The importance of psychological safety: Amy Edmondson

Summary

Psychological safety is pivotal for delivering safe and effective care. It fosters an environment where individuals feel secure to voice ideas, questions, and even mistakes without fear of retribution. This sense of being heard and valued encourages candor and conflict resolution, leading to better solutions. However, psychological safety is not about being 'nice' or avoiding conflict; it's about being open and committed to excellence. The ultimate goal is high-quality care, and psychological safety is a means to achieve that. Without it, workplaces may fall into the 'apathy zone' or 'comfort zone,' hindering performance. The 'learning zone' is where both psychological safety and commitment to excellence coexist, fostering a high-performing environment, especially critical in healthcare.

Takeaways

• 🔐 **Psychological Safety Defined**: It's the belief that the workplace is a safe environment for expressing ideas, questions, concerns, and even making mistakes.
• 🗣️ **Value of Voice**: Psychological safety fosters a sense of confidence that one's voice is valued and heard, encouraging candor.
• 🙅‍♀️ **Not Just Being 'Nice'**: It's not about avoiding conflict or only speaking positively; it's about being honest and open.
• 🤝 **Conflict as a Positive**: In a psychologically safe workplace, conflict is expected and can lead to better understanding and solutions.
• 🚫 **Not a Free Pass**: Psychological safety doesn't mean all ideas are accepted without critique, nor does it allow for slacking off or oversharing.
• 🎯 **Goal of Excellence**: The ultimate goal facilitated by psychological safety is not just safety itself but achieving excellence in care delivery.
• 💔 **Apathy Zone**: Lack of both psychological safety and commitment to excellence leads to a zone of apathy, where work is not performed with passion.
• 🛌 **Comfort Zone**: High psychological safety without a drive for excellence results in a 'comfort zone', which is not conducive to high-performance care.
• 😥 **Interpersonal Anxiety Zone**: High commitment to excellence but low psychological safety creates an 'interpersonal anxiety zone', hindering effectiveness.
• 🏆 **Learning Zone**: The combination of psychological safety and commitment to excellence leads to the 'learning zone', a high-performing environment where problems are solved effectively.

Q & A

What is psychological safety in the context of the workplace?

Psychological safety is a belief that the workplace is safe for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, and even mistakes. It's a sense of confidence that one's voice is valued and welcomed.

How does psychological safety contribute to high-quality care delivery?

Psychological safety allows individuals to share observations and ideas that could be critical to delivering safe and high-quality care, fostering an environment where every voice can contribute to excellence.

What is the difference between psychological safety and being 'nice' in the workplace?

Psychological safety is not about being 'nice' or avoiding conflict. It's about candor and creating a space where open dialogue, including potentially unpleasant truths, can occur to drive better solutions.

Can psychological safety lead to a lack of conflict in the workplace?

No, psychological safety does not mean the absence of conflict. It allows for healthy conflict where differing viewpoints are discussed and understood to reach better solutions.

Is it acceptable to slack off or overshare in a psychologically safe workplace?

No, psychological safety does not grant permission to slack off or overshare. It encourages thoughtful and considerate sharing of work-relevant content.

What is the ultimate goal of psychological safety in a workplace?

The ultimate goal of psychological safety is not the safety itself but using it as a means to achieve excellence and commitment to high-quality care.

What happens if a workplace lacks both psychological safety and commitment to excellence?

If a workplace lacks both psychological safety and commitment to excellence, it falls into the 'apathy zone', where employees are disengaged and not fully contributing to their potential.

What is the 'comfort zone' in the context of the script?

The 'comfort zone' refers to a workplace where there is psychological safety but no commitment to excellence, leading to a relaxed state that does not characterize effective care delivery.

What is the 'interpersonal anxiety zone' and how does it affect the workplace?

The 'interpersonal anxiety zone' is a state where there is a high commitment to excellence and urgency but low psychological safety, leading to employees feeling that their voice is not welcome, which can hinder their performance.

What is the 'learning zone' and why is it important in healthcare delivery?

The 'learning zone' is where both psychological safety and a commitment to excellence coexist, leading to high performance and continuous problem-solving, which is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ Psychological Safety in the Workplace

The paragraph emphasizes the importance of psychological safety in delivering safe and effective care. It defines psychological safety as a belief that the workplace is a safe environment for expressing ideas, questions, concerns, and even mistakes without fear of repercussions. This sense of confidence that one's voice is valued encourages candor and the sharing of critical observations that can be vital to care delivery. The paragraph clarifies that psychological safety does not equate to being 'nice' or avoiding conflict; rather, it fosters open and honest communication, which can lead to better solutions. It also distinguishes psychological safety from a lack of accountability or commitment, highlighting that it is a means to achieving excellence in care delivery. The paragraph outlines different zones of work environments based on the presence or absence of psychological safety and commitment to excellence, identifying the 'learning zone' as the optimal state for high-performing teams in healthcare.

Keywords

💡Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is defined in the script as a belief that the workplace is a safe environment for expressing ideas, questions, concerns, and even making mistakes without fear of punishment or negative consequences. It fosters a sense of confidence that one's voice is valued and creates a permission for candor. In the context of the video, psychological safety is crucial for delivering safe and high-quality care, as it encourages team members to speak up, potentially leading to mission-critical observations that could be overlooked by others.

💡Speaking Up

Speaking up refers to the act of openly expressing one's thoughts, ideas, or concerns. The video emphasizes that in a psychologically safe workplace, individuals should feel empowered to speak up without fear of retribution. This is important for fostering a culture where critical observations and ideas can be shared, contributing to the overall excellence in care delivery.

