Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Why I'd hand it to you

Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, describes the difference between a fixed mindset, believing your abilities are set, and a growth mindset, believing you can improve with effort. She shows how each plays out in school, sports, business and relationships. For parents, the sections on praising effort over talent are especially practical. Two things to keep in mind. The book is repetitive, with many examples making the same point, and later studies have found the effects of mindset interventions to be smaller than early research suggested. The central idea still holds up well enough to be worth knowing, especially if you coach, teach or raise kids.

— Matt Jordan