Factors fostering a Growth Mindset in Organizations - A qualitative study about factors and challenges in fostering a growth mindset in organizations

Sammanfattning: Individuals with a growth mindset tend to accomplish more by putting increased effort into learning and development, compared to individuals with a fixed mindset. As uncertainty increases, organizations that promote continuous learning adapt faster than competitors. If an entire organization adopts a growth mindset, employees will be more motivated to learn. Growth mindset has, therefore, received increased attention from research and organizations. However, the question of practically fostering a growth mindset in organizations remains fairly unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to develop an understanding of practitioners' perception of factors that support fostering a growth mindset in organizations and to outline potential challenges for managers when fostering and practically implementing a growth mindset. A qualitative method and an inductive approach has been chosen, by conducting a case study at Company X including eight semi-structured interviews with managers and employees working with a growth mindset. Following a thematic analysis, seven factors fostering a growth mindset and three potential managerial challenges were identified. The study indicates that factors and potential challenges affect and complement each other, and therefore they are hard to strictly separate. Another finding is that a growth mindset on an individual level lays the foundation for an organization's growth mindset, making the levels difficult to separate. Growth mindset on an organizational level is more than the sum of an individual growth mindset. Given that a growth mindset positively impacts individuals' learning and development, this research contributes with valuable insights of how an organization can foster a growth mindset practically. This awareness helps organizations manage the factors and potential challenges and maximize the possibility of fostering a growth mindset on an organizational level.