Performing challenging tasks effectively is the goal of those who aspire to success, whatever the field. Ask yourself “how else can I do this? Is there a better way to do it?” When faced with a challenge it can be key to growing and achieving goals. This “strategic mindset,” is a key psychological factor for success, according to new research findings (Chen et al., 2020).
As a result, people tend to apply more effective strategies when working to achieve their life goals, including educational, employment, health, and fitness goals. In turn, they achieve higher academic grades, make greater progress toward their career, health and fitness goals, and even perform a novel challenging task more efficiently, explains Professor Patricia Chen, lead author of the study. .
The research team conducted a series of three studies, involving more than 860 college students and working adults in the United States. One of their studies on 365 college students found that students’ strategic mindset predicted how much they reported using effective learning strategies in their classes. And the more they used these effective strategies, the better they performed in their classes that semester, as well as in new and different classes the semester after. A second study that surveyed 365 adults in the United States about their strategic mindset, and related their mindset to their effectiveness in pursuing career, educational, health, and fitness goals of importance to them, produced similar results.
Can you learn to have a strategic mindset?
Yes, researchers discovered that this can be taught. In one experiment, they randomly assigned some people to learn about a strategic mindset through a short training session. Later, they gave these people a novel and challenging task that had to be completed as quickly as possible. Compared to other people in the study who were not exposed to strategic mindset ideas, those who had learned about strategic mindset later applied more effective strategies to accomplish the task. Their strategic behaviors, in turn, translated into faster performance. Furthermore, people who had learned about strategic mindset also voluntarily practiced the task before having to perform it under time pressure, suggesting that a strategic mindset also has important implications for practice.
How does the strategic mindset work?
“As you approach whatever challenging goal you pursue, you can ask yourself, ‘What are the things I can do to help myself (and others)?’ Is there a way to make it even better?’ If something you’ve been working on isn’t going so well, you can step back and ask yourself, ‘how could I do this differently?’ Is there another way to approach this that I can try that will help it go better?’” Professor Chen explained.
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Bibliographic reference:
Chen, P., Powers, JT, Katragadda, KR, Cohen, GL, & Dweck, CS (2020). A strategic mindset: An orientation toward strategic behavior during goal pursuit. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(25), 14066-14072. https://doi.org/
Fountain: