The Power of belief -- mindset and success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach

TEDx Talks

AI-assisted summary of The Power of belief -- mindset and success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2012-11-19

Key ideas

Longitudinal research by Carol Dweck and Lisa Blackwell shows that seventh graders with a growth mindset steadily improve their grades over two years, while the academic achievement of peers with a fixed mindset stagnates. (0:00)
Subtle phrasing in praise heavily influences risk tolerance; children praised for being smart chose easier puzzles and lied about their scores more than three times as often as those praised for effort. (5:32)
Neuroscience indicates the brain functions like a muscle, with neuroplasticity physically rewiring cognitive capacity when individuals engage in deliberate, challenging practice. (3:07)
Interventions demonstrating that groups can change have improved attitudes and willingness to compromise even in entrenched geopolitical conflicts, such as between Israelis and Palestinians. (7:43)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by TEDx Talks on November 19, 2012, this presentation features Eduardo Briceño, Co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works, speaking at TEDxManhattanBeach. The description highlights how our beliefs about intelligence and abilities shape our achievements, explaining how shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset enables grit, deliberate practice, and lifelong success.

## TL;DR Drawing on neuroscience and the research of Dr. Carol Dweck, Eduardo Briceño explains that our underlying beliefs about intelligence—distinguished as either a fixed or a growth mindset—dictate how we handle challenges, effort, and failure. While viewing abilities as static breeds fragility and risk aversion, embracing a growth mindset rewires brain responses toward diagnostic learning and sustained achievement. Groundbreaking experiments demonstrate that praising effort rather than innate talent dramatically improves resilience, while fixed-mindset praise encourages cheating and withdrawal. These mindset shifts yield profound real-world benefits across classrooms, corporate management, and international diplomacy. Briceño concludes with three practical steps for personal transformation: grounding belief in neuroplasticity, committing to deliberate practice, and countering self-limiting self-talk with the word 'yet.'

## Atmosphere & style Briceño delivers a measured, articulate, and intellectually empowering talk that seamlessly bridges empirical social science with relatable human experiences. The pacing is deliberate and clear, carrying the audience from fascinating real-world examples like Josh Waitzkin's multi-disciplinary mastery into the revelatory dynamics of childhood praise experiments. Watching the presentation feels both enlightening and urgent, culminating in an uplifting call to dismantle self-imposed limitations and build a culture of potential.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) Longitudinal research by Carol Dweck and Lisa Blackwell shows that seventh graders with a growth mindset steadily improve their grades over two years, while the academic achievement of peers with a fixed mindset stagnates. - [05:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=332s) Subtle phrasing in praise heavily influences risk tolerance; children praised for being smart chose easier puzzles and lied about their scores more than three times as often as those praised for effort. - [03:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=187s) Neuroscience indicates the brain functions like a muscle, with neuroplasticity physically rewiring cognitive capacity when individuals engage in deliberate, challenging practice. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=463s) Interventions demonstrating that groups can change have improved attitudes and willingness to compromise even in entrenched geopolitical conflicts, such as between Israelis and Palestinians.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) Foundational beliefs about ability drive qualities like perseverance, focus, and grit rather than the reverse. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) Josh Waitzkin leveraged the principles of growth mindset to transition from national chess champion to world champion in Tai Chi Chuan. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) Viewing success as an innate trait breeds fragility in the face of adversity, whereas embracing effort fosters resilience. - [03:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=187s) Historical figures like Charles Darwin, Lucille Ball, and Marcel Proust were dismissed as untalented early in life before systematically building mastery. - [03:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=187s) Brain scans reveal fixed-mindset individuals react most strongly to evaluative status feedback, while growth-mindset individuals activate most around diagnostic feedback on how to improve. - [03:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=187s) Effort is viewed by fixed-mindset individuals as an embarrassing indicator of low ability, but treated by growth-mindset individuals as the primary engine of intellectual growth. - [05:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=332s) Praising innate intelligence inadvertently encourages risk aversion, diminished resilience following setbacks, and dishonesty regarding performance. - [05:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=332s) Praising effort, strategies, and progress encourages children to embrace difficult challenges and bounce back from failure. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=463s) Growth-mindset interventions particularly narrow societal achievement gaps for groups facing negative cultural stereotypes, such as girls in mathematics. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=463s) Corporate leaders with a fixed mindset are more prone to reject critical feedback and neglect employee development. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=463s) Educational curricula frequently emphasize rote information and isolated critical thinking while ignoring the psychological mindset necessary to handle failure. - [09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=559s) Cultivating a growth mindset begins with understanding the empirical neuroscience of brain malleability. - [09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=559s) Mastery requires mastering the science of deliberate practice rather than relying on unguided repetition. - [09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=559s) Individuals can actively reshape internal limitations by reframing thoughts like 'I can't do it' with the addition of 'yet.'

