The Outward Mindset: Seeing Beyond Ourselves

As the book explains, “People often use the term mindset to refer to a core belief about oneself. However, in our experience over three decades helping individuals and organizations, the biggest lever for change is not in self-belief but a fundamental change in the way one sees and regards one’s connections with and obligations to others.” This is the heart of the book.

The authors compare changing your mindset with changing your behavior, noting, “Countless books on personal improvement and organizational transformation recount the behaviors and actions of individuals how have achieved remarkable results with the promise that, by replicating these same behaviors, you too can achieve similar outcomes. This formulaic approach to improvement takes as its starting point the simple idea that behaviors drive results.” They then go on to show how people can usually see through your behavior to your attitude toward them, and react more to your attitude than your behavior. This matters greatly in the workplace. “When you sufficiently improve the mindset – either of an individual or of an organization – you no longer have to specify everything each team member is supposed to do (the way those who operate from a behavioral model often assume). As the mindset changes, so does the behavior, without having to prescribe the change. And where certain behaviors still need to be stipulated, the suggestions won’t be systematically resisted. For these reasons, mindset change facilitates sustainable behavior change.”

The above is all covered in Part I of the book. Here’s the authors’ summary of the rest of the book:
“In Part II, we explore the inward and outward mindsets in more depth. We discuss how people get in their own way by adopting an inward mindset, and we consider the consequences of an inward mindset both personally and organizationally. We contrast the inward mindset with the way individuals and organizations function when their mindsets are outward. In Part III, we detail the outward-mindset pattern, a step-by-step blueprint, that, if implemented, enables a person or organization to consistently operate with an outward mindset. In Part IV, we present important issues to consider and helpful actions that individuals and organizations can take to implement an outward-mindset approach within groups of people, including across entire organizations.”

I found the ideas in this book to be helpful and clearly presented -- easy to read and understand; but paradigm shifting for some. This book offers tremendous benefit to those who have in inward mindset, and offers useful tips to those who already have an outward mindset.

The approach sounds simple enough: Don't just view things from your point of view. Try to take others' points of view also, and try to help them succeed as well. If you pay attention to how your efforts are impacting them, you'll get better at figuring out how to actually be helpful to them.

Almost all of the stories recounted in this book regarding the adoption of an outward mindset had successful results or happy endings. One of those "successful" stories made me realize, however, that just having good intentions is not sufficient. The story of the father who thought he was meeting his children's need for quality time with him by playing basketball with all of them at night did not realize, however, that because one of his daughters did not like basketball, that daughter felt he loved her brother more than her. Once the father realized how that daughter felt, however, he did switch gears, but I wished the authors had included more stories like this to help readers draw lessons from them regarding how someone who thinks he or she has adopted an outward mindset can still fall short and how.

Overall, however, I did find several of the stories quite heartening, so even though I thought the book has room for improvement, I still consider it a good read.

As a psychotherapist, I read and recommend many books in similar genres. I specialize in working with families and most of my clients have business related careers. I am selective about the books I recommend. However, I can't recommend this particular book more highly.

You can certainly use it to learn how to escape the trap of victimhood and blame. You can use it to understand your own justifications. You can use it to better see your own patterns of self-deception. These are really important steps in meeting your own potential. The principles in this book are great for that.

However, this book encapsulates much, much more. It sets itself above other books that are in a similar genre because rather than merely reflect on your own shortcomings, this book submits genuine, sustainable solutions. It provides a way to strengthen (or discover) your inner, authentic self.

The Outward Mindset is a book for leaders, and those who want to lead. It is a book for families who wish to strengthen their relationships. It is a book for individuals who want to understand how to grasp a more meaningful and authentic life while meeting their own potential.

Be cautioned, as this book will hold you accountable for your own growth and progress. It is not for those who want validation of their victimhood (though it certainly acknowledges life’s challenges). Abiding by it’s logical, and meaningful mindset will require individuals to examine themselves. It does not discriminate between hierarchy, social status, or other arbitrary constructs. It assumes that as humans we can transcend obstacles in our world, and by doing so, we remove obstacles for others. It teaches us to be a solution, and how to avoid contributing to problems. It teaches about the deception we live in when we are not meeting our own potential. If you think you’re not in the midst of self-deception, you’re already a victim of it. We all deceive ourselves (I can talk about this all day).

Clients come to me frequently wanting change in their life. After listening to them and reflecting, I often counsel them to not change themselves, but focus on revealing themselves. This book provides a path to do just that. I will be recommending it for years to come.

It's really simple. Changing your behavior won't change your results.

Changing the way you behave towards co-workers, subordinates, customers... it won't change your results and could even make them worse.

Changing your MIND about how you actually feel about those people will change the whole world around you.

