How Psychological Safety Actually Works

Psychological safety means, in Edmondson’s words, “no one will be punished or humiliated for errors, questions, or requests for help, in the service of reaching ambitious performance goals.”

“psychological safety.”9 Edmondson studies teams and has shown that when a group believes they can speak up, ask for help, admit mistakes, propose ideas, take blame, confess uncertainty, and disclose inability, they learn more and perform better.

Research shows that psychological safety stimulates innovation.61 When people feel free to speak up, ask provocative questions, and air half-formed thoughts, it becomes easier to challenge the status quo. Psychological safety also increases team learning.62 In psychologically safe environments, employees challenge questionable calls by superiors in

Silence is unhealthy. In The Fearless Organization, Amy Edmondson describes how she discovered a correlation between the number of reported errors in hospitals and surveys on hospital team effectiveness. Some teams, she noted, were stronger than others, with higher levels of mutual respect, collaboration, satisfaction, and confidence in their abili

Silence is unhealthy. In The Fearless Organization, Amy Edmondson describes how she discovered a correlation between the number of reported errors in hospitals and surveys on hospital team effectiveness. Some teams, she noted, were stronger than others, with higher levels of mutual respect, collaboration, satisfaction, and confidence in their abili

Silence is unhealthy. In The Fearless Organization, Amy Edmondson describes how she discovered a correlation between the number of reported errors in hospitals and surveys on hospital team effectiveness. Some teams, she noted, were stronger than others, with higher levels of mutual respect, collaboration, satisfaction, and confidence in their abili

Psychological safety does not imply a cozy situation in which people are necessarily close friends. Nor does it suggest an absence of pressure or problems.