"You did very well on that test, you must be very smart". An innocent enough statement that most of us would believe has a positive influence. In fact, the statement enforces the believe that our characteristics, like intelligence, are finite and instills a sense of urgency that we need to continually re-prove our capabilities. Taken to the next step, we can then become threatened by anything that does not make us seem "smart".

In her book Mindset, psychologist Carol Dweck uses significant research to contrast a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset and how we can influence the latter. Don't let the words psychologist and research in the last sentence throw you. If you are a leader of agile teams, her eminently readable book can be an invaluable source to help you allow your teams to grow and truly exhibit the agile values and principles we espouse.