At Agile 2013 Linda Rising gave a talk about the “Agile Mindset.” In that talk she discussed how researchers have identified that we hold one of two mindsets toward ability:
- that we have a fixed amount of talent or intelligence, what we are born with and there’s nothing we can do about it;
- that we are born with a certain amount of talent or intelligence, but we can all improve by working hard.
These two mindsets, “fixed” and “agile”, not only determine how we feel about our own success or failure but also how we feel about others.
She gave another talk on “Who do you trust”. In that talk she explained research that shows we are hardwired to stereotype others based on a very small amount of information.
Linda learned that the two talks are related, so she combined them in this talk to explain how the two ideas are related. There is a connection between our mindset and how quickly we judge others and how open we are to seeing how others can improve. If we can do a better job of holding an agile mindset, imagine how much more creative, innovative, and cooperative our workplaces and homes could be.
Having an agile mindset means more openness means better collaboration means better agile team work. There is now research that shows mindset can even affect our ability to bring peace in areas of long-standing conflict.
It’s a very hopeful topic.
