Put me down as one in favor of the growth mindset.
I was constantly praised and valued for being smart as a child, to the point where my intelligence became my identity. My mother even refused grade skips for me to ensure that I would always be "the smartest kid in the class."
It wasn't until I entered law school that all of this began to backfire, as I found myself entirely unprepared to deal with real challenge. Consequently, I hit a wall, never practiced law or came anywhere close to meeting my potential. Instead, I've been stuck in middle management, bored and frustrated for years.
However, in the course of doing research on how to raise my exceptionally gifted son, I found Dweck and all the anti-praise research. Reading much of it literally brought tears to my eyes. It described my psychology so perfectly and predicted my outcome so accurately that it made me feel like a puppet.
Since then, I've not only changed the way I'm raising my son (praising effort, ensuring he has ample opportunity to experience and overcome the discomfort that accompanies challenge), but I've also completely changed my own outlook. A decade-plus out of law school, I recently passed the bar exam and am starting a new career. I feel more hopeful and optimistic than I have in years.
So, for me at least, Dweck's research has been very profound and powerful stuff.
