A driving force in sports and Naval Aviation is a healthy growth mindset.  What fuels this growth mindset is the thought that you must get better each day or else you will get passed by your competition.  For example, while playing college baseball, I knew that those I was competing against were pushing themselves to get better every day.  If I did not come to practice each day with the intention and mindset that I needed to find some way to improve my game, then I was going to get passed by. 

Likewise, in Naval Aviation, there was a scary realization that those we were training to fight against were spending every day figuring out how they could defeat us.  The adversaries of the US military are preparing daily and looking for any minuscule advantage that will help them defeat the US forces should they ever meet on the battlefield.  To stay ahead of our enemies, we in Naval Aviation had to take on a growth mindset and continually change and evolve our tactics.  A Navy F/A-18 squadron and the Naval Aviation enterprise as a whole can only reach its maximum potential and lethality when the individuals in the organization push and compete with one another.  The desire and will for individuals to push one another manifest when those same individuals bring a growth mindset to work.

Businesses should encourage a growth mindset amongst their employees by helping their employees to learn skills outside of their current job description.  Much like the military and sports, employees that are continually looking to grow and learn beyond their current role will be better able to tackle unforeseen challenges.  When employees incorporate new skills and have a growth mindset, it gives a business the power to quickly and agilely adapt to a dynamic marketplace.

Authored By: Fletcher Vynne, former F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapon Systems Officer

Click Here to View Fletcher’s Bio

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