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) The Hidden Driver of Success: Josh Waitzkin and Mindset

Eduardo Briceño opens by asking what truly drives our success and enables us to reach our goals. While common answers point to hard work, focus, or persistence, scientific research demonstrates that these qualities are merely by-products of a deeper, more foundational belief that anyone can cultivate. To illustrate this, Briceño highlights the trajectory of Josh Waitzkin, an International Master in chess and the central subject of the book and film *Searching for Bobby Fischer*. Waitzkin accomplished an unprecedented sweep of national chess championships, yet upon turning 21, he chose to step away from chess entirely to master a radically unfamiliar domain: martial arts.

Because Waitzkin understood the core mechanics of personal growth and mastery, he was able to transfer those principles across disciplines. Throwing himself into Tai Chi Chuan through grueling work, repeated setbacks, and even broken joints, he went on to win two world championships before moving on to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. When asked what he considers the single greatest event in his life, Waitzkin surprisingly points to losing his very first national chess championship. That early loss saved him from falling into the psychological trap of believing he was uniquely gifted or exempt from effort. As Josh Waitzkin observed: “The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.”

Waitzkin's insight reflects the pioneering research of Stanford professor Carol Dweck, who identified two distinct frameworks through which people view their capabilities: a "fixed mindset" (the belief that intelligence and talents are static, pre-determined traits) and a "growth mindset" (the belief that abilities are malleable qualities that can be cultivated). In a landmark longitudinal study conducted by Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Lisa Blackwell, researchers assessed the mindsets of several hundred incoming seventh graders and tracked their academic trajectories across two years. The findings revealed that students holding a growth mindset steadily improved their grades over time, whereas the academic performance of students with a fixed mindset stagnated, causing the achievement gap between the two cohorts to widen continuously based solely on their underlying beliefs about intelligence.

- Many people default to self-limiting labels, assuming they are simply "not a math person," not creative, not athletic, or, on the flip side, that they are effortless "naturals." - Trying to cultivate grit, resilience, or focus directly is far less effective than targeting the underlying growth mindset that generates those behaviors. - The link between mindset and performance extends well beyond academics into problem-solving, athletic performance, interpersonal management, and everyday skills.

[03:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=187s) Neuroplasticity, Brain Activity, and Responses to Effort

Modern neuroscience confirms that human capability is dynamic rather than fixed; the brain exhibits profound malleability, meaning individuals can actively reshape their capacity to think, reason, and perform. History is filled with luminaries whom contemporary experts dismissed as untalented: Charles Darwin, Lucille Ball, and Marcel Proust were all viewed early in their lives as lacking a future, yet alongside figures like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Einstein, they systematically built their abilities over time. Embracing a growth mindset allows individuals to unlock these higher levels of achievement because mindset produces measurable physiological changes in how the brain processes information.

Brain scans reveal that when individuals with a fixed mindset complete tasks, their neural activity spikes primarily in response to evaluative feedback that measures their status—such as an exam grade, a score, or an explicit judgment of their performance. In contrast, the brains of individuals with a growth mindset activate most intensely when presented with diagnostic feedback that explains how they can improve on future attempts. People with a fixed mindset become preoccupied with protecting their image and how they are judged, viewing effort as an embarrassing indicator of low innate ability. Conversely, people with a growth mindset treat effort as the very vehicle of growth that makes them smarter. When setbacks occur, fixed-mindset individuals interpret failure as proof of incompetence and disengage to protect their egos—a reaction frequently misdiagnosed by observers as a mere "lack of motivation"—while growth-mindset individuals view failure as an informative part of the learning cycle.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset Response Patterns accDescr: A comparison showing how fixed and growth mindsets diverge in their brain focus, view of effort, and reaction to failure.

subgraph Fixed["Fixed Mindset Framework"] F1["Focus: Evaluative Feedback (Grades, Scores)"] --> F2["Effort: Sign of Low Innate Ability"] F2 --> F3["Setback: Proof of Incompetence"] F3 --> F4["Outcome: Evasive Withdrawal & Stagnation"] end

subgraph Growth["Growth Mindset Framework"] G1["Focus: Diagnostic Feedback (Strategies to Improve)"] --> G2["Effort: Mechanism for Brain Growth"] G2 --> G3["Setback: Natural Part of Learning"] G3 --> G4["Outcome: Persistence & Skill Progression"] end ```

[05:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=332s) The Praise Dilemma: The Puzzle Experiment

To determine how readily mindsets are shaped by external cues, Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Claudia Mueller conducted an experiment where school children worked on an initial battery of puzzles and received one of two subtle variations in praise. One group received fixed-mindset praise centered on innate ability: "Wow, that's a really good score, you must be smart at this." The second group received growth-mindset praise targeted at effort and strategy: "Wow, that's a really good score, you must have tried really hard."

