Embracing a Learning Mindset
Updated: Sep 25
We talk readily about embracing a learning mindset as if it is something we can do at will yet learning is a dynamic process.
Our willingness to learn is influenced by the situation we are in, the challenge we face, our experience, the people around us, and the conditions in which we are working.
Carol Dweck's research on mindset illustrated that our beliefs about our ability to develop, influence the way we approach challenges, effort and setbacks. That’s one perspective. There are more.
Elite runner and author of ‘Endure’ Alex Hutchinson, proposes that ‘our individual limits may be determined as much by our head and heart as by our muscles’. Whilst his research focused on physical performance, his findings revealed how the brain responds to the body’s signals.
Tim Gallwey, a thought leader in the field of learning and author of several books entitled ‘The Inner Game of… tennis, golf, work’ is convinced that the combination of awareness, choice and trust is necessary for skills development. His research explored how we interfere with the learning process, and ways that we can ‘unmanage ourselves toward higher achievement’.
The scientific perspective is offered by Dr Helena Boschi, author of ‘Why we do what we do’ and award-winning science writer Benedict Carey. Boschi examines how perception, senses, language and creativity influence our capacity for learning. Carey challenges conventional assumptions about how the brain physically processes and retrieves learning.
Whitney Johnson offers a valuable resource for mapping each learning journey towards something she refers to as ‘Smart Growth’.
Taken together, these perspectives invite us to question:
What does it take for a learning mindset to emerge and flourish?
And the answer is that several conditions appear to matter.
Beliefs, Environment, Process and Trust
Beliefs: expanding what we believe is possible
Dweck, Hutchinson and Gallwey all cite examples of the way our beliefs influence our approach to learning and growth. Most are familiar with the concept of the fixed mindset (my capacity for learning is predetermined) versus growth mindset (I can continue to learn and grow) proposed by Dweck. These beliefs are often misunderstood to be a permanent state or personality trait. Yet the truth is, there are situations where we believe it is possible to improve, and others where we limit ourselves.
Hutchinson’s research into human performance found ‘effort’ to be a perception, an interpretation produced by the interaction between our body, brain, experience, expectation, motivation and context. The good news is, perceptions can be changed.
Noticing how our beliefs differ in various contexts is a useful starting point. If a learning mindset works in one environment, how can we translate it to another. Gallwey labels this ‘Awareness’. Using our current experience to inform us about where we are starting from. One of the principles of Gallwey’s ‘Inner Game’ approach, is that Awareness begins with observing what is happening without attaching any judgement or evaluation to it. Simply noticing the starting position; what we are doing, what we are experiencing, and what is getting in the way.
That simple act of noticing creates possibility.
I lost concentration during that meeting is an observation. It provides useful feedback.
I'm hopeless at concentrating is a judgement, and it assumes an identity.
Raising our awareness of our current position by collecting observations and feedback, we set ourselves up for an informed learning journey.
Learner Reflection – When reflecting on performance, stay with observation. ‘Notice’ the specifics about what you did, how you did it, how you felt, what you said, and what was going through your mind.
“I notice I was feeling excited about the new opportunity” “I notice I spoke more than I listened” “I notice I interrupted …”
Leader Reflection – How am I a role model for learning? How comfortable am I at admitting I don’t know something or made a mistake? Is my feedback observational and free from judgement?
“In the meeting, I noticed your voice was quiet,
I noticed that you maintained eye contact when you shook the client’s hand’
‘I noticed you let the client finish speaking, and paused to see if they had anything else to say, before responding’
Environment: creating conditions for the brain to explore
Everything we do takes place within an ‘environment’ which can either be conducive to the learning process or actively inhibiting.
Our brains are continually processing sensory information, attending to some things and filtering others. Dr Helena Boschi's work highlights the importance of attention, perception and the senses in shaping how we experience and respond to the world.
Our environment, and how it makes us feel, has a powerful influence on how we think and learn. Environment encapsulates both physical and psychological space. Leaders may appreciate that learners need their learning environment to be a safe space to experiment, have a go and ask questions without fear of humiliation or disapproval. It is the physical space offered for learning that many still overlook. Factors as simple as temperature, lighting, smells and noise can create distress signals in our bodies that interrupt the brains capacity to learn.
By changing our physical environment, we can change what we notice. By incorporating movement, we can positively alter our state. Taking a conversation away from the usual workspace can create a different quality of attention. Taking ourselves into nature offers us a different type of sensory experience, that gives the body and brain a reprieve from artificial light and temperature. According to Carey’s research, when we vary our environment, we make knowledge ‘more flexible and retrievable’.
Learner Reflection – Where am I when I learn at my best? What is my environment? What am I hearing (silence or background hum)? What am I seeing? How do I feel?
