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When Google embarked on an extensive study to understand what makes for a high-performing team, it was Amy Edmondson’s research on “psychological safety” that became the foundation of the company’s findings. Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor and organizational behavior expert, joins the podcast to talk about her latest book, The Fearless Organization. She says that “psychological safety describes a climate at work where one believes that you can freely speak up with any idea, concern, question, even mistakes.” It’s “a sense of permission for candor.” She explains the benefits of creating psychological safety in the workplace and why it’s essential for learning, innovation, and growth in the knowledge economy.
Listen to this podcast episode to learn:
- Do better teams make fewer mistakes, or are they more willing to talk about them?
- Why “problems are gems” and how leaders can use mistakes to improve performance
- Why customer truths don’t always tend to make it up the corporate hierarchy
- Differences between the “comfort zone” and the “anxiety zone” at work, and why the latter is more dangerous
- Misconceptions about what psychological safety is (and what it isn’t)
- Actions we can all take to create greater psychological safety at work and in our personal lives
