their children.

Recently, I heard a mum introducing her son, saying ‘He struggles with autism’. The boy quickly jumped in and corrected her, ‘I don’t struggle with autism, I live with autism’. I found this an amazing positive approach, ensuring he wasn’t being defined by his condition but rather acknowledging it as just one part of who he is. His words reminded me of the importance of growth mindset language and how it shapes our perceptions—both our own and those of others. By re-framing it, he claimed ownership of his experience, emphasizing that autism doesn’t limit him but simply influences how he navigates the world. 

‘Mindset’ has enabled me to rethink what’s possible by transforming how we view talent, effort, and growth. Embracing a growth mindset doesn’t just change outcomes—it opens doors to continuous self-improvement, resilience, and a richer, more fulfilling life. This book is a powerful reminder that, with the right mindset, our potential is limitless.