I often describe myself as a-sportsic -- I'm not a sport fan at all. At the same time, I'm justing finishing Carol Dweck's Mindset, a book for the general reader based on her research into self-concept. (Search for "Dweck" on my blog.)

In her framework, the "growth mindset" believes that you can learn from your experience and increase your ability. You don't worry about whether you're a born athlete (or a born instructional designer...); effort, practice, and feedback can lead to improvement.

(What I like about Dweck is that she underscores what might seem like motivational nostrums with studies related to actual performance.)

The "fixed mindset" tends to believe the opposite: athletes, instructional designers, CEOs, are made, not born.

In the area of athletics, she contrasts people like John McEnroe with people like Maury Wills (who spent nine years in baseball's minor laugues before breaking Ty Cobb's record for stolen bases).

I was astounded to read McEnroe's statement, "Many athletes seem truly to love to play their sport. I don't think I ever felt that way about tennis."

Both individual and team sports have the potential to bring value to a child's life, but that value is a function of the child's view of himself and the messages he receives from parents and from coaches. If the coach believes that anything the ref doesn't see is legal, that shapes the attitude of the athlete.

Dweck quotes one of Bobby Knight's basketball players as saying "Coach's Holy Grail was the mistake-free game." Freedom from mistakes is the goal of a fixed mindset. Contrast that with John Wooden: "Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort?" If so, he said, you may be outscored, but you will never lose."