Following this single sentence of feedback, the children were asked whether they wanted to tackle an easy puzzle or a challenging puzzle for their next task. The majority of the children praised for being "smart" opted for the easy puzzle to safeguard their success, whereas the vast majority of children praised for their effort chose the challenging puzzle. The researchers then subjected all children to a deliberately difficult set of problems to gauge their resilience under strain. When returned to a final set of easy puzzles matching the difficulty of the opening round, the children who had received fixed-mindset praise scored significantly worse than they had initially, having lost confidence and cognitive composure. Those praised for effort improved their baseline performance.

Finally, when asked to privately report their scores, the children praised for intelligence lied about their results more than three times as often as those praised for effort, having developed no healthy psychological mechanism to cope with perceived inadequacy. While adults often praise innate intelligence under the mistaken assumption that it builds self-esteem, it inadvertently fosters fragility and risk aversion. As Josh Waitzkin observed: “If we win because we are winners, then when we lose, it must make us losers.”

[07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=463s) Malleability of Mindset Across Schools, Workplaces, and Geopolitics

Mindsets are not permanently fixed traits; they can be systematically taught and revised. In a follow-up intervention by Dweck and Blackwell, seventh-grade students attended a targeted workshop designed to teach them that the brain acts like a muscle that grows stronger with exertion. Post-workshop tracking revealed that these students developed a genuine interest in learning, exerted greater effort, and achieved significant grade increases. Furthermore, growth-mindset interventions consistently narrow societal achievement gaps, generating the strongest positive gains among cohorts burdened by negative cultural stereotypes, such as underrepresented minorities and young girls in mathematics.

The influence of mindset operates across every sphere of adult life: - In corporate environments, managers with a fixed mindset routinely dismiss critical feedback and neglect employee mentoring, whereas professionals who view competencies like negotiation as learnable rapidly outperform peers who regard negotiation as an inborn talent. - In international conflict resolution, research indicates that when Israeli and Palestinian participants are exposed to empirical evidence demonstrating that cultural and political groups have the capacity to change, their mutual attitudes improve, and they exhibit a markedly higher willingness to compromise and pursue peaceful solutions. - Mindsets similarly alter the trajectory of interpersonal relationships, athletic development, and long-term physical health.

Briceño questions why educational systems remain hyper-focused on rote memorization, standardized concepts, and isolated critical thinking skills while neglecting the core psychological beliefs required to deploy those tools. Teaching facts without cultivating a growth mindset leaves students structurally ill-equipped to handle future failure.

[09:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=559s) Three Practical Steps to Cultivate a Growth Mindset

To close the presentation, Briceño outlines three practical, actionable steps that anyone can implement to nurture a growth mindset in themselves, their families, and their communities:

First, anchor the belief in empirical science. Recognizing that the brain physically adapts, generates new neural connections, and increases its operational capacity when subjected to rigorous challenges eliminates the myth that talent is predetermined.

Second, demystify the process of skill acquisition by learning and teaching the science of deliberate practice. Growth does not occur through random or passive repetition; it requires focused, effective effort, strategic adjustments, and targeted coaching. Grasping the actual mechanics of skill acquisition reinforces personal agency and the realization that individuals have direct control over their capabilities.

Third, cultivate self-awareness by actively listening for one's internal "fixed-mindset voice." Whenever that inner voice declares an absolute limitation, individuals must immediately counter it using the language of growth. As Eduardo Briceño instructs: “If you hear, 'I can't do it,' add, 'Yet.'” He concludes with an urgent appeal for attendees to carry this understanding into their households, workplaces, and local school boards so that society can help every individual realize their latent human potential.

## Notable quotes > [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=0s) The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will be brittle in the face of adversity. — Josh Waitzkin

> [05:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&t=332s) If we win because we are winners, then when we lose, it must make us losers. — Josh Waitzkin

## Mentioned Eduardo Briceño, Josh Waitzkin, Carol Dweck, Lisa Blackwell, Claudia Mueller, Charles Darwin, Lucille Ball, Marcel Proust, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Albert Einstein, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Mindset Works, Brainology, TEDxManhattanBeach

## Video description The way we understand our intelligence and abilities deeply impacts our success. Based on social science research and real life examples, Eduardo Briceño articulates how mindset, or the understanding of intelligence and abilities, is key. When students or adults see their abilities as fixed, whether they think they're naturals or just not built for a certain domain, they avoid challenge and lose interest when things get hard. Conversely, when they understand that abilities are developed, they more readily adopt learning-oriented behaviors such as deliberate practice and grit that enable them to achieve their goals. But this belief is itself malleable, and there are clear actions we can all take to establish a growth mindset and enable success for our children, our peers and ourselves.

