You have heard the term “Glass Ceiling” used in the context of barriers to women rising the corporate ladder. Consider another ceiling – a way of thinking about what is feasible that limits how intelligent or capable you can be.
Are you more intelligent this year than last? I would have answered “no” to that years ago. Like many others, I thought intelligence – as measured by IQ – was fixed at birth. Today, convinced that I can expand my neural network by learning new things, I might say “yes”.
“Why the change,” you ask. I think better. I feel smarter. Can connect more patterns. But, my feelings are not the reason you should take note. Rather, consider some of the latest work in the field of neuroscience to come to your own conclusion about whether your intelligence is fixed or not.
So what? What difference does it make whether you view your ability as fixed or growing?
In answer to that question, let me ask, “how hard would you work on learning a new language or studying a topic of great interest if you knew for sure that your capacity to understand and learn would increase?”
What we are talking about here is how our perspective shifts our inclination to exert energy on activities that we care about. If we think our efforts are futile, we probably won’t be as motivated. If we are convinced we can change and improve, motivation will increase.
The book that has spurred me to think more about this topic is called, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck. This book has spawned a rather significant movement amongst educators in particular – to train children in how they view challenges, effort, and the outcomes they seek. According to Dweck, parents and educators should not focus merely on the results or performance. Instead adults should consider and comment on the amount of effort given to the activity.
By focusing on effort rather than outcome, individuals learn to appreciate the process. This focus eventually enables them to embrace challenge. Feedback about effort reinforces this focus. Eventually the individuals start to notice progress. They feel satisfied and hooked on a sense of control over improvement.
In contrast, praise for outcome might render an individual fearful of not measuring up next time. It might also fix his or her attention on what “good” looks like. The individual might stop short of the most effort possible – cutting off the thrill of giving it all and achieving more than the picture of “good.”
Its tough to shift from performance to process thinking. I admit I am in the process of that shift and have trouble embracing it wholly. William Hurt offered a statement that I say over and over to myself hoping it will sink in. On NPR’s Fresh Air Program, he said something like “performance is a reflection of the process.”
If I can live in the process, be mindful of it, and notice changes – perhaps I can be converted to this way of thinking. I’ll explore further and keep you and this blog posted on my progress. 
What’s it like to walk half out of your shoes?
Today on my walk, I caught two middle-aged men in the act of picking up trash by a pond’s edge. In their “hello” to me, they grumbled about more trash building up from yesterday. They said “we pulled out two large garbage bags with trash yesterday. ”
A mother cooks dinner over a flame. The flame dances next to garbage and waste. Smells of meat and sewer mix. A nurse named Louise walks quickly passed it on her way to the tent.