Self-Theories: The Mindset of a Champion

Introduction There are things that distinguish great athletes—champions—from others. Most of the sports world thinks it’s their talent. I will argue today that it’s their mindset. This idea is brought to life by the story of Billy Beane, told so well by Michael Lewis in the book Moneyball. When Beane was in high school, he was in fact a huge talent--what they call a “natural.” He was the highest scorer on the basketball team, the quarterback of the football team, and the top hitter on the very competitive baseball team. And he was all these things without a great deal of effort. People thought he was the new Babe Ruth. However, as soon as anything went wrong, Beane lost it. He didn’t know how to learn from his mistakes, he didn’t know how to practice to improve. Why? Because naturals shouldn’t make mistakes or need practice. When Beane moved up to the baseball major leagues, things got progressively worse. Every at bat was a do-or-die situation and with every out he fell apart. Again, If you’re a natural, you shouldn’t have any flaws, so you can’t face your deficiencies and coach or practice them away. Beane’s lack of emphasis on learning and his inability to function in the face of setbacks—where does this come from? With avid practice and the right coaching he could have been one of the greats. Why didn’t he seek that? I will show how his behavior comes right out of his self-theory—out of a “fixed” mindset. Self-Theories In my work, I have identified two theories of ability that people may hold: an entity theory, in which people believe their abilities are fixed. You have a certain amount of intelligence or talent and that’s that. You can learn new things but you can’t change your ability. (I also call this the fixed mindset.) In contrast, others hold an incremental theory of ability. They believe that their abilities are things they can cultivate and develop throughout their lives. They believe that through effort and learning, they can become smarter or more talented. It’s not that they deny differences among people—that some people may know more, learn faster or even have more natural facility in area. But what they focus on is the idea that everyone can get better over time. (I also call this the growth mindset.)