This book is the first practical, hands-on guide that shows how leaders can build psychological safety in their organizations, creating an environment where employees feel included, fully engaged, and encouraged to contribute their best efforts and ideas. Perhaps the leader's most challenging task is to increase intellectual friction while decreasing social friction. When this doesn't happen and it becomes emotionally expensive to say what you truly think and feel, that lack of psychological safety triggers the self-censoring instinct, shuts down learning, and blocks collaboration and creativity. Timothy R. Clark, a former CEO, Oxford-trained social scientist, and organizational consultant, provides a research-based framework to help leaders transform their organizations into sanctuaries of inclusion and incubators of innovation. When leaders cultivate psychological safety, teams and organizations progress through four successive stages. First, people feel included and accepted; then they feel safe to learn, contribute, and finally, challenge the status quo. Clark draws deeply on psychology, philosophy, social science, literature, and his own experiences to show how leaders can, and must, set the tone and model the ideal behaviors—as he says, “you either show the way or get in the way.” This thoughtful and pragmatic guide demonstrates that if you banish fear, install true performance-based accountability, and create a nurturing environment that allows people to be vulnerable as they learn and grow, they will perform beyond your expectations.

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent—but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation. Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance Create a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economy Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization Shed the “yes-men” approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

Both scientific and industry research suggest that paying close attention to psychological safety has tangible benefits, not just to personal health and well-being, but to workplace productivity and performance. In 2015 Google released the findings of some compelling research known as 'The Aristotle Project'. In its quest to build the perfect team, Google assessed the factors common to their high-performing teams. They were shocked to find it was not the background, the experience, or the education of the team members that determined the team's success, but whether psychological safety was present within the team. Most of us understand the importance of physical safety. We protect ourselves and those around us, and know what physical interactions are socially acceptable, helpful, or harmful. Psychological safety, however, is a new frontier. Only now are we beginning to understand its importance and impact, thanks to recent advancements in neuroscience. For example, research shows that a 'hit' to our psychological safety can have a deeper and longer-lasting impact than a 'hit' to our physical selves. In fact, social rejection has the same impact on the brain as a punch to the face. Over time, the pain associated with a physical attack is difficult or impossible to recall. The memory of social rejection, however, even many years after the fact, can elicit the same strength of emotion as it did at the time of the event. When we experience an attack to our psychological safety, our brain is triggered into a stress response. Our cognitive abilities are compromised. Our higher, logical brain, the one responsible for thinking, creativity, decision-making, and self-control, goes off-line. In this derailed stress state we can find it difficult to concentrate, make decisions, or control our emotions. In a psychologically safe climate, people are not afraid to express themselves; they feel accepted and respected. This openness creates a fertile environment for thinking, creativity, innovation, and growth, and leads to more collaborative relationships and an overall improvement in individual and team productivity. So how do you identify and manage the triggers that threaten your psychological safety and hijack your brain? Based on the latest neuroscience research, the S.A.F.E.T.Y. model describes some of the most important social motivators of human behavior. Learn how to implement it in your life and your workplace, to reap the benefits of increased productivity and personal well-being. This revolutionary book offers actionable solutions to key questions that may be holding you (and your team) back from fulfilling your potential: Why am I so anxious and stressed? Why do I continue to do things I don't want to do? Why do I care so much about what others think of me? Why do I self-sabotage? And the most vital question of all: Why can't I change?

The hope is the reader will experience the psychological safety to create fearless and inclusive relationships in all their life settings. The pathways to psychological safety are outlined throughout the book with a focus on parents, teachers, managers and leaders, who are the architects of the relationships they create with significant others.

Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of increasingly complex, cross industry projects. Amy Edmondson and Jean-Francois Harvey show vividly through their international cases how the complex demands of collaboration impact on management and revolutionize our understanding of teams.

You cannot improve your organization's safety performance to enviable levels without addressing human behavior and attitude effectively. The only comprehensive reference on the psychology of the human dynamics of safety, The Psychology of Safety Handbook shows you how to apply psychology to improve safety and health in your organization. Dr. Geller

A fascinating guide for business leaders looking to ensure that their teams remain productive and engaged in the digital era. Businesses across all sectors now realise that, if they intend on staying competitive in the 21st century, then they must embrace new innovative technologies and methodologies such as AI, automation, digital platforms and Agile. But when too much focus is placed on digital transformation, teams within the organization become overlooked – the uniquely human benefits that arise from a well-functioning, collaborative team become neglected, and the employees themselves become unmotivated and overly dependent upon the quantifiable benefits of technology. In People Before Tech, Duena Blomstrom uncovers the true potential of teams in modern organizations by highlighting the importance of psychological safety. This ground-breaking approach leads to a powerful group dynamic that allows teams to take risks, create and innovate without fear of repercussion. With fascinating research, controversial approaches and an international array of case studies, this book provides practical guidance on how business and technology leaders as well as HR professionals can draw upon psychological safety to create and cultivate satisfied, efficient and high-performing teams within their organization.