Leader Reflection – What type of environment do you offer your learners? Is it conducive to reflection, percolation and sensory stimulation? Are there indoor and outdoor spaces?
Process: understanding how learning happens
Most people would equate the term ‘learning’ with knowledge acquisition or development of skills and behaviours. Before we get to that stage, and to create the conditions for our learning mindset to emerge, we must learn ‘how to learn’.
“A learner mindset isn’t simply being willing to learn something new. It is being curious about your own learning process” - Tim Gallwey, Inner Game of Work
To unlock our potential, Carey suggests we ‘throw out the rule book’ and turn some of our traditional perspectives on their heads.
1. Forgetting is an ally for learning that sticks – the act of forgetting something and searching for the answer, leads to stronger retrieval.
2. Testing is a learning tool – using assessments before ‘training’ is powerful. The struggle to check if we already know something strengthens our subsequent recall. Posing a question creates activity in the brain that strengthens the learning process. A person who is given the answer learns something different from the person who invests effort working out the answer.
3. Daydreaming can have a purpose - Mind-wandering can allow the brain to make connections, explore possibilities and work through problems outside conscious attention.
4. Failure can be productive - mistakes and unsuccessful attempts can contribute to learning particularly when they are followed by feedback and another attempt.
5. Learning is strengthened by effort – a degree of struggle can make learning durable. The process can feel less comfortable precisely because the brain is working harder. If everything about learning feels easy, we may not be embedding learning that really sticks.
6. Step Away, Stop, Sleep – taking some time out from whatever we are stuck on, or struggling to learn, gives breathing space to our conscious brain, and time for our subconscious to continue working on it. This is why we often find answers pop up in surprising places.
Whitney Johnson describes our typical learning journey in a helpful map towards Smart Growth. The launch phase of learning is slow, effortful and potentially frustrating. It can feel like a slog. Persistence is rewarded at the ‘sweet spot’ where new doesn’t feel natural, but our progress accelerates, and our confidence grows. With time and practice we reach the summit of ‘mastery’, a place of ease, a new norm.
Learner Reflection – What are you learning that feels hard right now? How does that compare with learning goals you have pushed through before? Where might you be on your Smart Growth journey?
Leader Reflection – when developing people, instead of asking ‘How can I make this easier for them?’ consider ‘How can I make it safe enough for them to work it out?’
Trust – Giving the learner ownership
A learning mindset flourishes when the learner has agency.
Gallwey’s coaching approach is designed to help learners think for themselves. Our instinct may be to provide the answer when someone is learning; we may feel the urge to correct their technique or explain what they should do differently.
Gallwey invites us to trust their capacity to learn and as coaches, to invest our contribution in creating the conditions for awareness, helping the learner to clarify their desired outcome, and allowing them to discover and develop their own capability. This is particularly relevant when learning involves skills that need to become natural through practice rather than simply understood intellectually.
Giving the learner agency to own their learning agenda requires trust on both sides. The leader must trust the learner’s capacity to learn. The learner must trust in their own capacity and the learning process. Someone presenting a fixed mindset may just need a boost in self confidence which this approach can offer.
Learner Reflection – What are your learning goals? Where are you starting from? Where might you trust yourself to learn something new?
Leader Reflection – Do I teach my team, or help them learn how to learn? Am I solving today’s problem, or am I helping my team become better at solving tomorrow’s? Who owns the learners’ personal development plan in our organisation?
The organisational value of learning
The true value of a learning mindset is when it becomes the cultural norm. Translating individual ‘mindset’ into organisational capability.
The ROI on learning appears in many small behaviours: earlier conversations, better questions, stronger problem solving, greater responsibility, increased engagement and improved retention. As behaviours compound, learning becomes capability, which translates into capacity and organisational value.
In a world where the work, technology, expectations and challenges around us continue to evolve, our capacity to learn may become one of our most important sources of sustainable performance.
About the Author
This blog was written by our guest author, Liz Pemberton who is the Founder of Nurtured Outcomes, a nature-based coaching and consultancy business that helps you to step away from the noise, pause and reconnect with what matters most.
Working with individuals, leaders and teams, Liz creates the conditions for you to gain the clarity and confidence to move forward with momentum, through a combination of coaching, nature-infused learning experiences and purposeful play.
As an Associate Consultant for RIE Solutions Liz draws on 3 decades of hands-on experience working in Financial Services, all of which has centred around effective people, processes and performance leadership.
To find out more connect with Liz here: Liz Pemberton | LinkedIn
TRANSFORMATION YOU | IS YOUR MINDSET AN ASSET? FT DR. CAROL DWECK
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“Leadership at its core is empowering others to reach their full potential…”
Dr. Nido R. Qubein, Founder and CEO, Protrade United
I love the koi fish story!
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