Creating Psychological Safety
I have ideas that stink.
Many, actually.
When I was 7-years-old, my friend and I tried to build a 'little sister' elevator out of a large doll box...you know, the box with the clear plastic front? It was going to be awesome and I was so grateful I had a little sister to test this great idea out on!
I put my sister in the box, tied multiple skipping ropes around it and threw it into the wood beams of our basement. About 1/2 way to the roof, the bottom of the box broke because a 7-year-old doesn't have the engineering background to reinforce the seams. Like a scene from a movie, my little sister shrieked as she plummeted to the basement floor - don't worry; she's around to tell the tale and there were no broken bones. But I wish someone had told me it was a bad idea.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
That wasn’t my first bad idea, and it certainly wasn’t my last. Why did most of my stinker ideas not ruin me? Unlike the custom elevator scenario, I have been blessed with many people around me at work telling me they were bad ideas. Some did so delicately by saying, "Wow! I'm glad you thought so hard about this. But have you considered *lists 4000 things I hadn't considered*?".
Others less delicately said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Obviously, the delivery method was based on factors like the situation or relationship with the individuals delivering the feedback.
But feeling comfortable enough to caution me was always rooted in psychological safety.
Simply put, psychological safety is creating an environment where it is okay to disagree or to feel like you won't be punished if you make a (reasonable) mistake. HBR does a wonderful job summing it up here!
Often we do a great job connecting - for relationship building, interdependence, and teamwork. But would you be willing to kindly tell someone you disagree with how they handled something, and feel confident it won't change your relationship? Or that they don't like an idea they had, and feel like it could be done differently? Or that their new haircut makes them look like a young Aaron Carter (that’s not a compliment)?
You do not enter a psychologically safe environment. You help build it.
We all have a role to play in creating psychological safety for each other. And regardless of what some people believe, it can (and should) be immune to hierarchy! That is how we all get better.
Little ways we can build psychological safety include:
Asking for constructive feedback on something small - “Can you proof this email for me, Jules?”
Praising areas others excel that you are working on - “I love the way you are able to concisely phrase things and I’m trying to get better at it.”
Express a desire to collaborate - “If you have any other feedback I would love to hear it! We are all better when we can work together to produce the best possible product. I’m happy to do the same for you if you ever need to bounce ideas around!”
Building psychological safety requires some deep reflection. This week, start by asking yourself:
What group have I been a part of that did/does not have psychological safety? How did I play a role in that?
How can I create psychological safety in the different groups I am a part of - whether I’m the supervisor or a team member?
What is one action I could take this week to make one person feel more psychologically safe?
Don’t let your team become the little sister in a doll box that falls out the bottom. You’ll hear about it for the next 30-some-odd years, I promise.