💡Candour

Candour is the quality of being honest, frank, and sincere in speech or writing. The script highlights that psychological safety is not about being 'nice' but about being candid, which means expressing one's true thoughts and feelings openly. Candour is essential for a psychologically safe workplace as it allows for genuine communication and the surfacing of diverse viewpoints.

💡Conflict

Conflict, in the context of the video, refers to disagreements or differences in opinion among team members. The script clarifies that psychological safety does not mean the absence of conflict but rather a healthy environment where conflicts can arise, be addressed, and lead to better solutions through open dialogue and understanding.

💡Excellence

Excellence is the pursuit of high standards and quality in all aspects of work. The video script uses the term to describe the ultimate goal of a workplace, which is to provide high-quality care. Psychological safety is presented as a means to achieve this goal, as it allows for the open exchange of ideas and the commitment to continuous improvement.

💡Apathy Zone

The 'Apathy Zone' is a term used in the script to describe a workplace environment where there is a lack of both psychological safety and commitment to excellence. In such an environment, employees may not feel engaged or motivated to give their best, leading to a lack of enthusiasm and effort in their work.

💡Comfort Zone

The 'Comfort Zone' is described as a workplace where psychological safety is present, but there is no strong commitment to excellence. This can lead to a relaxed state of affairs where employees may not be pushed to perform at their best, potentially compromising the quality of care delivery.

💡Interpersonal Anxiety Zone

The 'Interpersonal Anxiety Zone' refers to a workplace where there is a high commitment to excellence and urgency, but psychological safety is low. This can result in employees feeling anxious about expressing their ideas or concerns, which may hinder their ability to contribute effectively to the team's goals.

💡Learning Zone

The 'Learning Zone' is depicted as the ideal workplace environment where both psychological safety and a commitment to excellence coexist. In this zone, problems are solved effectively, and high performance is achieved, particularly in healthcare delivery, as employees feel safe to share their ideas and are driven to improve.

💡Urgency

Urgency in the script implies a sense of immediacy and importance in addressing issues and improving care. It is mentioned alongside psychological safety and commitment to excellence as a necessary component for achieving high-quality care. Without a sense of urgency, even in a psychologically safe environment, the drive to improve and innovate may be lacking.

💡Commitment

Commitment in this context refers to the dedication and loyalty of employees to the goals and values of the organization, particularly in striving for excellence in care delivery. The script suggests that a strong commitment is necessary for achieving high-quality outcomes, and it is a key factor in determining the effectiveness of a workplace.

Highlights

Psychological safety is crucial for delivering safe and effective care.

It is defined as a belief that the workplace is safe for speaking up.

Psychological safety fosters a sense of confidence that one's voice is valued.

It allows for candour and the sharing of ideas, questions, concerns, and even mistakes.

Psychological safety is not about being 'nice' but about candour and open communication.

It does not preclude conflict; rather, it encourages the resolution of differing viewpoints.

Psychological safety does not mean all ideas will be applauded; it's about thoughtful contribution.

It is not a license to slack off, whine, or overshare; work-relevant content should be shared considerately.

Psychological safety is a means to the goal of excellence in care delivery.

Commitment to high-quality care is essential alongside psychological safety.

Lack of psychological safety and commitment leads to the 'apathy zone'.

A workplace with psychological safety but no commitment to excellence is in the 'comfort zone'.

High commitment to excellence with low psychological safety creates the 'interpersonal anxiety zone'.

The 'learning zone' is achieved with both psychological safety and commitment to excellence.

The 'learning zone' is where high performance and problem-solving occur, especially in healthcare.

Transcripts

One of the most important factors in delivering safe and effective care is psychological safety.

Allow me to define that as a belief that the workplace is safe for speaking up, with ideas,

questions, concerns and even mistakes. It's a sense of confidence that your voice is valued.

You can think of this as a sense of permission for candour, that the workplace is somewhere

we count on your voice being heard because you never know when you will have had the

observation that someone else missed that will be mission critical to delivering safe,

high-quality care. Now, I want to be clear that psychological safety is not about being

'nice'. It's not about holding back on something you think might be unpleasant, in fact quite

the opposite. It's about candour. It's also of course not freedom from conflict. When

you're in a psychologically safe workplace, there will be conflict. People will have different

points of view and will get into it and will seek to understand each others views better

and will come out with a better solution. Psychological safety in a psychologically

safe workplace doesn't mean that all of your ideas will be applauded. It's certainly not

permission to slack off, it's not a licence to whine, it's not oversharing - we still

want people to be thoughtful and considerate in sharing work-relevant content. It's important

to mention that psychological safety isn't the goal. Psychological safety is the means

to the goal and that goal is excellence. That goal is commitment to high-quality care. So,

it's important to recognise that for really high-quality care you need not just psychological

safety, you also need urgency and commitment to excellence. If you don't have either psychological

safety or a commitment to excellence, then you are working in what I call the 'apathy

zone' where your heart isn't in it, you don't much like your colleagues and you're just

not giving the work what you could give it. Certainly, if all you had was psychological

safety and no commitment to excellence, then you'd be in what we call the 'comfort zone'

where it's quite a relaxed state of affairs. I know that's not characterising care delivery

today however this is the one that worries me. When your commitment to excellence and

your sense of urgency are high but psychological safety is low, I call that the 'interpersonal

anxiety zone' where your commitment to excellence is thwarted by not feeling that your voice

is welcome. So, finally if you have both psychological safety and a commitment to excellence, that's

the 'learning zone', that's the high-performing zone, that's where problems get solved, day

in, day out, especially in health care delivery.