I'm not sick of the lingo, I'm disappointed by how often simplistic platitudes are used as stand-ins for a well examined life and critical introspection. The growth mindset idea is often used to promote this rationalist American fantasy that "you can be anything if you just believe in yourself enough" which is dismissive real life conditions. Believing in one's self is great but I believe understanding what keeps others from being great is even more important, and the ideas like the "Growth Mindset" cause us look at the world in rosy glasses the keep us from seeing that's holding other people back.
This thing by AirBnB looks mostly like rubbish. One does not 'balance their bias' or 'consider the opposite' by asking themselves a few a cutesy questions. It happens through reading viewpoints contrary to yours, exposing yourself to people who are unlike you, having discussions with people who disagree with you. For example, one the questions to ask yourself suggested here is "Am I holding onto something that I need to let go of?"
I would posit that it's not asking that question to yourself that allows you to discover the answer. The same goes for questions like "Who might be impacted by what I’m designing?" If you haven't been exposed to people with color blindness, you're likely not going to consider them when you ask yourself that question. The question itself doesn't lead to increased awareness of the world, engaging with the world does.
Lastly, I think it really underlines how farcical this thing is by making "design" the subject of "Another Lens". The same looks to be true of their "shadow to light" thing. Rather than asking tough questions about their impact on housing markets, cost of real estate, gentrification and disruption of communities they offer questions like "Do I need to slow down?" It's great to question ourselves and approach work critically and thoughtfully but this is just a pantomime of contentiousness.
Unfortunately, the conscientious creatives at Airbnb are stuck looking through the lens of a VC-funded startup.
And shameless plug, I just posted a Show HN for a tool that helps you 'consider the opposite' by assigning probabilities to your expectations and tracking the results (https://www.elfquiz.com).
What about this is nonsensical? I've found it to be a useful framework to think about change and challenge my own bias to believe there is nothing I can do about my life's trajectory. There are many areas in my life where a "fixed" mindset prevented me from taking risks that could have opened new opportunities. As I've transitioned to believing I am not a static being, my life has been enriched with unexpected benefits.
Based on reading the cards at the bottom tagged "Embrace a growth mindset," it appears to mean self-improvement and personal "growth," not marketing "growth."
If you can get over the hyperbolic title and terrible cartoons, Robert Anton Wilson's quantum Psychology is a more thoughtful and amusing guide to spotting and overcoming cognitive biases - though like all guides it should be subjected to critical assessment in turn.
I love that AirBnB is spending money on work like this. Really. If you're going to get all unicorny with an online service, you might as well fund some meaningful art.
Am I the only one who's sick of this nonsensical lingo?