How to Develop a Growth Mindset
In any walk of life or job, including QA Testing, there can be times where you are sitting at your desk, you look left, you look right and question if your colleagues are outperforming you, or getting all the good opportunities or even earning a higher salary than you are. Is this because they are more dedicated to their roles, have a greater skill set or more experience that you do? Or could it be explained in that you have found yourself to have developed a fixed mindset?
What is a Fixed Mindset?
A fixed mindset is when a person believes that their ability, skills, intelligence and all of their basic qualities are fixed, cannot be improved upon, the stick doing the same job over and over without believing that they can improve their situation. They also believe that talent alone will bring success – that a person is born to have their success, the phrases “he was ‘born’ to do this role” springs to mind.
What is a Growth Mindset?
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. The talent and skills that they were born with are just a starting point, the foundations of what the can build upon in their careers. They have a thirst for learning and self improvement and will strive to achieve their goals.
There was a YouTube video that I recently watched that was inspiring and shows how emotional and powerful it can be to challenge oneself to step out of a comfort zone and show your true self. If you have a few minutes watch the “This Is Me” with Keala Settle video.
How to Develop a Growth Mindset?
Below are 6 simple ways that you can start with to develop your own Growth Mindset, everyone has the ability to achieve what they choose to achieve, don’t let a Fixed Mindset get in the way of your dream Testing role!
- Acknowledge and embrace imperfections – Being afraid to fail or not acknowledging your weaknesses means you will never overcome them.
- Try different learning tactics – There are many ways to learn Salesforce, from classes to Trailhead. Find out other ways in our 4 Ways to Learn Salesforce post.
- Challenge yourself to do something new – Why not learn more about Salesforce, why not become Salesforce Certified.
- Value the process over the end result – Always learn, no matter where you end up. Enjoy the path you are currently on regardless of where it may end up.
- Place effort before talent – You may not have all the Salesforce Certifications or have a Testing Qualification or 30 years work experience but your effort and hard work should always be acknowledge by yourself and others.
- Keep making new goals – Have you just completed a goal? Well dont stop there….make another one! Now!
A Certified Salesforce Administrator, Salesforce Einstein Analytics and Discovery Consultant, ISTQB® Certified Tester Advanced Level, Jitterbit Foundations and Jitterbit Core Certified QA Test Automation Manager who is also an experienced creative all-rounder with enthusiasm and the proven ability to understand client needs and deliver satisfying solutions. A thirst for new technology and modern Quality Assurance and Testing techniques keeps me aspiring to learn at every opportunity. My current role is at Publicis Sapient who are an official Salesforce Platinum Partner. Publicis Sapient provide Salesforce expertise and strategic thinking that enables organisations to transform their business to Cloud-based technology.