Can You Really Have a Growth Mindset in Healthcare?
By Lillian Liang Emlet
Lillian Liang Emlet is an energy leadership coach for healthcare professionals, adult critical care physician, and a simulation medical educator. Find her on LinkedIn.
Sarah, a newly minted surgeon, stood in the operating room, her heart racing. The routine lung surgery she was conducting had just taken an unexpected turn for the worse. Her patient's bleeding was significant, and the oxygenation alarms were starting to go off. For a moment, Sarah felt a wave of panic. A thought fluttered up from the depths of her brain: I can't handle this. A chest-tightening micro-surge of adrenaline began to rise.
Then she took a deep breath.
In that moment of pause, Sarah remembered her training and experience and centered herself. Instead of giving in to self-doubt, she chose to view this challenge as an opportunity to rise to the occasion.
Real-life healthcare professionals face scenarios like these daily. It's in these moments of high stress and uncertainty that the power of a growth mindset like Sarah's is crucial.
Understanding growth mindset
Developed by psychologist Carol Dweck, growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, hard work, and learning from our experiences. Over three decades of research, Dweck has shown that individuals who adopt a growth mindset tend to achieve more than those with a fixed mindset, who believe that their abilities are static and unchangeable.
With a growth mindset, we view challenges as opportunities for growth and development. When we focus on the process of learning and skill acquisition rather than the demand to master the skill or knowledge itself, then a growth mindset is working. It's not just about being positive or working hard; it's a fundamental shift in how we must begin to view ourselves and our potential.
Growth mindset is also good for our brains. Learning and training actually induce measurable changes in brain structure and function; fMRI studies have shown the active myelination (growth) of neurons with practice. People aren’t just “born with it"—they leverage the maximum potential of learning, and their brains respond accordingly.
The power of ‘yet’
One of the simplest yet most powerful tools in the growth-mindset arsenal is the word "yet." When we say, "I can't do this," we're closing the door on possibility. But when we say, "I can't do this yet," we're acknowledging our current limitations, while leaving room for future growth. It's a small linguistic shift that can have profound psychological effects.
For Sarah, facing that critical early-career moment in the operating room, adding a mental "yet" to her initial thought of "I can't handle this" was a mindset shift. It's not about denying the reality of the situation, but about framing it in a way that allows for practice and improvement.
Misconceptions about growth mindset
Before we reflect on how healthcare professionals can apply growth mindset principles, it's important to clear up some common misconceptions:
It's not an all-or-nothing trait: We all have both fixed and growth mindsets within us. We all are on a continuum of believing two things that are both true—that we have innate, immutable skills, and that we are a work in progress.
It's not just about effort: While raw effort is important, a growth mindset also involves seeking out new strategies and learning from others.
It doesn't guarantee success: Having a growth mindset doesn't mean everything will always work out the way we think it will. It's about how we approach challenges and setbacks, not about always overcoming them.
It's not about unlimited potential: A growth mindset acknowledges that while we can improve our skills and abilities, there are still natural limits to human potential.
It's not easily instilled: Simply teaching people about growth mindset theory isn't enough. It requires consistent practice and reinforcement.
Applying growth mindset in healthcare
For healthcare professionals, adopting a growth mindset is necessary when we enter new workgroups, leadership positions, ad-hoc teams or clinical situations. (Remember when we didn’t know anything about a new virus called Covid-19?) Here's how we can apply growth mindset in high-stress situations:
Reframing challenges: Instead of viewing stressful situations as threats to personal or professional identity, we can reframe them emotionally as opportunities for learning and growth. We can focus on our curiosity and desire to improve, rather than fear or anxiety.
Focusing on process over outcome: By embracing the process of learning improvement, healthcare professionals can reduce the pressure of achieving perfect outcomes in every situation. Through refining the process, rather than the result, we can create structures of support for system practice gaps.
Resilient leadership: A growth mindset encourages teams to debrief situations together and find ways to support each other in the moment. This resilience helps them bounce back from difficult situations and maintain their effectiveness in high-stress environments.
Seeking feedback: Healthcare professionals with a growth mindset are more likely to seek feedback and support from colleagues during stressful times. Letting others into our world and absorbing their guidance can lead to improved performance and reduced stress levels.
Developing adaptive thinking: A growth mindset enables healthcare professionals to maintain flexibility, adapting their thinking and approaches in response to changing situations. This is crucial in high-acuity environments where conditions can change quickly, such as the Emergency Department and pre-hospital settings.
