Believing that intelligence is not an innate trait might just help you launch your career, and the rest of your life, upwards. By Lisa Cheong.

A person with open attitude to learning and sees challenges as an opportunity to develop skills is more likely to succeed in the long run, says Stanford psychologist, Carol Dweck and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

After a 30-year study, Dweck says people who believe abilities such as personality and intelligence are innate, or had the “fixed mindset”, did not become as successful and innovative as those with the “growth mindset” who believed that through effort, intelligence can be significantly improved upon.

The difference in mindset affects how people approach challenges and difficulties. A study Dweck conducted among college students suffering from the seasonal bout of depression found that those with the “fixed mindset” allowed school activities and grades to slide. On the other hand, those with the “growth mindset” took more action to confront their problems, making sure they kept up with schoolwork and their social lives.

According to The New York Times, Apple recently adopted this strategy when the company was shortlisting candidates to work on the new iPhone. Scott Forstall, senior vice president of Apple had shortlisted a list of high-performing individuals within the company and asked to have a chat with them. Even though Forstall was not allowed to mention the project, he told candidates they would be given the opportunity “to make mistakes and struggle, but eventually we may do something that we’ll remember the rest of our lives.”

In the end, only candidates who saw this as a chance of a lifetime were picked to work on the iPhone project. “It was his [Forstall’s] intuition that he wanted people who valued stretching themselves over being king of their particular hill,” Dweck said.

Herd mentality