Here’s an article in Stamford magazine about Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset — The New Psychology of Success.” The piece is a nice summary of Dweck’s thesis and how she arrived at it after years of study and experience. The book sounds like a fascinating validation of what many of us in business probably know instinctively — that those with so-called “natural talent” can be easily outpaced by someone who pursues their goals doggedly and is largely immune to the “distractions” of setbacks.

This thinking is also pointedly relevant to parenting… I have often caught myself doling out effusive, undifferentiated praise to my daughter and then realized that a more specific affirmation — one that clearly identifies the reason for the praise (i.e. that she has accomplished something difficult, meaningful, or impressive) would go a lot further towards reinforcing a concrete sense of her own abilities.

Or are we now in Cesar’s territory…?

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki’s excellent blog for this tip.

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