What is a Growth Mindset?

By Hannah Ferguson

I’ve worked at Germer International for almost 5 years now, and I can say one of my favorite things about working here is the emphasis on learning, growth, and personal development. We’re constantly reading books and talking about ways to better yourself, both professionally and personally. My other favorite part of the job, which admittedly didn’t become a favorite until somewhat recently, is that we’re constantly learning.

When I first started working here, I remember thinking how much there was to understand and learn, it felt pretty daunting and sometimes impossible. My mindset switched, though, when I came across a podcast about growth versus fixed mindsets. If you’re not familiar, a fixed mindset is described as someone who views their traits or abilities as inherently stable and unchanging over time. A growth mindset, however, is someone who views intelligence, abilities, and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort. With a growth mindset, failures are encouraged and there’s the belief that even if you don’t have the skills now, you can gain those skills and the knowledge to ultimately succeed. I was truly inspired and encouraged by the idea anyone can achieve or learn anything, as long as they put in the effort and have the right mindset.

After learning more about the growth mindset, I realized that’s exactly the type of mindset and environment that we foster here at Germer. We’re never restricted in the work we want to do or limited on our long-term goals. We’re encouraged to learn at our own pace, ask questions, and see failure or challenges as great learning opportunities.