The term “Psychological Safety” is thrown around a lot and, unfortunately, has more baggage than a pre-covid airport carousel!
It is, however, critical for building agility into projects and delivery.
So.. let’s bust some myths..
MYTH #1: “In a psychologically safe environment, people can say whatever they want.”
To the contrary.. when psychological safety is genuinely present, it is a QUALITY OF THE SPACE we share, rather than “We can say whatever we want”.
Dr. Amy Edmondson wrote a book called “The Fearless Organization”.
In it she defines Psychological Safety as “a CLIMATE in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves.”
So.. there is a tension to hold.
Comfortable expressing and being ourselves.
While also taking care that what we say (or, perhaps more critically, the WAY we say it) doesn’t create a CLIMATE where the opposite is true for others.
What Psychological Safety MYTHS have you come across?