I've been through Arbinger's training on Developing and Implementing an Outward Mindset and this book does a nice job of putting it all together for you in a quick and easy to read package.

It's incredibly valuable and I can't even imagine a person who would not benefit in the extreme from this material. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

The Outward Mindset asserts that "mindset drives and shapes all that we do—how we engage with others and how we behave in every moment and situation." The authors intend to guide readers to develop and practice an outward mindset that basically walks a mile in the other persons shoes and considers his or her perspective, needs, agenda, etc as much a priority as one's own. The teaching reminded me of many similar books on various themes of servant leadership and even touches on some of the basis of "How to Win Friends and Influence People." The book would prove helpful to most readers but is probably more of a primer in the area of serving others and leading others. The concepts can be applied in any area of work or life.

The writing summed up in this statement reminds me of the teaching of Maxwell Maltz 1960 book Psycho-Cybernetics Updated and Expanded The Outward Mindset Authors write: "The way we use the term, mindset is more than a belief about oneself. It refers to the way people see and regard the world—how they see others, circumstances, challenges, opportunities, and obligations. Their behaviors are always a function of how they see their situations and possibilities."

They really are riding on the shoulders of many writers before them. The Outward Mindset does serve as a promotional piece for The Arbinger Institute. Several of the case studies involve their solutions for organization and how they facilitated change. It is on par with other books by consultants who try to interweave their own achievements in the pages as an advertisement for their services--which do sound beneficial.

The book should serve to inspire and instruct readers to move away from inward obsession to outward consideration. The change in mindset leads to change in behavior and change in results. This could be a helpful book for teams to go through together and lead change in organizations. As a pastor of a church, I think this is a reminder of our purpose and to be other-oriented. I appreciate the following mantra that stuck with me: "The most important move is for me to make the most important move." That's "the one thing."

I will start this review off by saying Leadership and self deception is one of my all time favorite books. This book is written well and does not disappoint either.
You will find this book lays out that we as individuals typically think about ourselves first and others second to the extent that it hurts our capability to function well with others. Another way to say this would be to find the empathy for others situations.
Changing your approach with others does take time and effort. At first most people are not used to an outward mindset and may become defensive but most people will eventually come around to the concept.
The book uses the SAM approach
1. See the concern or the problem for what it is
2. Make adjustments in the course of action
3. Measure the impact created by the actions

Overall this is a great book that will leave your head spinning for a day or so after reading it.

I loved this book! I was attracted to it because I had previously read Leadership and Self-Deception from the Arbinger Institute, and thought it was one of the most transformational books I had ever read. This new book is even better! Instead of discussing leadership theory, each chapter provides captivating real-world stories of how a change from the inward mindset to the outward mindset has achieved incredible results for individuals, teams and organizations. I especially loved the final chapters that bring all of the concepts together beautifully. This book should be read by anyone in trying to increase collaboration, engagement and results within their organization. No doubt this will become one of the all-time classics for leaders wanting to understand how self-awareness and mindset are what drive the behaviors of individuals and organizations.

I was a bit surprised by the Institute taking control of a word that is owned by brilliant researcher, Carol Dweck (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success). This book is full of fascinating stories of people being, essentially, other-centered.

Entertaining and encouraging read with loads of evidence pointing to the benefits (personally and professionally) of looking to others first.

Highly recommended.

For leaders (at any level) of any sort of organization (though particularly in the corporate world), this book is a fantastic read. It stresses the importance of thinking of others needs (and putting them first) regardless of your relationship to those others (your boss, your peers, your customers, or those you have stewardship over). It gives plenty of examples, and is well written. Easy to read, and not terribly long.

It's still helpful as a personal self-improvement book, but it's harder to draw the necessary mental connections since the examples are so organizationally-focused.

I haven't read other books put out by the Arbinger Institute, but I just may seek them out in the future. This book was good, and a bit different from others that I've come across.

Somehow we have become a culture of winning. Winning is nice but it doesn't belong in the context of human relationships. In this well illustrated analysis the Arbinger Institute has done it again. This is a fundamental reminder that standing in the shoes of others is the best way to both build relationships and improve productivity and outcomes. It is a mindset sorely needed in today's world of winning and being right at all costs. And those are costs we incur at our peril and cannot afford as a collective.

The Outward Mindset is fantastic. I loved the book and couldn't put it down. I have been searching for a more permanent option for shifting our culture and I realize now that changing mindset is what I need to do first. The book reads really quickly with a combination of real life stories and research. I found the breadth of industries that have been affected by a change in mindset to be really helpful for me. I really liked the diagrams, they helped give very practical application and life to the concepts in the book. Having read another of Arbinger's books, Leadership and Self Deception, I feel like this is the book I have been waiting for. It helped me make sense of and better live what I had learned in the previous book.

