Mindset

Discussion

Dave Snowden:

"The Oxford English dictionary defines mindset as: An established set of attitudes, esp. regarded as typical of a particular group’s social or cultural values; the outlook, philosophy, or values of a person; (now also more generally) frame of mind, attitude, disposition. The idea of mental models was popularised by Senge but my impression is that he was working with Forrester’s definition namely: “The image of the world around us, which we carry in our head, is just a model. Nobody in his head imagines all the world, government or country. He has only selected concepts, and relationships between them, and uses those to represent the real system”. The latter gave rise in turn to ideas of single and double-loop learning to disrupt and change said models. Then in 2007, we got Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. The title and subtitle on the book cover tell us a fair amount about why this was (and is) a best seller and a whole industry has grown on the back of it. In particular the multiple creations of Manichæian tables comparing fixed mindsets with growth mindsets and so on. To be fair Dweck has been pretty open about the potential misuse of her ideas (and there has been a lot) and has recognised the wider academic criticism, that despite multiple attempts here experiments have not been replicated.

Now I think mental models, mindsets and double-loop learning all had their place in the wider development of organisational theory and practice, they represent a useful step on a journey that is still ongoing. But I also think it is time to move on. "

(https://thecynefin.co/a-melange-of-potential-not-a-mindset/)