Talk is silver – silence is golden, as the saying goes. Like many proverbs, at times it applies and at others it doesn’t. In organizations, silence at inopportune times can lead to serious mistakes and even major debacles. For example, if a copilot’s fear of pointing out a possible misunderstanding with the control tower results in a plane crash; or a nurse fails to alert the head physician to a medical irregularity and a patient dies prematurely; or employees don’t inform their superiors that a company’s goals can only be achieved by semi-legal methods and a habit of sweeping things under the rug takes hold. Patterns like these point to a culture of silence in which speaking up is punished with disregard, judgement, or even isolation.
The antidote to this type of culture is psychological safety, or the “belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes, and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” Coined by Amy Edmonson, this term and its definition are meant to outline the idea of an openminded climate within groups that welcomes contributions on all levels, where people feel secure sharing questions and observations instead of keeping them to themselves for fear of negative repercussions.
Error Reports and Psychological Safety
Edmonson observed these factors during a large-scale study of hospitals. Her task was to examine the relationship between teamwork and mistakes. When she analyzed the data on error reports alongside surveys of team culture, she made an intriguing discovery: Contrary to her expectations, the most effective teams made more mistakes. How could that be? How could good teamwork lead to more mistakes?
She developed a new theory that was later confirmed by numerous studies: Teams with a more tolerant internal culture report more errors because they discuss their mistakes more openly. Teams with a culture of silence, with less exchange and more rigid hierarchies also talk less about potential mistakes, meaning more of these go unflagged. The number of errors reported thus points to effective communication within a team. Team members are not shy about drawing attention to their own mistakes or addressing the mistakes of others, because the team’s shared goal – for example, the desire to provide patients with the best and safest treatment possible – stays the in the foreground. In order to realize this goal, it’s important for people to notice changes early on and point them out without having to fear negative repercussions, in other words: to experience a sense of psychological safety within their teams.
Not Just Warm and Fuzzy
A culture of psychological safety is not about creating a warm and fuzzy space free of criticism, on the contrary: it means exposing ourselves to counterarguments and, potentially, undesired problems. This can be a real challenge for leaders, in particular. We don’t need to look far to find that bad decision making often stems from executives being told only what they want to hear. It doesn’t take much to create a culture of silence and suppression by disparaging or disregarding dissenting opinions. A culture of psychological safety, on the other hand, depends on consistent awareness and practice. It starts with an inner attitude of humility and curiosity, along with an ability to listen from a place of sincere interest in the other person and their message.
If, as an executive, I understand that I don’t and can’t know everything, that in fact, I depend on others to communicate the available information openly and honestly, and that relevant contributions can come from unexpected sources, then the importance of psychological safety becomes undeniable – and making an effort to maintain it actually turns into a key success factor.
Nurturing Psychological Safety
Of course, this kind of climate can’t be created overnight. Psychological safety needs to be developed over time and nurtured as a valuable good; and much like trust, psychological safety can easily be squandered. It’s a process, as Edmonson emphasizes, that takes continuous work. This means implementing structures and forums for discussion in which open exchange is consistently possible. Leaders play a crucial role in fostering such a climate. For example, by honoring individual people for their courage in addressing a mistake or asking a critical question, or by admitting to their own mistakes and asking openminded questions in meetings.
Psychological safety pays off not only because it helps us avoid mistakes, but also because it supports the development and innovation of brand-new ideas, like introducing new products or exploring new markets. (Edmonson researched numerous such case studies for her book.) Addressing early warning signs can be a decisive success factor. It’s no wonder, then, that Edmonson and many other researchers have observed a direct correlation between performance and psychological safety: teams deliver better results when their members feel secure enough with each other to verbalize their thoughts and ideas, even if they are critical or unorthodox.
Anchoring Into Structures and Processes
Aside from the inner attitude, focusing on a shared mission or vision is especially important. If everyone on a team shares a goal, the motivation to reach it increases, in part because people learn from their mistakes or develop new ideas out of them. And finally, formats such as dialogue according to David Bohm can also support the development of new ideas and foster a culture of listening. The development of dialogical skills within a team ensures a stable foundation of communication and psychological safety.
Psychological safety is not always easy or comfortable. It requires a high degree of humility, respect and inner stability on all sides. Nevertheless, it helps people feel taken seriously in their abilities and perspectives, which leads to greater accountability among people – and this is something many leaders want to see more of in their teams.
Literature: Amy Edmonson, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley, 2018.