Eduardo Briceño is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works (http://www.mindsetworks.com), an organization that helps schools and other organizations cultivate a growth mindset culture. The growth mindset was discovered by Stanford professor and Mindset Works co-founder Carol Dweck, Ph.D., and is described in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (http://www.mindsetonline.com). Mindset Works offers Brainology, an innovative blended learning program to teach a growth mindset to students, teachers and schools, as well as teacher professional development and tools (http://www.mindsetworks.com/brainology/).

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

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[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc)

中文简报

信念的力量——思维模式与成功 | Eduardo Briceño | TEDxManhattanBeach Eduardo Briceño结合神经科学与Carol Dweck博士的研究指出，我们对智力的潜在信念（分为固定型思维与成长型思维）决定了我们应对挑战、努力和失败的方式。将能力视为一成不变会滋生脆弱感与风险规避倾向，而拥抱成长型思维则能重塑大脑反应，使其转向诊断性学习与持久成就。开创性的实验表明，夸奖努力而非天赋能显著增强心理韧性，而针对固定思维模式的夸奖则会诱发作弊与退缩。这些思维模式的转变在课堂教学、企业管理和国际外交等领域均能带来深远的现实益处。Briceño在最后提出了实现个人转变的三项实用步骤：以神经可塑性为信念基础、坚持刻意练习，并用“尚未”一词反驳自我设限的内在对话。 Carol Dweck和Lisa Blackwell的纵向研究显示，具备成长型思维模式的七年级学生在两年内成绩稳步提升，而具备固定型思维模式的同龄人的学业成绩则停滞不前。 (0:00) 表扬时微小的用词差异会极大影响风险承受能力；被夸奖聪明的儿童倾向于选择更简单的拼图，且虚报分数的概率是那些因努力受到夸奖儿童的三倍以上。 (5:32) 神经科学表明大脑的运作机制类似于肌肉，当人们进行有挑战性的刻意练习时，神经可塑性会从物理层面重构认知能力。 (3:07) 证明群体能够改变的干预措施，甚至在根深蒂固的地缘政治冲突（例如巴以冲突）中改善了各方的态度与妥协意愿。 (7:43)

