285: Fixed vs Growth Mindset at Work

Aoife O’Brien [00:00:01]:

Do you assume that people are who they are? They’re never going to change? This is the question that I’m addressing on today’s episode of the podcast. You’re listening to the award winning Career and Culture podcast, Happier at Work. I’m your host, Aoife o’, Brien, the career and culture strategist for People First, Leaders and Teams. Today I’m going to talk about this idea of the fixed versus the growth mindset. You may have heard this term before it was first coined, I suppose, by Carol Dweck in her book Mindset. Now this is something I read, I don’t know, about 10 years ago, maybe something like that. At the time, I found the concept really interesting, but I kind of struggled with this idea that it’s so black and white that we are either a fixed or a growth mindset. At its core, what it means is a fixed mindset is a belief that you are who you are, or you can apply that belief to someone else that they are who they are and you’re not capable of change, which means that you’re not open to learning, to growing, to experiencing new things.

Aoife O’Brien [00:01:07]:

And then on the other side, we have the growth mindset. So this is all about learning and growth and being open to those other opportunities. At its core, that is what it means. As I mentioned, I really struggled with this idea that we were so black and white. I have had this conversation not that often, but a couple of times on the podcast before about this idea of mindset and how it’s not that clear cut for me. If I’m being really honest, I think my default is a fixed mindset. I’m that annoying person who was always quite good at school. I didn’t have to study that much.

Aoife O’Brien [00:01:43]:

And so I had this perception that intelligence is just fixed. You know, this is the level that I’m at and I’m never going to get better, so studying won’t help. All of these kinds of messages were reinforced by what was happening around me. And so that’s very much the fixed mindset. And it’s only over time since I’ve been introduced to this idea of the growth mindset that I’ve started to notice it in my behaviors or where I’m holding myself back in certain ways when I feel that I’m being fixed or that I say that I’m never going to improve in a specific area or that person won’t change, or that’s just how things are, or it is what it is, whatever kind of language you want to use that’s where I started noticing it. And so some very specific things happened in my career because of this fixed mindset. And I wanted to share with some of those with you today. I have left roles where I thought things are never going to change.

Aoife O’Brien [00:02:43]:

It’s just how it is and it’s how it will always be. And looking back, things did change in that organization after I left. But at the same time, maybe that was the right move for me at the time because I. I didn’t really feel like things were going to change. So that’s, you know, a decision that I made on the assumption that things were going to stay the same forever. There were also the times when I projected those limiting beliefs or that fixed mindset onto other people as well. So when I was working with one woman in particular and she was in a sales role, and she had a real problem with the numbers and making things work and percentages and things like that, which is kind of a crucial part of the role. And again, I assumed that there was no room for coaching.

Aoife O’Brien [00:03:36]:

There was no room for her to change or to grow or to learn how to get better at these things. I just projected that idea that she was fixed in that way. She’s just not good with numbers, and there’s no changing that in my business. Then my default mode when I was working with someone in the business and she was completely underperforming straight away, you know, there’s no opportunity for growth. It’s just not a good fit. She’s not performing, no room for coaching. And my default was she needs to be fired straight away. Now, again, in my defense, in a running a small business like mine, there is a cost to having that kind of underperformance.

Aoife O’Brien [00:04:18]:

So, you know, I think it was the right decision at the time. But it also, upon reflection, meant that I wasn’t necessarily giving that coaching that I could have been giving throughout that time. When it comes to the growth mindset, where I’ve really noticed that, and it was kind of like a light bulb moment, a flip of a switch was in my speaking. So I’ve been doing public speaking for about six years, but I’ve always been delivering presentations to my clients for my entire career. So let’s say I’ve been doing it for about 25 years. There is a huge difference between presenting data versus presenting your own story, your own ideas to people. So it’s a big difference. When I first started doing it, I noticed all of these things, like, this is what I did wrong, you know, and coming away from an experience like that just feeling downhearted because I knew everything I wanted to say and I didn’t necessarily communicate that.

Aoife O’Brien [00:05:17]:

Once I started learning about the growth mindset and how it can impact how we show up, what I started noticing instead was all of the things that I did well and for the things that I didn’t do as well. Well, there’s some things, you know, the audience doesn’t necessarily know everything that you were going to share, so there are none the wiser that you didn’t say everything wanted to say. Focus more on the impact that you had and the changes and the behaviors of the audience and focus on what you did well. And then when it comes to the areas that you can improve, it’s more about, okay, so these small areas I can tweak or these small areas I can improve to get better. The next time I do this, I’m very much forward focused rather than focusing on everything that went wrong. So that’s, that was a big, big change for me. I want to bring this back to like, why is this actually important for leaders to know this? Like, why do you need to understand this kind of stuff? I think the first thing here is that it’s okay not to have all the answers. You’re not expected to provide all the answers to people.

Aoife O’Brien [00:06:33]:

You don’t necessarily have to have all of the solutions to everyone’s problems. Problems. And I think sometimes as leaders we get fixated on this idea of having all the answers and why am I in this position if I can’t answer all the questions that I need to answer? And so having that growth mindset means that there’s still room for learning for you and you don’t have to necessarily have all the answers. A slight side note here that you definitely don’t have to have all the answers and you can use a coaching approach and help people to find their own solutions to these kinds of problems as well. Another reason is similar to myself. You may be projecting this kind of fix, fixed mindset onto other people. So making assumptions that people can change and grow and evolve over time that there’s not room for you to challenge them, to coach them and to help them to get better. It also may be impacting your beliefs about yourself.

