Culture has been a bit of a buzz term in the corporate world of late – and the definition I use is: “Culture is the set of behavioral norms and unwritten rules that shape the organizational environment and how individuals interact and get work done in that environment” (CEB, 2018).
I’m all for turning this definition into something practical that we can actually digest and apply on our business challenges and that’s why it helps to break it down further into: Knowledge, mindset, and behaviors. In this post I’m going to focus on Mindset. For modern marketers to succeed with the plethora of new technologies, market dynamics and the ever more discerning and demanding consumer, its critical to focus on how we adapt and grow or skills and abilities and our ability to build a “growth mindset”.
Let me explain, by describing the fixed mindset. This mindset (which we all have an element of) limits us by viewing intelligence or ability to do something as innate, that you either “get it” or not, often with the desire to look smart rather than admit not knowing, or holding off asking a question or for help. This mindset often shows up if something is difficult, or we deem a challenge as simply too hard to overcome and give up (rather easily). Sound familiar? In a transformational marketing world where Blockchain is being embraced by the early majority, Customer Relationship Management and Inbound marketing has been disrupted and enhanced by Salesforce and Hubspot, and 5G may well revolutionize how we do business – simply put to stay relevant and build a career the growth mindset is a must.
With a growth mindset people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed and improved through dedication and hard work – ie brains and talent are just the starting point (in fact, I avoid the word talent - which implies that you either have it or not!) A growth mindset creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for modern marketers to thrive when dealing with scenarios such as:
when facing an obstacle launching a product - it means working more closely with sales or the customer to get it listed
when there’s a misstep leading to social media criticism about your brand – it means taking on useful negative feedback and responding vs radio silence
when competitors win awards and industry recognition focusing on the case study and best practices to learn from (vs only seeing it as threat).
I could go on – but you get the point. Growth mindsets are built by creating positive feedback loops that encourage continuous learning and the pursuit of improvement. With this type of leadership, modern marketers can successfully contribute to a winning culture of innovation and transformation.