David A. Hofmann, John J. Sumanth

Research shows that individuals tend to approach “winning” with one of two mindsets: creating value or protecting value.

A creating value mindset is rooted in growth and advancement toward hopes, wishes, and aspirations — in other words, toward some ideal future success. Individuals who adopt this mindset are driven to move away from their current position, and thus when communicating with their teams, typically use visionary language that is future-focused. A creating value mindset also leads individuals to explore, discover, and proactively seek new opportunities. In short, individuals who employ this mindset are motivated to push past the status quo and are driven to beat their competition.

A protecting value mindset, in contrast, is concerned with fulfilling duties, responsibilities, and obligations and preserving and protecting what’s working well. Such a mindset strongly values analytical thinking, vigilance, accuracy, and careful evaluation. Thus, a protecting value mindset motivates individuals to review and scrutinize a given situation to minimize errors, mistakes, and other gaps between actual and expected performance, and to ensure that key aspects of the organizational identity are preserved. In short, individuals with a protecting value mindset are driven to avoid losses or failures and to preserve the status quo.