Note: If your reading this from outside Michigan, I should point out that “SHAPE” is an acrostic from a series on finding your fit in service/ministry that we've been working through the last couple of months on Sunday mornings. Tonya has posted more on this – so her blog might be a better place to start.
S.H.A.P.E
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Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Ability, Personality, Experience
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Throughout the SHAPE series, I've been struck by how much my I've focused on “Ability” and “Experience” when trying to see where I fit. In fact trying to identify what my “Heart” was turned out to be easier said than done. As I've gotten older and had opportunities to see myself and others in ministry, “Personality” gaps were already on my radar … but I've nearly always clung to maxims like: [I do ‘x’ professionally, so my ministry must be ‘y’]. Worse yet – and this is what gets me to the Rock-Paper-Scissors thing – are the sorts of internal billboards that announce: [Chad is … “___”]. More on that shortly.
In my professional life, I've been having a look at ‘Mindset’ by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. It’s the sort of book I’m expected to read now and then to demonstrate continuing development - and I’ll be honest, is hitting the reading list in November (just before Annual Review time) for all sorts of the wrong reasons. I’m much more likely to read about Throne Wardens and secret organizations like N.I.C.E., but from a whole-life perspective this is coming along at just the right time. Dweck’s assertion is that we all interpret our own intelligence/abilities – and therefore our potential actions, success, shame, and relationships from either a FIXED mindset or a GROWTH mindset.
The differences between these two Mindsets has been summarized (much better) here; but the following is my attempt to bring it back to the SHAPE discussion:
A Fixed Mindset is one that, like those billboards I mentioned, sees intelligence/abilities as set and immovable. The classic example is the child that is told she has poor math skills and continues in that fixed perspective – never trying new techniques and / or giving up on all but compulsory math for the rest of her life. Once described or labeled, Fixed Mindsets are like Rocks … forever confident in their ability to beat Scissors but always vulnerable to the dreaded Paper.
But it’s not just the negative Fixed Mindset that leads to problems. Dweck points to several studies that show if a child is labeled “Smart”, she is less likely to take on tasks and challenges that might be risky or unsuccessful … and therefore cause her to lose her positive label. In the end, the ‘Smart’ child learns less and simply remains proficient at the basic concepts. This is exactly the sort of “Hideous Strength” that N.I.C.E. had over its victims in Lewis’ story. It’s also the sort of mindset that limits potential ministry. Objective measures of quality are a means for personal development – not its replacement.
A Growth Mindset then, sees intelligence and ability as the progress so far against experience. The same studies that caution against labeling a child as ‘Smart’, show praising kids for the work they've done towards an answer or task seems to drive accelerated success overall; even when the initial work is flawed. Peterson’s concept of Throne Warden – a model of servant leadership that drives his “Wingfeather Saga” to a heroic ending – is the sort of mindset shift needed to reject the sometimes accurate limitations we have that hold us back from becoming. It is – after all not enough to see paper, or rocks, or even scissors as simply expressions of their abilities in a children’s game. They are so much more … the tools, and raw materials that build nations and touched other worlds through the continuing creative power of His Masterful work.
That tells me that I’m more than just one dimension of ability – or what I've been ‘good enough’ to do in the past. I’m not tied to certain destinations of ministry but free to journey – to grow, to make mistakes and become more than I can see from here.
In my professional life, I've been having a look at ‘Mindset’ by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. It’s the sort of book I’m expected to read now and then to demonstrate continuing development - and I’ll be honest, is hitting the reading list in November (just before Annual Review time) for all sorts of the wrong reasons. I’m much more likely to read about Throne Wardens and secret organizations like N.I.C.E., but from a whole-life perspective this is coming along at just the right time. Dweck’s assertion is that we all interpret our own intelligence/abilities – and therefore our potential actions, success, shame, and relationships from either a FIXED mindset or a GROWTH mindset.
The differences between these two Mindsets has been summarized (much better) here; but the following is my attempt to bring it back to the SHAPE discussion:
A Fixed Mindset is one that, like those billboards I mentioned, sees intelligence/abilities as set and immovable. The classic example is the child that is told she has poor math skills and continues in that fixed perspective – never trying new techniques and / or giving up on all but compulsory math for the rest of her life. Once described or labeled, Fixed Mindsets are like Rocks … forever confident in their ability to beat Scissors but always vulnerable to the dreaded Paper.
But it’s not just the negative Fixed Mindset that leads to problems. Dweck points to several studies that show if a child is labeled “Smart”, she is less likely to take on tasks and challenges that might be risky or unsuccessful … and therefore cause her to lose her positive label. In the end, the ‘Smart’ child learns less and simply remains proficient at the basic concepts. This is exactly the sort of “Hideous Strength” that N.I.C.E. had over its victims in Lewis’ story. It’s also the sort of mindset that limits potential ministry. Objective measures of quality are a means for personal development – not its replacement.
A Growth Mindset then, sees intelligence and ability as the progress so far against experience. The same studies that caution against labeling a child as ‘Smart’, show praising kids for the work they've done towards an answer or task seems to drive accelerated success overall; even when the initial work is flawed. Peterson’s concept of Throne Warden – a model of servant leadership that drives his “Wingfeather Saga” to a heroic ending – is the sort of mindset shift needed to reject the sometimes accurate limitations we have that hold us back from becoming. It is – after all not enough to see paper, or rocks, or even scissors as simply expressions of their abilities in a children’s game. They are so much more … the tools, and raw materials that build nations and touched other worlds through the continuing creative power of His Masterful work.
That tells me that I’m more than just one dimension of ability – or what I've been ‘good enough’ to do in the past. I’m not tied to certain destinations of ministry but free to journey – to grow, to make mistakes and become more than I can see from here.
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