Mindset: A Backdrop for the Highlands Experience

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

- Henry Ford

The Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) is an objective aptitude assessment that measures your natural abilities. Your strengths. Your gifts. Your preferences for communicating, problem-solving and interacting with others.

Results of the HAB are based on performance—that is, completing 19 timed work samples or exercises—rather than on the way you see yourself (or think others see you).

Doing instead of thinking about doing.

Although the Highlands Ability Battery is objective, people often take a subjective approach to digesting their results, attaching judgment to and making assumptions about their scores. Why?

Throughout most of our lives—beginning as early as in the elementary school years—we’ve been culturally conditioned to view high scores as “good” and low scores as “bad.”

But that’s not always the case. Think about it: If you’re playing in a golf tournament, you aim for a low score. If you’re trying to maintain your health, you want to avoid high cholesterol or blood pressure scores.

It takes a shift in perspective to understand that scores on the HAB aren’t inherently good or bad—nor are they grades. There is no “crushing” or “failing” the assessment.

Still, people typically respond to and integrate them based on their mindset, beliefs that can influence how they interpret their results, and more importantly, either sabotage or support their personal and professional growth.

What Constitutes a Healthy Mindset?

Mindset matters throughout the Highlands experience … beginning with the decision to embark upon a journey to deepen your self-awareness.

It influences the way you experience the assessment (i.e., fun vs. frustrating; interesting vs. laborious).

It sets the stage for the impact of your debrief session.

And, it ultimately influences how you choose to integrate the insights gained in the process into your career—and life. 

Boiled down to basics, a healthy mindset is positive, flexible and focused on growth.

Negative vs. Positive Mindset

Taylor and Tyler are twins. Both score in the high range for Idea Productivity, a driving ability that measures a person’s ability to generate a flow of ideas within a given period of time. Idea Productivity doesn’t measure the quality or originality of ideas, simply the quantity.

Here’s how they respectively respond to their scores:

Taylor: “Oh, I’ve always been great at persuading others. I know I’d enjoy a career in sales—and bet I’d be pretty good at it.”

Tyler: “Yeah, I can brainstorm ideas all day, but I’m terrible at following through on any of them. Things never get done under my watch.”

The same glass: one half full, the other half empty. Who is more likely to use this kernel of self-awareness constructively?

A positive mindset isn’t forced. In fact, false positivity—sugar-coating—can be dismissive, failing to acknowledge the reality of a challenge. Authentic positivity facilitates a healthier approach, embracing and appreciating the wins and facing challenges with optimism.

Rigid vs. Flexible Mindset

A well-known improv exercise called “Yes, and …” illustrates the power of words.

The rule is simple: Replace “but” with “and.” Notice the difference a three-letter word can make when “I’d like to run a marathon, but I can’t because I don’t have the endurance” becomes “I’d like to run a marathon, and I can take small steps to build my endurance.”

People with a rigid mindset are the ones who often lament, “It is what it is.”

They tend to hold onto outdated or inefficient approaches to thinking, being and doing. This mindset stems from black-and-white (or all-or-nothing) thinking:

It’s on or it’s off.

That’ll work or it won’t.

We’re doing it like this because this is always how it’s been done.

This way of thinking closes doors. Leaves no room for compromise. Shuts down innovation.

On the other hand, a flexible mindset invites opportunity. And it’s imperative for personal and professional growth.

When you approach situations with a flexible mindset, you’re more apt to try new ways of doing things or handling challenges. You understand that one size doesn’t always fit all. You’re open to exploring creative solutions.

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

 Some people believe that they are who they are, know what they know, and, often, that they’re somehow “less than” because of what they’re not. Trapped within the confines of a fixed mindset, they often feel stuck.

Others believe that change is possible. They’re curious and willing to explore new ways of doing and being. With a strong conviction that “I can grow,” the sky really is the limit.

Carol Dweck, Ph.D., author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, introduced the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset over 30 years ago to reflect how a person views their capacity to learn. The research she and her colleagues conducted found:

“When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore, they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement.”

When you take the Highlands Ability Battery harnessing a growth mindset, the experience can be a game changer.

In addition to helping you understand and apply your natural abilities, the HAB also offers a wide array of insights and strategies to help you grow both personally and professionally.

Your scores reflect your “home base.” From there, you can skill-build up and down the continuum as you choose—or are required to do to perform on the job and in life.

Consider this example:

Grant scored in the low range for Verbal Memory, one of the specialized abilities (“helpers and enhancers”) measured by the HAB. Verbal Memory reflects a person’s ability to recall information they’ve read.

Through the lens of a fixed mindset, he might reflexively respond to a low score with, “I’m a terrible reader; I can’t do anything that involves a lot of reading.” End of story.

On the flip side, through the lens of a growth mindset, Grant is more likely to:

• accept that Verbal Memory isn’t a strong natural learning channel for him;

• give himself grace for doing his best; and

• embrace strategies that rely on his stronger learning channels to supplement and reinforce his Verbal Memory.

Change Your Mindset … Change Your Future

Dr. Dweck’s mindset research has, itself, grown based on further neuroscientific studies discovering that “the brain is far more malleable” than once thought—and that people can create new and/or stronger neuropathways through strategic efforts. If an individual believes they can learn, change or grow, they are far more likely to take the steps to achieve success in endeavors large and small.

From practicing cognitive reframing exercises to engaging in deeper work, there are many ways to tweak or shift your mindset. And it’s work worth doing.

Bringing a healthy mindset to the Highlands experience allows for meaningful, insightful conversation and contemplation during the debrief—and far, far beyond.

Note: An earlier version of this post was published on the Highlands Company website.

Ready to begin your journey of self-discovery?