Mindset Matters — But Does It?

            I recently finished reading Carol Dweck’s Mindset. Originally published in 2006, I only discovered it two years ago after seeing numerous glowing recommendations across social media. Mindset stands apart from typical self-help books: unlike works that focus on superficial optimism or magical thinking, such as The Secret, it is grounded in research and practical strategies. It promotes real, repeatable methods for personal growth rather than wishful thinking.

This article is not a review of the book — plenty of those exist. Instead, I want to share some questions and reflections I had while reading. Many of these were addressed within the book, but some observations and queries remain unresolved.

Prevalence of Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets

The fixed mindset is often our default state; many of us naturally exhibit a fixed mindset in at least some areas of our lives. The book emphasizes that developing and maintaining a growth mindset requires consistent effort. However, it does not provide data or estimates on how many people predominantly embody a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset.

Can a Fixed Mindset Sometimes Serve Us Better?

This question struck me the most and lingered long after I finished the book. While a growth mindset is undeniably powerful for long-term development, I wondered: are there situations where a fixed mindset might actually be more beneficial? Surprisingly, the answer seems to be yes, in several contexts:

1.     Time-Sensitive Objectives: In scenarios with tight deadlines, existing talent or a baseline level of skill can be more advantageous in the short term. For example, a university student has only two to four years to meet academic requirements. Or consider the Knowledge Premier League, a prestigious company event I participated in and won: participants had just two months to prepare. In such cases, having pre-existing competence can be crucial. A growth mindset might help in the long run, but it cannot conjure talent overnight.

2.     Preventing Exploitation of the Growth Mindset: I’ve observed people misuse the growth mindset concept to lure others into high-risk or fraudulent ventures, like pyramid or Ponzi schemes, claiming anyone can get rich with enough effort — a clear distortion of the idea. Here, a fixed mindset — recognizing that these schemes don’t work — might actually protect individuals. This kind of exploitation has become even more widespread since the Covid pandemic, which is deeply concerning.

3.     The Value of Specialization and Focus: Not everyone is suited for every pursuit. Personally, I know I won’t excel at volleyball or the violin simply because I’ve never had the inclination to master them. This resonates with Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage: it’s often wiser to focus on what we’re naturally better at. Just as an economist might cook better than their maid, that doesn’t mean they should spend time cooking. The key is to leverage strengths where they’re most effective.

Is the Growth Mindset Overrated?

This leads to a critical question: like many self-help concepts, is the growth mindset overrated? Some aspects are undeniably valuable, such as focusing on effort rather than outcomes. For children, this means praising effort instead of mere success, and encouraging renewed effort after setbacks instead of criticism. However, in the real world — especially in today’s complex socio-economic landscape — effort alone does not always translate into results. Often, effort expended in the wrong direction produces poor outcomes, and it’s typically the results, not the effort, that are rewarded. Olympic medals aren’t awarded to the team that tried the hardest.

The nuances and complexities surrounding the growth mindset mean that misapplying it can do more harm than good. I believe it should be cultivated early, when children are just beginning to learn, rather than applied randomly or haphazardly later in life. While the book implicitly suggests you can achieve anything you set your mind to, not everything is worth pursuing. Choosing what to strive for wisely requires another kind of wisdom entirely.

I’ve met many who talk about having a “growth mindset” yet misunderstand what it truly means. Ironically, they often display a fixed mindset — just fixed in the opposite direction.

 

Memory Impossible

 

As I re-watch the Mission Impossible movies in anticipation of the final instalment's release later this year, I recently revisited the second part. When it first hit theatres in 2000, it was hailed as the gold standard of action movies—at least in India. The adrenaline-pumping sequences from the film became so iconic that several Indian films and shows tried to emulate them. Though I didn’t watch it upon release, I saw it a few years later and, like many others, was swept away by its sheer excitement.

But then the Mission Impossible series kept evolving, and with each new movie, it seemed to only get better. The films began weaving in real geopolitical issues while deepening the personal struggles of the characters, especially Ethan Hunt. When I revisited MI:2 now, however, I was in for a shock. The film that once seemed like the pinnacle of action cinema now felt like a big (for the year 2000) and dumb movie. The tone felt completely out of sync with the films that followed, and Ethan Hunt’s character was almost unrecognizable—he acted and fought in ways that didn’t align with what we came to know as his true self. If the series had ended with Part 2, it would’ve been a fun, standalone ride, but as a chapter in a larger saga, it felt disjointed.

One ridiculous part was the film’s depiction of an injectable nano-GPS device that could track people via a single laptop—an absurd premise, especially given how GPS technology works in the real world. The first movie had its own ridiculous sci-fi moments with the Intel 686 AI-enabled chip, but that is all right!

So why was I shocked by this? The movie was exactly what it was before, yet my perception had changed. I was astonished by the inaccuracies in my own memories. It struck me that what we remember is not necessarily the truth of an event, but rather our perception of it—shaped by our biases and worldviews, which evolve over time. Watching MI:2 made me question: what else in life have I misremembered?

Recently, I read Stumbling on Happiness by renowned psychologist Daniel Gilbert. Contrary to what the title suggests, it’s not a guide to finding happiness, but rather a deep dive into the limitations of our foresight. The central thesis is that if our memories are inherently flawed, how can we trust our predictions for the future? This misalignment is what leads us to pursue things we think will bring us happiness, only to realize, once we achieve them, that they aren't what we truly want.

The key takeaway here is that we’re all subject to our biases, and our plans will never be perfect. But by acknowledging the flaws in our thinking, we can become more accepting of ourselves. And perhaps, in doing so, we get a little closer to understanding what true happiness is.