The power of a growth mindset

The power of a growth mindset

6th March 2023

[This article first appeared in The Probe, February 2023]

Having the right mindset is a large part of moving forward with ambition, making progress. World-class athletes invest a huge amount into this aspect of their training knowing that being physically prepared isn’t enough. It’s the same for everything and I include dentistry in that of course.

Our mindset is part of us, it’s our innate attitude and represents how we approach everything, difficult or not. I see mindset as something that is at the forefront of every decision I make, all day long.

For me right now, getting up in the dark when it’s -5 outside and finding the motivation to go for a run before work takes a serious amount of focus. Applying the right mindset to working through a complex patient case can increase the chances of its successful management significantly. The mindset required for each of these situations is different of course but it’s the recognition that you need to set yourself up to be in the right state of mind that is key.

I’ve thought, read and written about mindset extensively over the years, particularly in relation to my endodontic teaching. Carol Dweck, American psychologist and Professor at Stanford University, coined the phrases ‘fixed mindset’ and ‘growth mindset’ underpinning her theory that it’s mindset that sets people apart, irrespective of talent, intelligence and ambition.

It’s really interesting that some people believe that their intelligence and skills are fixed and can’t be changed while others believe in a growth mindset where, with drive and effort, they can improve continuously. 

I mention Kaizen theory a lot but it aligns perfectly with the concept of a ‘growth mindset’. For me, I want to continue to grow and learn, bit by bit, always looking for better ways to work, improving on legacy procedures, communicating more effectively with teams and patients, managing my time productively and investing in learning to develop my knowledge and skills.

And then I want to help my students do the same. So whatever we’re calling it, Kaizen or a growth mindset, it’s powerful and liberating. You don’t need to have been the cleverest kid at school because you can adopt a growth mindset to incrementally get better at your craft.

Carol Dweck makes a vital point and that is to praise the effort and not the result. Praising the result reinforces a fixed mindset whilst praising the effort cultivates a growth mindset. It’s a case of “If I did that, what could I do next time?” (growth) instead of “That’s great, I achieved my goal” (fixed). In endo results are all-important but so is the process. If we can gradually improve the processes we implement, then the results will be more predictably successful.

By understanding and practising the Dweck and Kaizen approaches I can adopt methods to encourage a growth mindset in my course delegates of all abilities, who are often early career dentists, and I find that fascinating and exciting.

Back to Blog