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WHY do some people reach their creative potential in business while otherequally talented peers don’t?After three decades of painstaking research, the Stanford psychologistCarol Dweck believes that the answer to the puzzle lies in how people thinkabout intelligence and talent. Those who believe they were born with all thesmarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with what she callsa “fixed mind-set.” Those who believe that their own abilities can expandover time, however, live with a “growth mind-set.”Guess which ones prove to be most innovative over time.“Society is obsessed with the idea of talent and genius and people whoare ‘naturals’ with innate ability,” says Ms. Dweck, who is known forresearch that crosses the boundaries of personal, social and developmentalpsychology.“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill theirpotential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not makingmistakes. But people who believe that talent can be developed are the ones who really push, stretch, confront their own mistakes and learn fromthem.”In this case, nurture wins out over nature just about every time.While some managers apply these principles every day, too manyothers instead believe that hiring the best and the brightest from top-flightschools guarantees corporate success.The problem is that, having been identified as geniuses, the anointedbecome fearful of falling from grace. “It’s hard to move forward creativelyand especially to foster teamwork if each person is trying to look like thebiggest star in the constellation,” Ms. Dweck says.In her 2006 book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” sheshows how adopting either a fixed or growth attitude toward talent canprofoundly affect all aspects of a person’s life, from parenting and romanticrelationships to success at school and on the job.She attributes the success of several high-profile chief executives totheir growth mind-set, citing an ability to energize a work force. Theseinclude John F. Welch Jr. of General Electric, who valued teamwork overindividual genius; Louis V. Gerstner Jr. of I.B.M., who dedicated his bookabout I.B.M.’s turnaround to “the thousands of I.B.M.’ers who never gaveup on their company”; and Anne M. Mulcahy of Xerox, who focused onmorale and development of her people even as she implemented painfulcuts.But Ms. Dweck does not suggest that recruiters ignore innate talent.Instead, she suggests looking for both talent and a growth mind-set inprospective hires — people with a passion for learning who thrive onchallenge and change.After reading her book, Scott Forstall, senior vice president of Apple incharge of iPhone software, contacted Ms. Dweck to talk about hisexperience putting together the iPhone development team. Mr. Forstall toldher that he identified a number of superstars within various departments at3/28/2016 If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow - The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/business/06unbox.html?_r=0 3/5Apple and asked them in for a chat.At the beginning of each interview, he warned the recruit that hecouldn’t reveal details of the project he was working on. But he promisedthe opportunity, Ms. Dweck says, “to make mistakes and struggle, buteventually we may do something that we’ll remember the rest of our lives.”Only people who immediately jumped at the challenge ended up on theteam. “It was his intuition that he wanted people who valued stretchingthemselves over being king of their particular hill,” she says.People with a growth mind-set tend to demonstrate the kind ofperseverance and resilience required to convert life’s setbacks into futuresuccesses. That ability to learn from experience was cited as the No. 1ingredient for creative achievement in a poll of 143 creativity researcherscited in “Handbook of Creativity” in 1999.Which leads one to ask: Is it possible to shift from a fixed mind-set to agrowth mind-set?Absolutely, according to Ms. Dweck. But, “it’s not easy to just let go ofsomething that has felt like your self for many years,” she writes. Still, shesays, “nothing is better than seeing people find their way to things theyvalue.”Janet Rae-Dupree writes about scienceand emerging technology in Silicon Valley.A version of this article appears in print on , on page BU3 of the New York edition with theheadline: If You’re Open To Growth, You Tend To Grow.