Having a Growth Mindset Makes It Easier to Develop New Interests

“[T]echnology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”  — Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs’s vision for Apple was rooted in the belief that the arts and sciences do not live in isolation. They complement and enhance each other. John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar, echoed this sentiment stating, “Technology inspires art, and art challenges the technology.” But even though integrating these areas can be necessary for innovation, too many people confine themselves to only one.

We wanted to understand why some people are more likely to reach across disciplines than others. So we investigated people’s “mindsets” about interest and their impact.

In our research, published in Psychological Science, we found that people vary in these mindsets. Some people lean more toward the view that interests are inherent in a person, simply waiting to be awakened or found — this is what we call a fixed mindset of interest. Others lean more toward the view that interests can be developed and that, with commitment and investment, they can grow over time — we call this a growth mindset of interest.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): Harvard Business Review