Reading summary

Eduardo Briceño argues that personal achievement and resilience are fundamentally governed not by innate ability or isolated willpower, but by a growth mindset—the foundational belief that human capacities can be cultivated through effort and strategic adaptation. The Neurological Divergence of Two Mindsets (3:07) Drawing on the research of Stanford professor Carol Dweck and the career of multi-discipline champion Josh Waitzkin, Briceño contrasts a 'fixed mindset'—the conviction that intelligence and talent are static endowments—with a 'growth mindset,' which views competencies as malleable. Waitzkin attributed his cross-disciplinary mastery across chess and martial arts to an early national championship defeat that disabused him of the illusion that innate talent determined his trajectory. Longitudinal tracking of seventh-grade students by Dweck and Dr. Lisa Blackwell corroborated this, demonstrating that students who believed intelligence could be cultivated experienced steady academic improvement, while the performance of peers holding fixed mindsets stagnated. Modern neuroscience confirms this malleability, demonstrating that deliberate cognitive effort physically rewires neural pathways. Brain imaging highlights sharp physiological divergences in how these mindsets process experience: individuals with fixed mindsets show heightened neural activity primarily in response to evaluative feedback such as grades or performance metrics, interpreting struggle as an embarrassing sign of incompetence. Conversely, those with growth mindsets exhibit intense neural focus when presented with diagnostic feedback detailing how to improve, treating setbacks not as indictments of their self-worth, but as informative stages in the learning process. The Praise Paradox and Psychological Fragility (5:32) Mindsets are powerfully influenced by subtle interpersonal cues, as demonstrated in a study by Dweck and Dr. Claudia Mueller. Schoolchildren engaged in puzzle-solving tasks were given a single sentence of praise evaluating either their innate intelligence ('you must be smart') or their process and effort ('you must have tried really hard'). When offered a choice of subsequent tasks, the majority praised for inherent intelligence chose easier puzzles to safeguard their status, whereas the vast majority praised for effort elected to tackle challenging problems. When confronted with deliberately difficult puzzles, the intelligence-praised cohort suffered a collapse in confidence, performed significantly worse than their original baseline on subsequent easy tasks, and lied about their scores more than three times as often as the effort-praised group. Briceño notes that conventional praise directed at innate talent, while well-intentioned, inadvertently cultivates risk aversion and emotional fragility by equating momentary failure with intrinsic inadequacy. Systemic Reach Across Classrooms, Workplaces, and Geopolitics (7:43) The application of mindset interventions extends well beyond early childhood education into corporate performance, social equity, and diplomacy. Follow-up workshops teaching students that the brain strengthens like a muscle with exertion successfully narrowed systemic achievement gaps, yielding the most substantial gains for groups contending with negative stereotypes, such as young girls in mathematics. In commercial settings, Briceño observes that fixed-mindset managers frequently ignore critical feedback and neglect talent development, whereas professionals who regard negotiation as an acquirable competency reliably outperform peers who view it as an innate gift. The same dynamic influences international conflict resolution. Research shows that Israeli and Palestinian participants exposed to empirical evidence that social and cultural groups have the capacity to change demonstrated a greater willingness to compromise and pursue peaceful engagement. Given these broad ramifications, Briceño questions why conventional school curricula remain heavily geared toward rote memorization rather than instilling the psychological framework needed to process failure and deploy critical thinking effectively. Concrete Methods for Building Growth Mindsets (9:19) To translate growth-mindset theory into practice, Briceño presents three actionable strategies. First, individuals must anchor their internal framework in neuroplasticity, acknowledging that brain capacity expands when subjected to rigorous challenges. Second, they must understand that development relies on the mechanics of deliberate practice—incorporating targeted coaching, strategic adjustments, and focused effort rather than passive repetition. Third, individuals must cultivate self-awareness to intercept their internal fixed-mindset narratives, actively countering absolute self-limiting statements by appending the word 'yet.' Briceño concludes that adopting a growth mindset is essential for realizing latent human potential, urging institutions and individuals to move past the damaging myth of innate ability to foster environments that normalize struggle, value diagnostic feedback, and treat failure as the mechanism of growth.