Improving patient relationships: When we embrace the challenges that arise in communicating with patients, we can often develop more empathy for what they're going through, and build better relationships. A growth mindset also gives us the freedom to think creatively when faced with complex medical challenges, which can often result in better patient outcomes.
Implementing growth mindset as a leader in healthcare
While individual adoption of a growth mindset is powerful, its impact can be amplified when embraced at an organizational level. Managers, directors, and clinical chiefs can foster a growth mindset culture by:
Participating in leadership training: Mid-level managers need practice and skills to lead teams that cultivate everyone’s learning and growth. They should be afforded ongoing leadership skill development, with a focus on cultivating a culture of safety in debriefing, reporting errors, and supporting peer growth.
Encouraging risk-taking: Managers should be allowed to create an environment where calculated risks and innovative approaches are encouraged, even if they don't always succeed in small tests within their workgroups. Pilot programs where multiple professions and specialties can collaborate across silos of expertise encourage innovation.
Reframing failure: Shifting the organizational perspective on failure from something to be avoided to a valuable learning opportunity can be powerful. Healthcare professionals often have negative internal self-talk about their "failures," due to the outcome-driven metrics (like mortality, profit margin, and patient satisfaction scores) that drive much of healthcare.
Recognizing effort and progress: Staff turnover often comes as a result of lack of perceived appreciation or support from direct supervisors. Creating year-round recognition systems that value effort, progress, and learning, instead of solely evaluating outcomes during employee performance reviews, help create an environment that retains talent and makes employees feel like they're part of something bigger.
Leading by example: Leaders who publicly and privately “walk the talk,” demonstrating growth mindset principles in their own behavior and decision-making, are crucial to creating a culture of trust and accountability.
The journey, not the destination
While the benefits of a growth mindset in healthcare are clear, it's important to acknowledge that there are many challenges in implementation. The high-stakes nature of healthcare makes it difficult to embrace a learning-oriented approach in all situations. Systemic pressures, time constraints, and ingrained cultural norms can all pose obstacles to mindset change.
Developing a growth mindset is a journey, not a destination. It's not about achieving perfection. It’s about committing to continuous growth and improvement. For individual healthcare professionals, this might mean:
Regularly reflecting on experiences and identifying lessons learned
Seeking out new challenges and opportunities for skill development
Cultivating a supportive network of colleagues who encourage growth
Practicing self-compassion when faced with setbacks or mistakes
Celebrating small wins and progress along the way
The power of possibility
As we return to Sarah's crisis in the operating room, we can imagine how embracing a growth mindset might have played out for her. After taking her moment to breathe and gather herself, she would have been in a better place to communicate clearly and calmly with her team, approaching the unexpected complication as a challenge to be solved, rather than a disaster to be feared. Maybe she would have even surprised herself with her ability to adapt and respond with grace under pressure.
Growth mindset is not about being endlessly positive or denying the reality of difficult situations. Instead, it's about approaching challenges with a sense of possibility—the possibility of learning, of improving, of finding new solutions. And ultimately, it's patients who benefit from this approach, receiving care from professionals who are constantly striving to provide the best possible outcomes.
As we face the healthcare challenges of the future, fostering a growth mindset at both individual and organizational levels may be one of the most powerful tools we have. It's a reminder that in every challenge lies an opportunity, in every setback a lesson, and in every individual, the potential for growth and excellence.
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As we navigate the complexities of modern healthcare, there's immense value in sharing insights, experiences, and strategies with fellow professionals who are on the same path. That's why I invite you to join me on Finding Your Both-And Learning Journey by me, The Path Less Traveled, MD. We’ll be talking about thought-provoking articles, research, perspectives, and practical tips to help you cultivate a growth mindset in your professional life, and create a culture of continuous improvement in our healthcare institutions.
Our growth isn't just about our own personal development—it's about enhancing our ability to heal, to care, and to make a lasting difference in the lives of many. Let's shape the future of healthcare, one mindset shift at a time.
Citations:
[1] Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.
[2] Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). “Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed.” Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.
[3] Caniëls, M. C., Semeijn, J. H., & Renders, I. H. (2018). “Mind the mindset! The interaction of proactive personality, transformational leadership and growth mindset for engagement at work.” Career Development International.
[4] Neuroleadership Institute. (n.d.). “Reducing stress with a growth mindset.” Retrieved from https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/reducing-stress-growth-mindset.