Building a new solutions and products is a highly innovative and
creative process. Things simply don’t go to plan all the time, setbacks and
failures are inevitable along the way. What makes a difference is how a team
deals with them. Each failure is an opportunity to reassess, make a change and
try a different approach. In order to succeed, teams must become resilient to
failure and focus on the learning outcomes that they present. When we feel that
it is safe to fail we are more likely to try risker experiments, and sometimes
these riskier experiments have huge payoffs.

The concept of the growth mindset was developed by the
psychologist Carol Dweck and popularized in her book, Mindset: The New
Psychology of Success. Dweck proposes that people deal with failure in two very
different ways depending on their mindset. Some people have a fixed mindset and
others with a growth mindset.

People with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence and talent
are fixed traits. They believe that talent alone creates success without
effort. They don’t deal well with setbacks and they try to hide their mistakes.

In contrast people a growth mindset believe that their abilities
and talents are just a starting point and that they can be developed through
dedication, hard work and learning. They are keen to learn from the people
around them. They respond positively to failure and are best described in one
sentence: “I can’t do that…yet”.

Teams that operate with a growth mindset have a much more
malleable view of success. They do not view failure as a reflection of their
ability but rather as a starting point for experimentation and testing of new
ideas. They have a passion for learning and improving themselves and their
team. They strive for continuous improvement and never give up.