精炼阅读摘要

演讲者爱德华多·布里塞尼奥（Eduardo Briceño）结合认知科学与心理学研究指出，决定个人成就与潜能释放的核心驱动力并非天资或意志力，而是个体对自身能力的底层认知。以斯坦福大学教授卡罗尔·德韦克（Carol Dweck）的研究为基石，布里塞尼奥论证了视能力为可塑特质的“成长型思维”与视其为静态属性的“固定型思维”之间的深层分野，强调成长型信念是构建抗挫韧性与持续自我突破的根本前提。思维模式对能力成长与学业轨迹的影响 (0:00) 布里塞尼奥通过国际象棋大师乔希·维茨金（Josh Waitzkin）的经历阐明了思维框架对卓越表现的决定性作用。维茨金曾横扫全美少年国际象棋冠军，但在21岁时跨界涉足完全陌生的太极拳领域，经历艰苦训练与关节断裂等严重挫折后斩获两届世界冠军，随后又转战巴西柔术。维茨金将早年首场全美冠军争夺战的失利视为人生最大转折，因为这场失败避免了他陷入自恃天赋过人的心理陷阱；他指出，一旦坚信成功取决于固定不变的能力水平，个体在面对逆境时就会变得极其脆弱。这一观察与德韦克及莉莎·布莱克威尔（Lisa Blackwell）博士的长期追踪研究高度契合。研究人员对数百名初一入学新生进行了为期两年的跟踪评估，结果显示，尽管初始水平相当，持有成长型思维的学生成绩呈现出持续提升趋势，而持有固定型思维的学生成绩则陷入停滞，两个群体之间的学业差距仅因对智力本质的信念不同而不断扩大。这一发现表明，直接培养坚毅或专注往往收效有限，唯有改变底层的思维模式，才能从根本上激发持续的自我进化。大脑神经可塑性与面对努力的生理机制 (3:07) 现代神经科学证实，人类大脑具备高度的可塑性，思维与认知能力能够通过后天训练得到主动重塑。历史上查尔斯·达尔文（Charles Darwin）、露西尔·鲍尔（Lucille Ball）和马塞尔·普鲁斯特（Marcel Proust）早年均曾被专业人士断言缺乏天资，但他们与莫扎特（Mozart）、爱因斯坦（Einstein）一样，都是通过长期的系统投入构建出卓越能力。成长型思维之所以能够激发更高水平的表现，根本原因在于其能够改变大脑处理反馈信息的神经机制。脑电波扫描实验显示，当固定型思维者执行任务时，其脑神经活动主要在面临评价性反馈（如考试分数、等级或外界身份判断）时剧烈激活；而成长型思维者的大脑，则在接收解释如何改进的诊断性反馈时反应最为强烈。因此，固定型思维者极度在意维护自我形象与外界评判，将付出努力视为自身缺乏天资的可耻证明，在遭遇挫折时往往将失败归结为能力不足并退缩逃避，这种反应常被外界误判为缺乏动力；相反，成长型思维者将努力视为让大脑变聪明的载体，并把挫折视作获取关键信息的必经过程。赞美机制对冒险意愿与抗挫表现的影响 (5:32) 德韦克与克劳迪娅·穆勒（Claudia Mueller）进行的一项经典拼图实验揭示了外部语言对儿童思维模式的即时塑造力。实验中，两组学生在完成第一轮拼图后获得了不同维度的赞扬：一组获得基于天赋的固定型赞美（“你真聪明”），另一组则获得基于努力的过程型赞美（“你一定非常努力”）。仅仅一句反馈的差异，便导致了截然相反的后续选择：被夸聪明的学生绝大多数选择做简单拼图以维持成功形象，而被夸努力的学生则绝大多数主动选择挑战高难度拼图。随后，研究人员让所有学生面临一组极难的拼图以测试其抗挫力。当最后一轮测试恢复至初始难度时，受到聪明赞美的学生因自信心受挫而表现崩塌，得分显著低于最初水平；而受到努力赞美的学生不仅保持了积极投入，最终得分还大幅超越了基线。更具警示意义的是，在私下汇报成绩环节，被夸聪明的学生虚报谎报成绩的概率是被夸努力学生的3倍以上。这表明成年人出于树立自信而对天赋进行的赞扬，实质上容易催生脆弱与逃避，正如维茨金所言，“如果我们因为是赢家而赢，那么当我们输的时候，就意味着我们成了失败者”。思维模式的社会应用与日常重塑路径 (7:43) 思维模式并非不可更改的固有特征，而是可以通过科学干预系统重塑的认知框架。在学校干预实验中，学生在学习了“大脑如肌肉般越练越强”的生理机制后，展现出更高的学习兴趣与努力程度，学业成绩显著提升，且该干预对饱受负面刻板印象困扰的少数群体及学习数学的女学生效果尤为显著。在职场与地缘政治中，这种影响同样深远：固定型思维的管理者常拒绝批评并忽视员工培养，而视谈判为可习得技能的专业人员则更快超越那些依赖直觉者；关于巴以冲突的研究甚至表明，当双方意识到群体特性具备可塑性时，展现出的妥协与和平解决意愿大幅提升。针对如何在日常生活中培养成长型思维，布里塞尼奥提出了三条具体路径：第一，将信念扎根于神经科学证据，深刻理解大脑在迎接挑战时会生长出新的神经连接；第二，掌握并传授刻意练习的科学方法，明晰能力提升依赖专注、策略调整与针对性指导，而非盲目机械的重复；第三，保持敏锐的自我觉察，主动捕捉内心的固定型思维声音，并用成长型语言坚决反驳——当心中出现“我做不到”时，务必在结尾补上一句“只是现在还做不到”（Yet）。布里塞尼奥质疑现行教育系统将绝大部分精力置于事实记忆与孤立的批判性思维训练，却严重忽视了驱动学习底层的心理信念构建。他呼吁大众将对大脑可塑性与刻意练习的认知带入家庭、职场与社区决策中，通过改变评价机制与应对挫折的话语体系，消除自我设限，从而系统性释放个体与社会的潜在价值。

Source quotes

[0:00] Josh Waitzkin: The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will be brittle in the face of adversity. [5:32] Josh Waitzkin: If we win because we are winners, then when we lose, it must make us losers.

