From Insight to Impact: Turning Growth Mindset into Growth Moves

Inspired by Claude Silver's CultureCon keynote, we're putting growth mindset into practice. Real growth happens through small, consistent moves: speaking up, owning mistakes cleanly, adapting in real-time, and learning out loud together. Discomfort means you're doing it right.

We just got back from CultureCon West, and we're still buzzing. Claude Silver of Vayner Media was the big keynote, and she came ready after just releasing her new book, Be Yourself at Work: The Groundbreaking Power of Showing Up, Standing Out, and Leading from the Heart. Listening to her speak about growth mindset, authenticity, and the courage to be in a constant state of evolution hit differently. Not because these were brand new concepts, but because they reinforced everything we already believe about how culture is built.

The core message? Being in a growth area at work means you're not going to be the same person throughout the role. Change isn't something to resist—it's an invitation to evolve, to learn, to step into the unknown with curiosity rather than fear. That resonated deeply because it's exactly what we've been working toward: creating an environment where people don't just do work, they grow through work.

But here's the thing about inspiration—it has a shelf life. The real magic happens when we move from knowing to doing.

This week, we're asking ourselves: How do we take these principles off the stage (and the page) and into practice?

The Gap Between Learning and Living

It's easy to nod along when someone talks about embracing change or practicing radical transparency. It's another thing entirely when you're in the middle of a project pivot, a tough conversation with a teammate, or a moment where vulnerability feels risky. That gap—between what we know we should do and what we actually do—is where growth either happens or stalls.

Putting Principles into Practice

Here's what we're learning by turning the concepts we've been focusing on into actual daily practices.

Growth Mindset in Action - Instead of treating challenges as problems to hide or fix alone, we're reframing them as opportunities to learn and improve together. When we hit a roadblock on a client deliverable, rather than scrambling privately to fix it, we approach it with curiosity: "What can we learn here? Who might see this differently?" The result? Team members jump in with perspectives no one has considered, and the problem was solved faster, together. A growth mindset isn't just about staying positive—it's about believing that obstacles are invitations to get better, and that your team's collective learning beats individual perfection every time.

Accountability Without Defensiveness - We missed a deadline. It happens. But instead of the usual dance of excuses or finger-pointing, we tried something different: owning it cleanly and moving straight to "here's how we prevent this next time." No drama, no defensiveness, just responsibility. Turns out, accountability feels lighter when you stop making it personal.

Adaptability as a Daily Practice - Adaptability isn't just for big, dramatic pivots. It could and should be practiced in small ways: adjusting meeting agendas on the fly when priorities shif, reworking a strategy mid-week based on new data, saying "let's try a different approach" without attachment to the original plan. Each small adaptation builds the muscle for the bigger ones.

The Team Element: Growing Together, Not Just Side-by-Side

Growth doesn't happen in isolation. Your team isn't just a collection of individuals working in parallel; you're a system, and when one person grows, it creates space for everyone else to level up too.

For example, when one team member starts asking better questions in meetings—suddenly, everyone's contributions get sharper. When one person practices vulnerability by admitting they don’t understand a concept, it gives permission for others to do the same. Growth is contagious, but only if you're doing it out loud, together.

When Change Feels More Like Chaos Than An Opportunity

Let's be honest, embracing change as opportunity sounds great in theory. But sometimes, change can show up messy. A key strategy gets disrupted by external factors. A team member has to step back unexpectedly. Plans shift.

Here's what we're learning though, it’s that change doesn't always feel like opportunity in the moment. Sometimes it just feels like chaos. The practice isn't about forcing yourself to feel positive about every curveball—it's about staying steady enough to respond thoughtfully instead of reactively. It's about asking "what's possible here?" even when you'd rather just complain.

Small Moves, Big Momentum

You don't overhaul your entire way of working in a week. Growth happens in the small, consistent choices:

• Choosing to speak up in a meeting instead of staying silent

• Asking "how can I help?" instead of waiting to be asked

• Admitting what you don't know instead of pretending

• Adjusting course without making it a whole thing

• Celebrating someone else's win as genuinely as your own

  
  

This week, focus on making one or two of these moves each day. Not perfectly, not dramatically—just consistently. And the cumulative effect? Things will feel different. Lighter. More collaborative. More honest.

The Real Truth About Growth

Here's something that keeps coming back to us: growth isn't comfortable and that’s how you know you’re doing it right. Being in a culture where you're encouraged to grow means accepting that you won't be the same person throughout your role—and that's exactly the point. If you're comfortable, you're probably not growing—you're maintaining. And maintenance is fine for certain seasons, but it's not where innovation lives, where breakthroughs happen, or where you build the kind of culture that actually attracts and keeps great people.

Claude Silver’s book reminds us that showing up authentically means showing up in your uncertainty, your learning, your evolution. It means leading from the heart even when—especially when—you don't have all the answers.

Every work environment has uncomfortable moments. Conversations that feel risky. Decisions that feel uncertain. Admissions that feel exposing. But on the other side of each uncomfortable moment? A little more trust, a little more clarity, a little more connection.

What We're Carrying Forward

As we close out this week, we're not claiming we've mastered anything. But we have created some new patterns:

Trust the team first. When challenges arise, bring them to the table immediately. Your team's collective intelligence beats your solo scrambling every time.

Own it and move on. Accountability doesn't require a performance. State it, solve it, prevent it. Next.

Adapt in real-time. Don't wait for permission or perfection. Make the adjustment, communicate it, keep moving.

Grow out loud. Your learning creates space for everyone else's learning. Be the one who asks the "dumb" question, admits the mistake, tries the new thing.

Your Turn

We're curious: What's one small move you could make this week to close the gap between knowing and doing? Maybe it's speaking up about something that's bothering you. Maybe it's admitting you need help. Maybe it's trying a different approach to something you've been doing the same way for months.

Growth doesn't require grand gestures. It requires showing up a little braver, a little more honest, a little more adaptable than you did yesterday.

And if you're building a team or a culture, remember: the best thing you can do is model the behavior you want to see. Don't just talk about transparency—be transparent. Don't just value accountability—demonstrate it. Don't just celebrate adaptability—practice it.

From insight to impact. That's the move.

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