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© 2011, Coert Visser Does success or failure depend on whether you do or don’t happen to have some or other fixed talent? Is it true that you either have talent or you haven’t? How are these questions relevant for organizations? This article is about the importance of the growth mindset, the belief in the mutability of human capabilities by effort and experience. A lot of evidence shows that the belief in the changeability of capabilities is an important condition for that change. This belief turns out to be realistic. Anything that people do can be seen as developable skills. What does this insight imply for how we manage and educate people? How can in we, in our organizations, develop a growth mindset culture? Continue reading

© 2008, Coert Visser 1. Advocates and skeptics of complimenting Complimenting is attractive for many people. Most people prefer to and view it as more constructive to say something positive than to say something negative. After all, who does not want to be appreciated for what he does? Although everybody makes mistakes now and then, most people mean well, don't they? This way of reasoning is surely plausible which may explain why I frequently hear people saying that is good and important to compliment frequently. They claim that this is the best way to motivate people. It is correct that complimenting can be useful. An adequate compliment provides us with the type of feedback that can help us become aware of which of our behaviors are effective. Furthermore, a compliment can make you realize that there is someone who is paying attention to you and who feels involved with what you do. This is why complimenting effectively can be useful in different contexts like parenting, education...

© 2004, Coert Visser How do we view intelligence? Both laymen and experts use widely varying definitions of intelligence. Try and ask your friends and colleagues what they think intelligence is. You will probably get references to solving problems, being able to adapt, quick thinking, quick learning, being creative, being smart, reasoning logically, being sensible, analytic qualities, and so on. Interestingly, although the variation in answers is great, most layman and experts seem to agree on certain aspects of intelligence. Most people implicitly or explicitly assume that intelligence has the following three characteristics: Intrapersonal : intelligence is a characteristic of individuals. In other words: it is intrapersonal. It is inside you and is indissoluble from you as an individual. Personnel selection psychologists often base their advices to a large degree on individual measurements of intelligence. Laymen too view intelligence mainly as something that is inside the person. O...