Create Psychological Safety

I had the privilege of sitting in on a series of lectures given by the fantastic Amy Edmonson of Harvard Business School. She literally wrote the book on psychological safety, so I was excited to hear what she had to say about this important topic. Here are a few notes I took about how to promote psych safety in the context of a team:

First, in the context of the exploratory work, it’s critical to reinforce the centrality of learning to ultimate success. Leaders who promote psychological safety advocate intelligent failure (as opposed to the two other kinds of failure, outlined in Edmondson’s HBR piece) as indispensable to discovery and value creation. After all, thoughtful forays into novel territory are often accompanied by such outcomes. Just look at the “failure rate” (aka learning rate) of basic research labs. A good leader will routinely reiterate the purpose and mission of learning in the context of exploratory work.

Second, exceptional leaders “invite engagement” by asking good questions. Instead of asking “Does anyone have a different perspective?” Edmondson recommends, “Who has a different perspective?” Instead of “Did we miss anything?” try, “What did we miss?” Such shifts invite careful consideration and give people space to speak up.

Third, the best leaders “respond productively” to revelations of the truth. Edmondson cited the example of Alan Mulalley, former CEO of Ford Motor Company, who famously clapped when someone finally told him the truth about a failure point. Everyone assumed that the engineer would be fired. But Edmondson says such appreciative and forward-looking responses have a way of showing folks “a shadow of the future,” and create the confidence to continue to share similar discoveries in the future.

Lastly, Edmondson advised that psychological safety isn’t a “corporate culture thing; it’s a local phenomenon.” Attributing safety to the purview of organizational culture catapults safety out of reach. “Does THIS TEAM do these things? Does THIS LEADER create space?” brings it home. By focusing on the local elements within a particular team’s control, agency remains high and follow through direct.

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