Psychological safety: ‘You no longer have the option of leading through fear’

ALSO: How to see precisely what your boss is saying about you

Psychological safety has become such a familiar part of modern work discourse that I’ve seen it elicit a weary sigh from people when it’s been brought up - ‘yes, we know about psychological safety…’

The concept, which can be described as the freedom to constructively disagree was popularised by Amy Edmondson and really took off in 2012 when it was credited for being the secret sauce of Google’s Project Aristotle, an exploration of the origins of workplace excellence.

Edmondson herself defines it as ‘a state of reduced interpersonal risk’.

In this article (and original research paper) she discusses how teams can actually build psychological safety:

1. Encourage teams to bond through day-to-day tasks: “without an ability to be candid, to ask for help, to share mistakes, we won’t get things done”

2. Normalize opportunities to learn from mistakes: “Saying, ‘I need help. I’m not sure what to do here,’ is a learning behavior. It might be awkward, but speaking up in this way often leads to better outcomes”

3. Ensure that all people feel ‘seen’: “It used to be: How do we get the work done? But nowadays, there’s just as much interest in: How are people doing? And what the research finds is that psychological safety is one good predictor of more positive work experiences”.

4. Seek input with humility and openness: “In a nutshell, it’s about making honest statements that make clear that you value others’ voices: ‘We’re going to need all the ideas that you have,’ or, ‘This is an incredibly challenging procedure. Please speak up as soon as you see me doing something wrong.’ It’s about inviting voices in an ongoing way, explaining why you legitimately care about what others see and think”.

Read the article here and the research paper is here (if you’re feeling brave).

• What does your boss say about you? You might have seen in the news that someone asked their bank for all of the communication that they had on file about him. Most people don't realise they can ask their employers for this. If you feel that your boss has something against you. Or that there is communication taking place discussing you, you are entitled to see *all* of it (if you’re in the UK or Europe). Here's a template of what you can ask for. US-based firms seem to be especially unaware of this law, it’s fun to see them scramble to explain things.

• Your brand is only as safe as your worse manager example 1: Roblox

  • Roblox has a serious diversity issue - female employees have reported feeling marginalised. When asked why there were so few women at senior levels in the company, the Roblox CEO told a staff meeting that they had a very high bar in hiring, something that employees took as dismissive

  • A discussion on International Women’s day took place in a bar, with female executives raising concerns:

    

• Your brand is only as safe as your worse manager example 2: McDonalds

  • More than 100 current and former employees of McDonalds have highlighted issues of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying - the list of allegations makes for grim reading

• Nice piece on hybrid work: ‘Managers tend to most appreciate what they can see in front of them, “It’s like those restaurants where the kitchen is open and on display—it feels more like you are having a fantastic culinary experience, but it’s really just a mirage.”’

• In Fortitude I spend a lot of time reconsidering Growth Mindset, this meta analysis of it goes further saying it has no effect on academic outcomes for kids

• CNN says WFH is set to wipe almost a trillion dollars off the value of office buildings by 2030. A good tweet in response

• A podcast from last year that is worth checking out. Adam Grant covers the 4 deadly sins of workplace culture. To him they are:

  • Toxicity - Toxic culture is one of the biggest causes of people quitting their jobs

  • Mediocrity - where relationships are valued over results, where people get on because they fit in

  • Bureaucracy - when a culture is all rules and no inspiration, the organisation serves to stifle invention and change

  • Anarchy - everything goes, and the chaos that involves

  LISTEN: YouTube version, transcript link

• Strongly supportive of what I talk about in Fortitude: the collective origin of joy