Do You Have a Culture of Development or a Culture of Genius?
What to strive for?
It may be tempting to say both approaches have their merits. But years of research have shown that one far outweighs the other. Indeed, in cultures of development — rather than cultures of genius — teams show higher levels of trust, empowerment, and grit. Instead of worshipping talent, people focus on improvement. They still measure outcomes, but only in relation to past performance.
Psychologists call this a “growth mindset” approach to performance management. And in the long run, research shows it’s more likely to lead people to share their learning strategies with others, view poor performance as an opportunity to educate rather than punish, and focus on mastering new skills rather than illustrating competence relative to others.
How growth mindset fits in
In the NeuroLeadership Institute’s latest white paper, “Transforming Performance Management with a Growth Mindset Approach,” we offer a detailed picture of what happens when leaders use growth mindset in performance management.
For example, the paper presents three key benefits of such an approach (for leaders and employees alike) and offers a handful of case studies of companies already on their growth mindset journey.
Approaching performance management with a growth mindset also enables teams to better respond to feedback. When people prove themselves and strive to be seen as geniuses, negative feedback may threaten that status. As a result people often shut down and become less receptive to criticism. Meanwhile, in cultures of development, feedback is more welcome — doubly so if teams develop a culture of asking for feedback.
Read about these benefits, and many more, by grabbing a copy of the white paper for yourself and starting on your own learning journey.
Author: Chris Weller