Original transcript

[0:00] Transcriber: Asma Youssef Reviewer: Denise RQ [0:04] What do you think is the key to achieve our goals, our success? [0:09] Some people suggest things like hard work, focus, persistence. [0:15] But research shows these are all by-products of something else, [0:18] something much more powerful that we can all develop. [0:21] It is this very special something that is really critical to success, [0:24] and is what I am here to discuss with you today. [0:27] Someone who has achieved great success is Josh Waitzkin, [0:31] a chess international master and the subject of the movie [0:35] "Searching for Bobby Fischer". [0:37] Nobody has won all the national chess championships that Josh has. [0:42] But even more impressive, when he turned 21, [0:45] he took on the challenge of mastering something completely new [0:48] and very different from chess: martial arts. [0:53] He realized that he had learned how to grow and succeed, [0:57] and he could apply that understanding to other domains. [1:00] And so, he devoted himself relentlessly to tai chi chuan. [1:05] And after lots of hard work, many failures, and some broken joints, [1:10] he became a great martial artist, and he won two world championships. [1:16] Now he is off to jiu-jitsu. [1:20] So what does Josh say is the greatest thing ever happened to him? [1:24] Believe it or not, he says, "Losing my first national chess championship, [1:29] because it helped me avoid many of the psychological traps." [1:34] The key trap that Josh avoided was believing that he was special, [1:39] that he was smarter than other people, and that he didn't have to work hard. [1:43] He could have thought of himself as a prodigy, [1:45] but he doesn't think that he has extraordinary intelligence. [1:48] He says, "The moment we believe [1:51] that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, [1:55] we will be brittle in the face of adversity." [1:59] Josh often quotes Stanford Professor Carol Dweck [2:03] who discovered that some people see intelligence or abilities as fixed [2:07] what is called a fixed mindset, [2:08] while other people see them as Josh does, [2:11] as qualities that can be developed; a growth mindset. [2:14] More important, Dr. Dweck discovered that these two different mindsets [2:18] lead to very different behaviors and results. [2:22] In a study she did with Dr. Lisa Blackwell, [2:24] several hundreds seventh graders were surveyed to determine [2:27] which mindset each student had, and then they were tracked for two years. [2:31] Results showed that the students with a growth mindset, [2:34] those who thought they could change their own intelligence [2:37] increased their grades over time. [2:39] While those with a fixed mindset did not. [2:41] You can see the trend, the gap in performance [2:45] just widens and widens over time. [2:47] The difference between these two groups: a different perspective on intelligence. [2:53] Other studies have shown similar effects for our mindset about other abilities [2:58] like problem solving, playing sports, managing people, [3:01] or anything else you'd like, dancing La Macarena. [3:07] The key to success is not simply effort, or focus, or resilience, [3:11] but it is the growth mindset that creates them, [3:14] the mindset itself is critical. [3:16] Research shows that when we directly try to build grit or persistence, [3:20] it's not nearly as effective as addressing the mindset that underlies them. [3:25] How many of us think of ourselves as not math people, or creative, [3:30] or sociable, or athletic, or conversely, that we are naturals? [3:35] If we are to fulfill our potential, we have to start thinking differently. [3:40] We have to realize we are not chained to our current capabilities. [3:44] Neuroscience shows the brain is very malleable. [3:47] And we can change our own ability to think and to perform. [3:51] In fact, many of the most accomplished people of our era [3:54] were thought of, by experts, to have no future. [3:57] People like Charles Darwin, Lucille Ball, Marcel Proust, and many others. [4:02] But they, along with all great achievers from Mozart to Einstein, [4:07] built their abilities. [4:09] But the key insight I would like you to walk away with today [4:12] is that when we realize that, [4:14] when we realize we can change our own abilities, [4:16] when we have a growth mindset, we bring our game to new levels. [4:20] So how does a growth mindset do that? [4:23] It turns out that there are physiological manifestations to mindset. [4:27] Brain scans show that for people with a fixed mindset, [4:29] the brain becomes most active when receiving information [4:33] about how the person performed such as a grade or a score. [4:36] But for people with a growth mindset, the brain becomes most active [4:39] when receiving information about what they could do better next time. [4:43] In other words, [4:44] people with a fixed mindset worry the most about how they are judged, [4:47] while those with a growth mindset focus the most on learning. [4:51] There are other consequences of mindset: [4:53] people with a fixed mindset see effort as a bad thing, [4:56] something that only people with low capabilities need, [4:59] while those with a growth mindset see effort as what makes us smart, [5:02] as the way to grow. [5:05] And when they hit a set back or a failure, [5:07] people with a fixed mindset tend to conclude that they are incapable. [5:11] So to protect their ego, they lose interest or withdraw. [5:17] We observe that as lack of motivation. [5:19] But behind it is a fixed mindset, [5:21] whereas people with a growth mindset [5:23] understand that set backs are part of growth. [5:25] So when they hit one, they find a