Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Dweck views natural talent as real yet insufficient for producing the kinds of success and achievement that are often celebrated in American culture. As a society, Dweck believes Americans value success and its accolades over the effort and processes of getting there. This, she asserts, sets people up to view great talents and famous people as superior and superhuman when, in fact, they may be ordinary people with the character, passion, perseverance, and resources to reach their goals. As she asserts in her narrative and counternarrative of the story of Thomas Edison, this misconception occurs because stories of great achievements tend to focus on the product, not the processes that produced it. In Chapter 4, Dweck explores the world of sports and the impact of pervasive beliefs in natural talent on those involved: players, coaches, analysts, and fans. Dweck holds up examples of players with great talent at the start of their careers, such as McEnroe and baseball player Billy Beane, against counterexamples of people who started with little ability but became legends.

In Dweck’s mind, the belief in natural talent hampers success because it encourages distorted thinking. This includes the view that superior starting ability makes practice unnecessary, which leads players to rest on their laurels.