Aoife O’Brien [00:07:25]:

So are you holding yourself back in some way because of some assumptions that you have? So maybe you’re thinking, I was never good at numbers, so therefore I can’t move into a leadership position or a more senior position or whatever that might mean for you. You may be telling yourself something that you’re holding yourself back in some way, but not looking to the future to think I can change, I can learn, I can evolve over time or being really honest with yourself about the areas that you do have to learn and grow into. The other thing with this mindset is that it can become self fulfilling. So think of it from your team’s perspective. If you don’t give them the support, the encouragement, the opportunity to learn and grow, then they’re not going to have that opportunity to learn and grow because you’ve had this fixed mindset that you’ve projected onto them. But then also for yourself, you’re doing the same for yourself. You’re not necessarily giving yourself those opportunities to develop, to grow, and you’re holding yourself back in some way. So it becomes this self fulfilling prophecy that I don’t believe that I can get better, so I’m not going to invest in myself in getting better and therefore I don’t get better.

Aoife O’Brien [00:08:36]:

Now you may have heard me talking once or twice about the fact I have a book that’s coming out in March 2026. I am so excited for this book to come out. The whole writing process has finished now, the editing process has finished, it’s gone for proofing. I just am excited but also very nervous about putting my ideas out there into the world, as I’m sure you can imagine. So you’ll be hearing a lot more from me about the book. And if you’re interested in learning more about the journey of the book as well, do let me know. Feel free to reach out at any time on podcastappieratwork. Ie.

Aoife O’Brien [00:09:15]:

But I wanted to link this idea of the mindset back to the pillars of the Thriving Talent Framework. So my book that’s coming out in March 2026 is called thriving Talent and it’s based on my Thriving Talent Framework. It’s what I used to call my Happier at Work framework, but I’ve changed the wording on that. It’s still the same frame, but I’ve gone a lot, lot deeper in the book and I like I said, I can’t wait to share those insights with you. Back to this idea of mindset. So the Thriving Talent Framework. The foundation of the framework is psychological safety. And if we think of this idea of mindset and the fixed versus the growth mindset, if we’re in a psychologically safe environment and as leaders, this is the kind of environment that we want to be creating, it’s the kind of environment where it’s okay to to speak up, to challenge the status quo, to share Your ideas without any fears.

Aoife O’Brien [00:10:12]:

And if we have this growth mindset, then we have psychological safety, then it’s okay to speak up, it’s okay to learn from mistakes, it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to have setbacks, but it’s in looking at that learning and the growth that can come from having this psychologically safe environment. So those two ideas sort of go hand in hand then. If we think of the first of the core pillars of this model is all about workplace culture and creating that culture of learning and growth and non blame rather than being fixed. And like it’s always going to be this way, we’re never going to change. It allows for the culture to change and evolve over time as it should do. The second core pillar of the model then, and the third element in the model in its entirety is driving. And that’s all about what motivates us to do our best work, what helps us get out of bed in the morning and do our best work. And if you’re stuck in a fixed mindset and you don’t think that things are going to change, you don’t think that you have the opportunity to grow, then it’s very unlikely that you’re going to feel really motivated to try and make those changes.

Aoife O’Brien [00:11:27]:

So it’s important to have that growth mindset, to be able to apply that to doing your best work, understanding how you operate, but also with this idea that this competence that we have within us can change over time and we can get better at things over time. Competence, for those who don’t know, is one of our core needs that needs to be satisfied at work. And so it means a sense of capability of doing your job. But it’s not just about being capable. It’s about having the challenge and the stretch. And we need to have that growth mindset in order to see that challenge as something positive as well and not something to shy away from. The third core pillar then is this idea of capabilities. And that’s all about unlocking the capabilities within your team.

Aoife O’Brien [00:12:23]:

And from that, we need to have a belief that our team are capable. We need to have that growth mindset. We believe that our team is capable of more than what they’re currently doing. If you’re stuck in a fixed mindset, you may not believe that your team is capable of more. So in order to unlock the capabilities within the team, we need to have that growth mindset. The capstone of the entire model then. So this goes on top of the three corners core pillars is leadership. And that’s your role in creating this environment, in role modeling the kind of mindset that you would like to have within the team.

Aoife O’Brien [00:13:04]:

So it’s showing people what it means to have a growth mindset, calling out yourself when you see a fixed mindset, and sharing that it’s okay to have a fixed mindset, but the first stage is to be aware that we have this fixed mindset. I wanted to also share some reflection questions that you can use with yourself or with your team to understand how you’re operating currently. Where in your work do you assume things will never change? Which team member have you unknowingly placed into a fixed box? What story are you telling yourself about their capability? Where might you be avoiding growth because it feels like uncomfortable? If you approached one situation this week with curiosity rather than certainty, what might shift? So some powerful questions to get you thinking about how this fixed versus Growth mindset is showing up in your work on a day to day basis. It’s not about judgment here, it’s all about understanding how you’re currently operating and how you can improve the impact that you’re having. As I mentioned, the book is coming out in March. You’re going to hear me talking much, much more about that, but I would genuinely love to know, like do you think that people are capable of change? Or are people just stuck in their ways and they’re never actually going to change? Or does it depend on the kind of mindset that they have? So do join me, get involved in the conversation. I’m Most active on LinkedIn. Feel free to connect with me there.

Aoife O’Brien [00:14:37]:

And I always love hearing from listeners. If you want to reach out to me on podcast at happieratwork, ie.