Avoiding the Rusty Lining of Success: How to Sustain a Growth Mindset During the Good Times

What if your last big success is the reason your next project fails?

Success feels amazing. It validates our hard work, boosts our confidence, and often earns us the respect of our peers. It’s the thing we chase, the thing we celebrate, and the thing we use as proof that we’re on the right track.

But it’s not all silver and gold. Success can also lull us into a dangerous trap. The very thing we strive for can blind us to new possibilities, make us overconfident, and leave us clinging to methods and mindsets that no longer serve us.

This is what I call the rusty lining of success - it’s like the opposite of finding the silver lining in failure. 

–

Success feels great, but it can also lure us into stagnant thinking.

The experience of success might make us feel like we’ve cracked the code, like we’ve figured out the thing. But markets shift, audiences change, people grow, and just because things worked a certain way in the past does not mean that they’ll bring similar success in the future. 

We see it all the time: executives whose hands-on approach to management shatters sales goals at one company, but when they apply the same strategy in a new organization, they’re met with resistance, skepticism, and conflict.

Entrepreneurs who successfully launch a product to market using an engaging social media campaign, only to find that the same approach backfires when scaling the business or entering a new market.

Trainers who build trust and rapport with clients by sharing their personal stories, but in a different setting, the same transparency is perceived as unprofessional or distracting.

When we assume that past success will repeat itself, we stop questioning, stop experimenting, and stop learning. 

It’s difficult to admit, but if we’re not aware of it, the familiar thinking created by the experience of success will hurt our teams, our organizations, and our ability to innovate.

How to Avoid the Rusty Lining

Success doesn’t have to trap us in a place of overconfidence. By staying intentional, curious, and humble, we can celebrate our wins while keeping the door open to growth. Here are three actionable ways to avoid the trap:

1. Practice the In•Possibility Mindset

The In•Possibility Mindset is a powerful framework for staying adaptive. It involves asking three key questions:

• What Am I Missing? This question helps you catch blind spots. Before reusing an old strategy, ask yourself: What’s different about this situation? What assumptions am I making that might not hold true?

• What Do You See? Invite input from others, especially those with different perspectives. Conduct information-gathering interviews and actively solicit ideas and opinions that will inform your new approach to the work. 

• What If? Use this question to explore alternatives. What if your usual approach doesn’t work? What if there’s a better way? Don’t be afraid to mix things up in an experimental way, trying things in prototypes and always listening for feedback. Playing with possibilities keeps you sharp and innovative.

2. Build Feedback Into Your Wins

We all know how important feedback is and we love to share it with others. But how often do we ask for feedback ourselves?

And not just during times of failure or prolonged challenge. We need feedback from our successes too.

When something works, take the time to dissect why. What conditions contributed to the win? What challenges were avoided by chance rather than skill?

After every success, schedule a debrief with your team. Ask questions like, What worked? What could we have done better? Building a culture of reflection keeps overconfidence at bay.

3. Pretend You’re a Beginner

Success can make us believe we’ve “made it” while growth requires a beginner’s mindset. Approach new challenges as if you’re starting fresh, with curiosity and a willingness to learn.

In any new context ask yourself: If I were doing this for the first time, how would I approach it? This simple reframing helps you avoid resting on old habits.

So what?

The rusty lining of success isn’t inevitable, but it’s easy to fall into. By staying curious, inviting new perspectives, and treating every challenge as unique, we can ensure that our wins propel us forward rather than hold us back.

So the next time you succeed, take a moment to celebrate, and then ask yourself, What am I missing?

Sustained success doesn’t come from repeating the past, but from growing every step of the way.