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Growth Mindset ≠ Growth Model—You Need Both

Growth Mindset ≠ Growth Model—You Need Both

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Mark Gabrielli
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Growth Mindset ≠ Growth Model—You Need Both | #MarkCMO

Growth Mindset ≠ Growth Model—You Need Both

Growth Mindset ≠ Growth Model—You Need Both

Let’s get one thing straight: having a “growth mindset” doesn’t mean your company is actually growing. It just means you’ve read a few books, posted a quote on LinkedIn, and maybe told your team to “fail fast” in your last all-hands. Cute. But if you don’t have a real growth model—one that’s measurable, scalable, and brutally honest about what’s working and what’s not—then all that mindset talk is just corporate aromatherapy. Smells nice. Does nothing. In this article, we’re going to dismantle the false dichotomy between mindset and model, and show you why you need both to build a marketing engine that doesn’t just sound smart in a boardroom, but actually moves the needle in the real world.

Mindset Is the Spark. Model Is the Engine.

Let’s start with the obvious: a growth mindset is essential. It’s what keeps your team curious, your strategy adaptive, and your culture resilient. But mindset without a model is like having a Ferrari with no gas. You’ll look great on the cover of Fast Company, but you’re not going anywhere.

On the flip side, a growth model without the right mindset is a spreadsheet with a superiority complex. It’s rigid, fragile, and allergic to change. You need both. Here’s how they work together:

  • Growth Mindset: Encourages experimentation, learning from failure, and long-term thinking.
  • Growth Model: Provides the structure, metrics, and feedback loops to turn that mindset into measurable outcomes.

Why Most CMOs Get This Wrong

Too many marketing leaders treat mindset and model as interchangeable. They’re not. One is cultural. The other is operational. And confusing the two is why your last campaign “felt right” but flopped harder than a crypto Super Bowl ad.

Here’s the trap: you hire a bunch of “growth hackers” (ugh), tell them to be bold, and then give them zero infrastructure to test, learn, or scale. Or worse—you build a beautiful model in Looker, but your team is too afraid to challenge it because the last person who questioned the dashboard got reassigned to “special projects.”

Truth Bomb:

You can’t A/B test your way out of a broken culture—or mindset your way out of a broken funnel.

Building a Real Growth Model (That Doesn’t Suck)

Let’s talk about what a real growth model looks like. Spoiler: it’s not just a funnel diagram in a pitch deck. It’s a living, breathing system that connects strategy to execution, and execution to outcomes.

  • Start with the North Star: What’s the one metric that matters most? Not 12 KPIs. One. If you can’t name it in under five seconds, you don’t have one.
  • Map the Levers: Identify the key drivers of that metric. Acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue—yes, the old AARRR model still works if you use it like a strategist, not a pirate.
  • Instrument Everything: If it moves, measure it. If it doesn’t move, ask why. If you can’t measure it, don’t pretend it matters.
  • Build Feedback Loops: Your model should evolve based on real-time data. If your dashboard hasn’t changed in six months, it’s not a model—it’s a museum exhibit.

Mindset Without Execution Is Just Vibes

Let’s be honest: “growth mindset” has become the new “synergy.” It sounds good in meetings, but it’s often just a smokescreen for lack of accountability. If your team is constantly “learning” but never shipping, you don’t have a growth mindset—you have a procrastination problem with a TED Talk accent.

Here’s how to make sure your mindset actually drives results:

  • Reward Learning Velocity: Don’t just celebrate wins—celebrate how fast your team learns from losses.
  • Normalize Failure (With Boundaries): Failing is fine. Failing the same way twice is not. Build a culture where smart risks are encouraged, but lazy mistakes are not tolerated.
  • Make Curiosity a KPI: Track how many experiments your team runs per quarter. If it’s under 10, you’re not curious—you’re cautious.

Case Study: The SaaS Company That Had One But Not the Other

We worked with a mid-stage SaaS company that had a killer growth model—clean data, clear metrics, and a dashboard that would make a VC weep with joy. But their team was terrified to try anything new. Every idea had to be “proven” before it was tested. The result? Flat growth for 18 months.

We flipped the script. Introduced a growth mindset playbook, gave teams permission to run micro-experiments, and tied bonuses to learning velocity. Within two quarters, they unlocked a new acquisition channel that now drives 30% of their pipeline. Mindset + model = magic.

Conclusion: Stop Choosing. Start Integrating.

If you’re still treating growth mindset and growth model as separate conversations, you’re playing checkers in a chess game. The best marketing leaders don’t choose between culture and capability—they build both, in tandem, and let them reinforce each other.

So here’s your challenge: audit your org. Do you have a growth mindset without a model? A model without a mindset? Or worse—neither? Fix it. Because in today’s market, hope is not a strategy, and spreadsheets don’t scale themselves.

Mark Gabrielli
Founder, MarkCMO
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/marklgabrielli

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