The growth mindset is a theory proposed by Carol S. Dweck, a professor of Psychology at the Stanford University, who has also previously taught at other illustrious universities like Columbia, Harvard and Illinois. In this article, we’ll discuss how the growth mindset can be cultivated in corporate employees using eLearning.
It is no secret that a learner’s mindset makes a huge difference in the absorption, retention as well as the application of knowledge. A number of organizations are devastated when they leave no stones unturned while implementing their employee learning and development (L&D) program, only to see it fail, and with no idea why. The reason is that they’re employees have fixed mindset towards learning, and are living under the false notion that intelligence is something that an individual is born with. They falsely assume that their brainpower and talents are fixed and that there is nothing they can do to change those qualities. This leads to them not even trying to learn new skills and qualities, and ultimately poor performance and career stagnation. However, organizations can change all that by cultivating a growth mindset in their learners. What is the growth mindset you ask? Well, let us explain.
What Is The Growth Mindset?
The growth mindset is a theory proposed by Carol S. Dweck, a professor of Psychology at the Stanford University, who has also previously taught at other illustrious universities like Columbia, Harvard and Illinois. Her research on motivation, personality and development led her to put forward the theory of the growth mindset, which says that learners must be taught to believe that hard work, learning, training and doggedness can lead to an incremental growth in intelligence. But how can this growth mindset be developed in the minds of an organization’s employees? By using eLearning to cultivate a growth mindset in their employees first-hand, so that they can develop other skills with ease. In this article, we’ll discuss how.
Cultivating The Growth Mindset Through eLearning
- Getting Them Over Their Fear Of Failure
A lot of employees have this inherent fear of failure. They are afraid of failure to the point that they don’t even try to succeed. They need to be taught that failure is not something they need to fear, but embrace, accept and move on. Employees need to see failure not as something that puts a full-stop to their success, but as a milestone they’ll likely encounter many times on the road to success. Organizations can use gamified eLearning courses to teach employees about the consequences of failure, for example, points getting taken away or the loss of a level, but at the same time teaching them that they can always bounce back from failure, or making such pathways in the gamified course that each failure leads them to learn something new.
- Giving Them Constant Feedback
The importance of constant feedback is often understated in L&D programs. When learners do learn a new skill or quality, they need to be appreciated for their effort, not just by the eLearning program, but from real human beings. In addition, when they fail, they should be told how they could fix their mistakes. Again, when they do fix their mistakes, they need to be appreciated for fixing their mistakes. Giving them badges and certificates within eLearning courses for a skill learned, as well as monetary benefits for completing a full course is something which should be implemented. Fixing mistakes made in the past (within the eLearning course) should also be appreciated through reinstatement of lost points or level. This constant gratification of their desire to be appreciated leads them to learn more, try harder, overcome their fear of making mistakes and get out of their fixed mindsets. Instead of praising talent, organizations should praise resilience and effort.
- Challenge Your Employees Thoroughly
Difficulties are one of the best learning tools to exist, as they force learners to struggle and win against all odds. Difficult and challenging content in eLearning courses sticks (i.e. is retained) to the minds of learners. Give them challenging scenarios that pertain to real-life occurrences on-the-job, so that they have to rack their brains. Keep in mind that you offer them support and resources (such as hints) to ensure that you don’t drive them away. Keep a fine balance. Show them how things are done (you can use video-based learning for this), and then let them apply what they have been shown. Throw in a problem or two that requires them to think critically on their own, connect the dots and use pre-existing knowledge to get out of a sticky situation.
CBLPro is an eLearning solutions provider that specializes in creating tailor-made eLearning for corporate organizations using avant-garde eLearning technology, the most effective eLearning strategies as well as the expertise of hardened eLearning professionals.
You must be logged in to post a comment.