Success & Growth Mindset

Friends from Infosys pointed me to Mr.Narayanamurthy’s pre-commencement lecture at the New York University (Stern School of Business). A very inspiring speech with lot of reflective thought built inside. I particularly liked this part wherein he says that the mindset one works with is also quite critical. I never get tired when I get to read /listen to his various speeches – every one has a key message. Here, he points to Carol Dweck’s work as quoted by Marina Kravosky, on the fact that it matters greatly whether one believes in ability as inherent or that it can be developed. ( The Effort Effect is my favourite as well – briefly the theory is that with occasional tumble’s one can reach far greater heights). A fixed mind set creates a tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential. The latter view, a growth mind set, leads to a tendency to embrace challenges, to learn from criticism and such people reach ever higher levels of achievement. Read Carol Dweck’s book, The Mindset : The New Psychology of Success. Carol believes that personalities can be changed and holding a growth mind-set bodes well for one’s relationships.

Some of the lessons that Mr.Murthy points to are very telling – excerpts with some edits:

1. I will begin with the importance of learning from experience. It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place. Learning from experience, however, can be complicated. It can be much more difficult to learn from success than from failure. If we fail, we think carefully about the precise cause. Success can indiscriminately reinforce all our prior actions.
2. A second theme concerns the power of chance events. As I think across a wide variety of settings in my life, I am struck by the incredible role played by the interplay of chance events with intentional choices. While the turning points themselves are indeed often fortuitous, how we respond to them is anything but so. It is this very quality of how we respond systematically to chance events that is crucial.
3. Of course, the mindset one works with is also quite critical. As recent work by the psychologist, Carol Dweck, has shown, it matters greatly whether one believes in ability as inherent or that it can be developed. Put simply, the former view, a fixed mindset, creates a tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential.

The Takeaway : The message is perhaps the best possible one that once can hope to get for the event. Around the world, corporates need not just managers but leaders with entrepreneurial mindset, capable of taking the organization to its next levels and help break open new frontiers. The message is very powerful considering that it has come from a person of his stature . His reflections , risk taking abilities, determination and moreover his idea of moving from operational management of infosys, an organization that he has so passionately chiseled and built over a long time and finally giving way to others – all are testimony to his greatness. Mr.Murthy's approach towards his life and the dogged determination to shape his own destiny,his beliefs in being ever hopeful, creating and distributing wealth all point to set of core beliefs – the likes of which are essential for entrepreneurship and growth. Depending on the context, the general approach can change- its like changing the template/skin as when new developments happen and when the world keeps changing – new prescriptions and beliefs may necessarily spring up but the core values are timeless and priceless.

Labels: Business Model Success, Emerging Thoughts, Mindset, N.R.Narayanamurthy