Agile Mindset vs. Growth Mindset - What's the difference?

You just searched Google for “A****gile Mindset vs. Growth Mindset” and want to know what the differences and benefits of the Agile Mindset and the Growth Mindset are? - Great, then you’ve come to the right place.

Basically, you can first say that the Agile Mindset and the Growth Mindset are very different from each other, but by no means mutually exclusive. When I personally first came into contact with the topic of Agile, I had already been manifesting the Growth Mindset for years. At the beginning, it wasn’t really clear to me what Agile even meant. But when I then read more frequently the question “Is Agile a mindset?”, I realized that Agile is actually also just a way of thinking (Mindset), which I even used long before I knew the term “Agile” or “Agile Mindset”.

Growth Mindset:

Let’s start with what I learned first. Namely the growth mindset. In my eyes, the Growth Mindset is the belief that constant learning and growth (KLUW) is the foundation for all success. - Really every success. 

No matter if we talk about the work and career world or rather the personal world, which includes topics like health, relationships and co. Because if you take a closer look at the word “SUCCESS”, you will quickly see that this word is actually just the consequence of learning and growing to become the person you aspire to be.
The Growth Mindset assumes the belief that one is capable of growing from there in any situation, if only given the appropriate time and experience.

Agile Mindset:

If you look at the Growth Mindset in isolation, there is always only one way and that is up. The Agile Mindset, on the other hand, opens up another dimension of this thought pattern. Because reality is usually a bit tougher than pure theory. And as much as I like to see everything always going upwards, reality then comes into play very quickly and brings you back to the “bottom of the facts”. 

What I mean by that is that we live in a constantly changing world. Our customers and other stakeholders are changing their minds, the competition is not standing still and the market is always throwing up new challenges to overcome.

And this is exactly where the benefits of the Agile Mindset come in. Agile or agile working is about always finding an answer to the questions and challenges that one encounters in everyday (professional) life. And from my point of view, it doesn’t matter how you see it, but the Growth Mindset and the Agile Mindset are two ways of thinking that only work well together. Therefore, the real question should not be “Agile Mindset vs. Growth Mindset”, but rather “Agile Mindset and Growth Mindset”.

And to encourage these two ways of thinking to work together, I’ve brought along a retrospective we’ve designed that should make it possible to take a bit more of a growth perspective in the agile environment:

Health Check Retro: Growth Mindset 🧠

I think it is now clear what the “Agile Mindset” and the “Growth Mindset” are. The fact that these two ways of thinking are part of team health can easily be deduced from this. - But how can you regularly check whether the Growth Mindset in the team is still adequately present? - “Health Check Retro: Growth Mindset”

Note: This retrospective format asks for agreement with the given Health Check items on a scale.

• Purpose: The results of my work are of great importance to our clients.
• Personal development: I feel like I am improving myself every day at work.
• Goals: My goals are aligned with the goals of my colleagues.

As you can already see from the graphic, the “Health Check Retro: Growth Mindset” is a somewhat unconventional retrospective. Here, the individual questions are not answered by self-formulated answers, but by a scale (Bad - Very Good). Based on the mood in the team, you can then reflect accordingly and design measures. This is a team health check with a focus on the growth mindset.

If you’re more interested in the Agile Mindset, check out this article:

“ 5 Agile Values incl. Retrospective Template ”

The Growth Mindset is about putting constant learning and growth at the center of what you do. The Agile Mindset, on the other hand, is more concerned with creating answers to challenges that arise in a rapidly changing environment.