The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self (PDF)

University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons ScholarlyCommons Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics Theses Organizational Dynamics Programs 8-23-2021 The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self Ian S. Wheeler University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/od_theses_msod Wheeler, Ian S., "The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self" (2021). Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics Theses. 129. https://repository.upenn.edu/od_theses_msod/129 Submitted to the Program of Organizational Dynamics, College of Liberal and Professional Studies In the School of Arts and Sciences In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania Advisor: Erek Ostrowski, PhD This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/od_theses_msod/129 For more information, please contact [email protected]  The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self The Role Of Growth Mindset In The Evolution Of Self Abstract Abstract This capstone details my experience in the Organizational Dynamics (OD) program over a 2-year period, documenting the potential of embracing a growth mindset. Leading up to my time in the program, I felt aimless in my professional life, trying to “climb the ladder” but facing seemingly insurmountable, limiting beliefs about myself and the world around me. I lacked self-confidence and vision, but more paralyzing than that, I was stuck within a fixed mindset. My experience is one of transformation, where equal emphasis was placed on learning and unlearning. Learning was focused on theory, evidence-based practices, and the sharing of ideas. Unlearning was focused on reflection and the breakdown of formerly accepted norms and unquestioned beliefs. The focal point in my own story has been the shift from a fixed to a growth mindset; that is, the belief that one has the capacity to evolve, improve, grow. This is an account of what can happen when replacing the pursuit of status and achievement with the pursuit of personal growth. My experience shows the potential for growth that comes from embracing uncertainty, ambiguity, and vulnerability. Although the courses in the OD program do encourage growth, the goal of this capstone is not to assert the necessity of enrolling in a master’s program. The goal is to demonstrate the value and power any individual can access to overcome life’s obstacles by embracing a growth mindset. Keywords Keywords Personal growth, growth, growth mindset, learning, unlearning Comments Comments Submitted to the Program of Organizational Dynamics, College of Liberal and Professional Studies In the School of Arts and Sciences In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania Advisor: Erek Ostrowski, PhD This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/od_theses_msod/129  THE ROLE OF GROWTH MINDSET IN THE EVOLUTION OF SELF by Ian S. Wheeler Submitted to the Program of Organizational Dynamics, College of Liberal and Professional Studies In the School of Arts and Sciences In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2021  THE ROLE OF GROWTH MINDSET IN THE EVOLUTION OF SELF Approved by: Erek Ostrowski, PhD, Advisor Sharon Benjamin, PhD, Reader  iii ABSTRACT This capstone details my experience in the Organizational Dynamics (OD) program over a 2-year period, documenting the potential of embracing a growth mindset. Leading up to my time in the program, I felt aimless in my professional life, trying to “climb the ladder” but facing seemingly insurmountable, limiting beliefs about myself and the world around me. I lacked self-confidence and vision, but more paralyzing than that, I was stuck within a fixed mindset. My experience is one of transformation, where equal emphasis was placed on learning and unlearning. Learning was focused on theory, evidence-based practices, and the sharing of ideas. Unlearning was focused on reflection and the breakdown of formerly accepted norms and unquestioned beliefs. The focal point in my own story has been the shift from a fixed to a growth mindset; that is, the belief that one has the capacity to evolve, improve, grow. This is an account of what can happen when replacing the pursuit of status and achievement with the pursuit of personal growth. My experience shows the potential for growth that comes from embracing uncertainty, ambiguity, and vulnerability. Although the courses in the OD program do encourage growth, the goal of this capstone is not to assert the necessity of enrolling in a master’s program. The goal is to demonstrate the value and power any individual can access to overcome life’s obstacles by embracing a growth mindset.  iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Because this process has been deeply personal—as one would expect from a personal journey portfolio—it might seem like I live in a self-concealed vacuum where I believe I accomplish all things alone. This could not be further from the truth. While I do acknowledge my own efforts, I did not make this journey alone. To my capstone advisor, Erek, I cannot thank you enough for investing in me as a human, as well as your support and patience with me through this writing process. You have been teacher, advisor, coach, mentor, and friend at all the right times. To my reader, Sharon, thank you for your invitation to be brave, your timely push to “just finish the damn thing,” and your incredibly valuable perspective and feedback. To my coaching advisor, Linda Pennington, for your encouragement to trust myself and have confidence in the coaching process. To my faculty “guru” and mentor/friend, Amrita Subramanian, for your reassurance to trust my body’s response to each moment, remaining suspicious of the familiar and open to the unfamiliar. To my editor, Vivian Fransen, for making this project look nice and offering relevant modifications. To all my classmates and faculty who shared their ideas, knowledge, and experiences, eased my imposter syndrome, and provided an adaptive space for me to grow, reflect, and be challenged. To the members of OCEC Cohort 9 who provided a safe place to be vulnerable, validated my experience, and trusted me with their stories. To my first client, Ashley Simmons, for trusting me as a coach. And to my friends and family who believe in me when I struggle to believe in myself.  