way around it. [5:28] Like Josh Waitzkin did when he lost in chess or in martial arts. [5:32] Research clearly shows these effects of mindset. [5:36] In one study Dr. Dweck did with Dr. Claudia Mueller, [5:39] they had children do a set of puzzles, [5:42] and then they praised the kids. [5:44] To some of the kids, they said, [5:46] "Wow, that's a really good score, you must be smart at this." [5:50] That's fixed mindset praise [5:51] because it portrays intelligence or abilities as a fixed quality. [5:56] To other kids they said, [5:57] "Wow, that's a really good score, you must have tried really hard." [6:01] That's growth mindset praise because it focuses on the process. [6:06] Then, they asked the kids, [6:07] "OK, what kind of puzzle would you like to do next? An easy one or a hard one?" [6:12] The majority of the kids who received the fixed mindset praise [6:15] chose to do the easy puzzle. [6:16] While the great majority of those who received the growth mindset praise [6:20] chose to do challenge themselves. [6:22] Then the researchers gave a hard puzzle to all of the kids [6:26] because they were interested in seeing [6:28] what confronting difficulty would do to their performance. [6:31] Look at what happened when the kids later went back [6:34] to the set of easier problems that they started with. [6:37] The kids who received the fixed mindset praise [6:39] did significantly worse than they had originally, [6:42] while those who received a growth mindset praise did better. [6:46] And to top it off, [6:48] at they very end, kids were asked to report their scores; [6:51] and the kids who received the fixed mindset praise [6:54] lied about their scores over three times more often [6:57] than those who received the growth mindset praise. [7:00] They did not have another way to cope with their failure. [7:03] The difference between these two groups: [7:05] one short little sentence. [7:10] How often do we praise kids for being smart or for being great at something? [7:16] We have been told that this will raise their self-esteem. [7:19] But instead, it puts them in a fixed mindset. [7:22] They become afraid of challenges, [7:23] and they lose confidence when things hit hard. [7:26] As Josh Waitzkin says, [7:28] "It is incredibly important for parents to make their feedback process related [7:32] as oppose to praising or criticizing talent. [7:35] If we win because we are winners, [7:37] then when we lose, it must make us losers." [7:43] These studies show not only the mechanisms by which mindset affects performance, [7:47] but they also show something else that is very important: [7:49] they show that we can change mindsets, [7:52] and that's important, because most of us have fixed mindsets about something. [7:56] Another study that showed that we can change mindsets [7:59] is one in which Dweck and Blackwell did a workshop with seventh graders [8:03] to instill a growth mindset in them. [8:05] As a result of the workshop, the students gained more interest in learning, [8:09] and they worked harder; [8:10] and as a result of that, their grades improved. [8:13] Other studies have shown that when we teach a growth mindset, [8:16] not only that it improves achievements for students as a whole [8:19] but it also narrows the achievement gap, [8:22] because the effects are most pronounced [8:23] for the students who face negative stereotypes [8:26] such as minority students, and girls in math. [8:31] I have spoken mostly about children, but mindsets affects all of us. [8:35] In our work places, managers with fixed mindsets don't welcome feedback as much, [8:39] and they don't mentor employees as much. [8:42] And employees with growth mindsets [8:44] about specific skills like negotiations [8:47] become far better at those skills than people with fixed views. [8:51] Mindsets can even help us solve big social issues. [8:55] A recent study showed [8:57] that when we expose Israelis and Palestinians [9:00] to the idea that groups can change, [9:03] they increase their attitudes towards towards one another, [9:05] they improve them. [9:07] and they enhance their willingness to compromise and to work for peace. [9:12] We also see the effects of mindsets on relationships, sports, health. [9:19] How is it possible that as a society, [9:22] we are not asking schools to develop a growth mindset in children? [9:26] Our myopic efforts to teach them facts, concepts, [9:29] and even critical critical thinking skills [9:31] is likely to fail, [9:33] if we don't also deliberately teach them the essential beliefs that will allow them [9:36] to succeed not only in school but also beyond. [9:41] There is a lot that we can do to change mindsets, [9:43] but here are three things that any of us can do to instill a growth mindset [9:47] in ourselves and in those around us. [9:49] First, recognize that the growth mindset is not only beneficial [9:54] but it is also supported by science. [9:57] Neuroscience shows that the brain changes and becomes more capable [10:00] when we work hard to improve ourselves. [10:03] Second, learn and teach others about how to develop our abilities. [10:08] Learn about deliberate practice and what makes for effective effort. [10:11] When we understand how to develop our abilities, [10:14] we strengthen our conviction that we are in charge of them. [10:17] And third, listen for your fixed mindset voice, [10:22] and when you hear it, talk back with a growth mindset voice. [10:27] If you hear, "I can't do it," add, "Yet." [10:34] My request to you today is that you share this knowledge [10:37] about the growth mindset with your family, friends, and schools [10:41] so that all of us can go and fulfill our potential. [10:45] Thank you. [10:46] (Applause)