As I find happens often, I came to this book while reading another. Bob Hanmer gave me a copy of Apprenticeship Patterns for my 40th Birthday. The introduction referred to this book as part of its inspiration. Searching for Ms Dweck on line I came across a reference to her work in Malcom Gladwell's New Yorker article The Talent Myth from 2004 which presages his later book "Outliers". I figured if old Malcom liked her I should give her a look myself.
The thesis of the book is that there is a strong dichotomy in the way people view talent, intelligence and ability; there are those who see them as an inherent characteristic and others who see them as a learnable traits. She asserts that parents, modern education, and much of society drives children to adopt the former mindset; its the lucky person who manages to retain, or relearn the latter. She points out that society seems to favor talent over hard work, going so far as to ignore the effort made by our heros to get where they are. She shows, primarily through anecdote (more on that in a moment) situations which contrast the "Fixed Mindset" vs the "Growth Mindset", from education, to sports, to business.
I should point out that I accept the thesis, I can even point to moments in my own life that seem rather clearer when viewed through this lens. What I had trouble with is the presentation. I think it might be endemic of popular psychology books (and business books for that matter) to present ones ideas, and so "prove" them, by stringing together a series of anecdotes that support them. Call me incredulous, but I prefer more falsifiability in my science. To be fair I didn't follow her references, but, as I said, neither am I attacking her conclusions. I think that the ideas she presents are worthy of trial in my own life and intend to make an effort to apply them.