v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv CHAPTER 1 Introduction to My Journey 1 Doing It for Me 3 Enter Growth Mindset 4 Framework Matters 8 “Aha!” Moments 9 The What 10 The How 12 The When 13 The Question of Identity 14 My Given Identity 16 My Chosen Identity 17 Further Understanding Identity 18 Aha! 19 2 Literature Review 20 The Lenses Used to Unpack My Experiences 20 Growth Mindset 20 Adult Learning Theories 24 Identity Theories 26 How These Lenses Relate to My Journey 28 3 Aha! The Moments That Altered My Journey’s Course 30 Perception Is Reality, Perspective Is Everything 31 Moving Away From Absolutes 34 The Power of Words, Positive Self-Talk 36 The Value of Discomfort, Confronting Fear 38 Confronting Myself 41 Finding the Path of Least Resistance 42 Uncovering Biases 45 Understanding Organizations in a Different Light 50 The Obligation to Create Space for Myself and Others 50 Emergence 51 Diversity and Inclusion 53 Using Metaphor to Understand and Lenses to See Organizations 54 Metaphor 55  vi Lenses 56 Experiencing Coaching, Finding a Passion 59 Coaching Initiation 59 Coaching the Avatar 61 Humanistic 61 CBC 63 Positive 64 Narrative 65 Questions and Answers 66 4 Real-World Application 68 Perception Is Reality, Perspective Is Everything 69 Influence on My Life 69 Influence on My Work 70 Confronting Myself 71 Influence on My Life 72 Influence on My Work 72 Understanding Organizations in a Different Light 73 Influence on My Work 73 Experiencing Coaching, Finding a Passion 75 Influence on My Life 76 Influence on My Work 77 Changing Perspectives Over Time 78 5 Conclusion: This Is Not the End 80 Unanswered Questions 81 Will I Ever Hit an Endpoint in Learning and Growing? 83 What Makes Us Who We Are? 84 To What Extent Do We Control Things? 84 Do We Need the Myths We Create? 85 Extending Beyond the Organizational Dynamics Program 86 REFERENCES 88  1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO MY JOURNEY “When people have lived with assumptions long enough, passed down through the generations as incontrovertible fact, they are accepted as the truths of physics, no longer needing even to be spoken. They are as true and as unremarkable as water flowing through rivers or the air that we breathe.” —Wilkerson (2021, p184) This capstone chronicles my journey through the Organizational Dynamics (OD) program at the University of Pennsylvania. Because this is my own experience, the concept of identity appears throughout, constantly shifting as needed—as I needed it to—so I could make sense of myself, realities, myths, and my space and role in ever-changing contexts. Each chapter observes this journey from different angles, navigating the contours of my experience and creating what has been and will continue to be an evolving image. There is no finished product in this story—the only constant is change—and that is equally overwhelming and relieving. This realization is overwhelming because the very intentional work that goes into an evolution of mind and spirit is not easy work. It is also relieving because it removes monotony from the equation and means that I will continue learning for as long as I have breath. This first chapter introduces my movement before and through the OD program, movement driven by the lens of growth mindset, which has produced subsequent lenses such as a positive outlook, open-mindedness, and unconditional positive regard. Movement refers to the change in my frameworks and sense of self identity as I have moved through the program. I also share  2 what my aha moments have been and how certain experiences in my life helped to produce these moments of intense clarity. These moments for me, in reality not always momentary, often come about over time, slowly filtering through the unconscious into the conscious mind. The second chapter explores the literature surrounding the primary theoretical lenses that helped to produce this work. I introduce literature on growth mindset, adult learning theories, and identity theories and concepts. Each lens has given me language that helps to contextualize the transformational change I experienced through the OD program. The third chapter delves into the details of my aha moments throughout the program. I wonder about and explore the role of growth mindset in producing these aha moments and shaping my experience and insights. The fourth chapter attempts to connect what all of these details mean in the context of my life, personally and professionally. The OD program has changed how I view myself, and how I speak to and about myself. It has led to changing how I approach others in conversation, which has significantly impacted my encounters with family, friends, colleagues, new acquaintances, and strangers. It has significantly educated my understanding of organizations, which has aided my professional growth. I also explore in this chapter how my perspective has changed over time, specifically focusing on my time in the OD program. The last chapter appeals to my innermost unconscious to explore what questions I still have, what is so far not understood, and what has yet to be  3 learned. I conclude the capstone by sharing how I plan to extend and further develop my learning from the OD program over time. Doing It for Me Pursuing this master’s degree is the first major thing I have done for myself. Even my choice of undergraduate institution was not truly a choice as I was compelled to attend a certain type of undergraduate university—Christian; the alternative would have resulted in the loss of support, (limited) financial and otherwise, from my family. I moved to Philadelphia for my partner. I went into financial debt and stayed in debt for years so that I could partake in friends’ weddings across the United States. I went into deeper financial debt by giving money to friends who I knew had no intention of paying me back, and I did not ask or expect them to. I cannot explain these occurrences as pure selflessness. In large part these choices—or perceived choices—come from the instilled doctrine of “deny thyself,” which was engrained in me from before I could understand the words, much less the concept. This deeply rooted idea taken to the extreme made me feel that anything I did for myself was reprehensible, which resulted in a constant state of self- shame. Though I rebelled internally against this dogma for years, it was an aimless rebellion, coated in self-deprecating humor, fear, hurt, disgust, anger, sadness, and shame. These emotions