This book was fantastic! I purchased this book this morning and then when embarking on a long road trip this afternoon decided to buy it on Audible as well! I listened to it in my car with my kids in the back. I was so riveted that I was surprised when my son said from the back of the car, " hey I know someone like that, it is awesome to be around him." He said his after the description of someone with an outward mindset. This book is valuable for everyone. The world needs more books like this one.

This book is a little different than the previous two. The first two applied insightful principles in a fictional setting, which made them a little more interesting to read. Of the three I think I have benefited most from "The Anatomy of Peace." However, this book has also been very beneficial and I feel inspired to work on overcoming my ignorance and being more mindful of the needs, thoughts and feelings of those around me. Definitely worth reading.

The Outward Mindset powerfully demonstrates how organizations can shed their inward looking mindset and teams can coalesce to deliver results.

Through true stories and simple yet practical tools, The Outward Mindset enables individuals and organizations to change to an outward mindset for dramatically improving performance, sparking collaboration, and accelerating growth and innovation.

I now consciously shift my thinking when I am talking with people to look for their challenges, needs, and goals. I have also incorporated this step and other ideas from the book into my training and work with my leadership coaching clients. It is a quick read you will never forget.

An outward mindset is critical for success in this consumer driven world. This book provides a simple framework for changing the way you look and interact with the world. This is the central premise of the book and one that is repeated over and over again which limits the impact of the book over time. Overall this is an ok book, but the authors could have included more tools, support and discussion of what people do to help themselves and their team. In its current format, the book spends most of its time sharing semi-related stories rather than presenting research or tools that people could use. This is what gives the book a sense of extended commercial.

The book's central premise is that people need a new mindset - the way people see and regard the world -- how they see others, circumstances, challenges, opportunities, and obligations. (page 18) The premise is to change people's behaviors from ones that protect and advance themselves (inward) to ones that advance the collective result (outward)

Its a straightforward premise and one that people cover over the following chapters.

Part one: Something New
1. A Different Approach
2. What Shapes Behavior
3. Two Mindsets
4. Seeing Truthfully

Part two: Exploring the outward mindset
5. Getting out of our own way
6. The Lure of Inwardness
7. The Outward-Mindset Solution

Part three: Becoming More-Outward
8. The Outward-Mindset Pattern
9. Applying the Outward-Mindset Pattern
10. Don't Wait on Others

Part four: Multiplying Mindset Change
11; Start with Mindset
12: Mobilize around a collective goal
13: Allow people to to be fully responsible
14: Shrink Distinctions
15: Turn Systems Outward
16; The Road Ahead

The Outward Mindset builds on the principles from Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace, but instead of narrative, utilizes (often mind-blowing) case studies to illustrate the power of shifting to an outward mindset. It changes the way I work, how I interact with others and how I see the world. I'm a better person having read this book—it feels real and sustainable.

This book is a great read. The first chapter pulled me right in and I finished it in one sitting. The ideas make a ton of sense--so much so that it kind of feels like you are reading things that you already knew but didn't know that you knew them. But what I liked most was how practically helpful the book is. I feel like I now have a good working understanding of what an outward mindset is, why it's so helpful, and how to implement it. I will recommend this to lots of people.

First, the attributed author, The Arbinger Institute, sells training tools. This book is essentially a soft-sell for their approach to changing attitudes in the belief that individuals and organizations will thus be more efficient and effective. They don’t oversell themselves, so it isn’t a bother.

Like so many books of this nature, none of the principles and techniques espoused are revolutionary, particularly the enunciated insights into individual thinking. You can find similar thoughts in the Old Testament, the Greek, Roman and classic Chinese philosophers through the contemporary era.

But, again, what matters here is not that someone has had the same thought earlier, but how you present it to people today who may not have entertained such thoughts.

The Arbinger folks essentially use their alleged case histories to explain their beliefs, how they train people to incorporate those beliefs.

The content is actually interesting, more so than I expected it to be.

I can’t say that this book should be on your must-read list, but it is certainly far from a waste of time. Some of their points are definitely thought-provoking.

Jerry

A high-impact, simple read. Are we seeing beyond ourselves? Are we seeing the needs of others without expecting a return? True, long-lasting positive change cannot be sustained without a change in mindset. This is where traditional "training" fails.

This is a wonderfully written book. A refreshing read. If you take your time and try to implement suggestions offered in the book you can realize immediate benefits. I bought 6 copies and have circulated them throughout the office.

They must need money because this book is not much different than Leadershio and Self Deception. Essentially, they took the definitions from that book and pasted new key phrases to them in this book. Both books are terrible, but this one takes the cake.