made it difficult to see clearly, to sift through my reality and determine what I desired for myself. I knew I wanted something more, and I knew I wanted something different, but I did not know how  4 to get there. The something more was not to increase my professional prospects, though that is a convenient side effect of furthering one’s studies. I wanted more for myself personally. I wanted to prove to my inner voice that I was capable. I wanted to prove to that voice, the voice that I had let break me down for as long as I could remember, that it was wrong. I wanted to grow out of old things and grow into new things. My desired outcome for this pursuit of personal growth was to grow into someone I knew I could be. Little did I know how difficult it would be and how much self-reflection would be involved in this journey. I am glad I did not know as that might have dissuaded me. I thought back to my undergraduate experience, thinking about what course of study I could pursue in furthering my learning. The most obvious answer was to stay within the vicinity of my undergraduate studies—exercise physiology—considering I had a head start in that area. The problem was the idea was revolting to me. Since I did not enjoy this area of study as an undergraduate, how would I get through the next level of content as a graduate student? I had waded through my undergraduate experience, not expecting much from myself and not truly challenging myself. Enter Growth Mindset The fixed idea of who I was and who I could and could not be had always been a seemingly impenetrable barrier. So, instead of trying to get past this barrier as I had in the past, I approached it from a different angle by utterly demolishing the barrier’s foundation. I did this by questioning preconceived ideas  5 about myself and my reality, breaking out of a confined mental structure, namely, a fixed mindset with fixed concepts such as a fixed identity. I began addressing the concept of identity work, which describes the process by which we construct a “coherent, distinct and positively valued” understanding of self (Alvesson et al., 2008, p. 15). In this work of constructing identity, we constantly address the question of who am I? In doing so we create a self-narrative by drawing on our memories (past) and desires (future) filtered through cultural resources available to us to either imitate or completely transform our sense of self (Alvesson et al., 2008). I began doing the hard work that Wilkerson (2021) refers to in the opening quote of this chapter: questioning assumptions, those that I had made on my own as well as the ones that had been passed down to me as indisputable truths. This level of self-reflection is an essential part of the transformative learning process. Critically reflecting on assumptions through self-reflection, reading, or hearing another point of view is ultimately how we transform our views, even our framework (Mezirow, 1997). Our beliefs, points of view, and interpretations of reality and the world around us are based on assumptions that we can either choose to address or leave unspoken, unthought, and unbothered. Mezirow (2018) expands on this theory by saying that critical reflection or self-reflection is only one element of the transformative learning process. The second element is participating in dialectical discourse.  6 Everything was on the table, and I came to realize it always would be on the table. The loss of certainty is simultaneously terrifying and freeing. I refer to this form of questioning as deconstructing, a term most associated with French philosopher Jacques Derrida. In short, it can be thought of as unlearning: dissolving the most base-level molecules that form the pillars that construct the house that can be thought of as my framework, the cumulative lens through which to see the world. Unlearning is a vital part of growth, whether we are referring to individuals or larger sets, organizations, and societies (Matsuo, 2019). Unlearning—“or abandoning obsolete beliefs, values, knowledge, and routines”—is important because existing knowledge, habits, and frameworks can bar us from learning or being open to learn new things (Matsuo, 2019, p. 465). Through this initial breakthrough, I questioned myself: Is there any part of my undergraduate experience that can be salvaged and propel me into my next area of growth? This might sound like a dramatic question to ask because, of course, there are salvageable experiences from my undergraduate experience, but it did not feel like it at the time. At that point, it felt more negative than positive because I accrued quite a bit of financial debt for a degree that I had not used since graduating over 4 years prior and had no desire to build on. What eventually came to mind after repeatedly asking the question was a leadership elective course that happened to fit perfectly into my senior spring semester schedule. The professor began the class by stating, “This class will be as challenging as you choose. You will only get out of it what you put in. This is true  7 for class, and this is true in life.” That was a pivotal moment for me. I am sure it was not the first time I heard this ostensibly obvious truth in identical or similar conveyance, but it was my first time internalizing it. The class focused on possible characteristics of leadership, which are historically thought of in masculine terms (Zigarelli, 2015). However, it did open the door to leadership characteristics outside of the norm, characteristics that I saw in myself—qualities that are considered more feminine in nature—such as patience, compassion, empathy, vulnerability, and inclusion. That class awakened a quiet passion for understanding leadership and group dynamics that lay mostly dormant for the next few years—that is, until I questioned what I am passionate about. My answers were as follows: • People • Networks • Group dynamics • How we communicate and fail to communicate • How we encourage and build each other up • How we discourage and tear each other down • How we move forward, regardless of the endless combination of factors that inevitably and constantly stand in the way The welcomed awakening from dormancy eventually led me to the OD program, which was after years of good and bad real-life experiences with leadership that formed my initial concept of what makes a good leader. Regardless of good or bad leadership, I learned just as much, if not more, from