Learning teams: Psychological Safety, Accountability, and Failure with Amy Edmondson

Name: Learning teams: Psychological Safety, Accountability, and Failure with Amy Edmondson
Uploaded: 2025-03-26T06:31:24.000Z
Duration: 1 h 36 min 32 s

Thriving Teams and Psychological Safety

Introduction to the Podcast

The Thriving Leaders Podcast focuses on conversations that help leaders grow teams and organizations. Host CLA Gray introduces the podcast's purpose and his background as a leadership facilitator and author.

Season two features interviews with global thought leaders, aimed at gathering insights for Gray's upcoming book "Thriving Teams," set to release in 2025.

Insights from Amy Edmonson

Amy Edmonson, a Harvard professor and acclaimed author, discusses her experiences at the World Economic Forum, emphasizing the importance of psychological safety in teams.

Key topics include accountability as a privilege, fostering a learning environment within teams, and addressing challenges related to hybrid work dynamics.

Experience at Davos

Edmonson shares her experience at Davos, highlighting the diverse fields represented but noting an emphasis on business discussions. She felt out of her depth amidst strong opinions about future uncertainties.

The conversation reflects on how current ambiguous times challenge leaders in managing teams effectively.

Trust vs. Psychological Safety

A common misconception is that trust and psychological safety are synonymous; however, they differ significantly. Trust is often seen as a one-to-one relationship while psychological safety pertains to group norms.

Both concepts involve vulnerability; effective teams recognize their shared vulnerabilities which enhance collaboration and openness among members.

Defining Trust and Psychological Safety

Trust involves beliefs about another person's reliability or capability—essentially whether one can depend on them without constant monitoring.

Psychological safety is described as an emergent property of groups where individuals feel safe to take interpersonal risks necessary for learning—such as asking questions or admitting mistakes.

Misperceptions About Psychological Safety

Leadership team dynamics often reveal differing perceptions of psychological safety among members; some may feel secure while others remain uncertain or hesitant.

Understanding these discrepancies is crucial for fostering an environment where all team members feel comfortable engaging openly.

Understanding Psychological Safety in Teams

Factors Influencing Psychological Safety

Different team members may have varying levels of familiarity and status, impacting their perception of psychological safety. Newer members might feel more risk-averse compared to long-standing members who understand the team's norms.

Asymmetric information or experience within the team can lead to differing assessments of psychological safety. It's crucial to clarify how these assessments are gathered—whether through surveys or behavioral observations.

The depth of understanding about psychological safety varies; some assessments may not cover all necessary aspects, leading to incomplete insights into team dynamics.

Past experiences from previous teams can influence current perceptions. For instance, someone who faced humiliation in a past job may approach new teams with caution, regardless of the current team's environment.

Tenure alone does not guarantee a sense of safety; it must be combined with positive experiences for effective risk-taking and open communication within the team.

Leadership's Role in Fostering Psychological Safety

Leaders play a significant role in shaping psychological safety but face challenges when assessing it directly. Team members may hesitate to express feelings if they fear repercussions.

Instead of discussing psychological safety explicitly, leaders should focus on the mission and goals that require open communication and collaboration among team members.

Emphasizing the complexity and challenges ahead encourages a culture where candidness is essential for success rather than fixating on psychological safety as an isolated goal.

Quality Conversations as a Pathway to Psychological Safety

Psychological safety should be viewed as a means to achieve high-quality conversations rather than an end goal itself. Leaders should prioritize productive discussions over merely addressing feelings of safety.

High-quality conversations involve truthfulness, idea sharing, and constructive feedback without blame. These interactions foster an environment conducive to learning and growth.

Effective dialogue includes asking insightful questions that draw out knowledge from all participants, creating a sense of progress towards resolutions while enhancing collective intelligence.

Building Trust Through Accountability

Establishing clear team purposes helps align accountability with relationships built on trust. This foundation allows for healthy debates where mistakes can be learned from constructively.

A strong emphasis on both purpose and relational dynamics enables teams to engage in challenging discussions while maintaining alignment toward common goals despite disagreements.

Understanding Psychological Safety in Teams

The Challenge of Conversations in Teams

Only 26% of teams operate with psychological safety and accountability, making it challenging for them to support and challenge each other effectively.

The statistic refers to teams that report both high challenge and high support, indicating a significant gap in team dynamics.

Engaging work is energizing; when individuals are focused on self-protection or appearance, they become distracted from meaningful contributions.

Skills Deficiency in High-Quality Conversations

Many people lack training in the skills necessary for high-quality conversations, which contrasts with their extensive training in impression management throughout their education.

By mid-career, individuals often exhibit unconscious competence regarding communication skills, which can be unhelpful in uncertain environments.

Relearning Effective Communication

There is a need to unlearn behaviors focused on looking good and instead relearn how to engage meaningfully within teams.

Leaders should set clear goals and purposes for meetings or projects to foster an environment conducive to open dialogue.

Creating High-Quality Conversations

Establishing a supportive atmosphere requires acknowledging that candidness and creativity will not come naturally; practice is essential.

Team members should assess the quality of conversations by monitoring attributes like inquiry balance and progress during discussions.

Encouraging Participation and Accountability

Everyone has the responsibility to intervene if discussions stall or become heated without productive outcomes.

Empowering all team members to contribute ensures diverse perspectives are heard, enhancing overall conversation quality.

Cultivating Curiosity and Humility

Feedback among team members should be rooted in curiosity about each other's insights while holding one another accountable for shared values.

A blend of curiosity and humility fosters an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts without needing definitive answers.

Creating Psychological Safety in Leadership

Practical Steps for Leaders

Leaders can foster psychological safety by focusing on three key areas: messaging, modeling, and mentoring. This approach helps create an environment conducive to learning.

Messaging involves setting the stage by acknowledging challenges and emphasizing the need for collective effort to address them.

Modeling is crucial; leaders must be self-aware of their behavior as it significantly influences team dynamics. Their actions set a precedent for others.

Mentoring includes providing ongoing feedback and support, which is essential for developing team members at all levels.

Addressing Leader's Own Psychological Safety

The discussion shifts to what happens when leaders themselves do not feel psychologically safe. It’s important to understand the context behind their feelings.

Psychological safety is about having permission for candidness rather than comfort; discomfort often accompanies learning and leadership roles.

Leaders may experience anxiety or pressure but should not equate this with a lack of psychological safety. Their voice should still be welcomed in discussions.

Navigating Challenges in Team Dynamics

Instances where leaders feel undermined by their teams can lead to withdrawal from authority. This dynamic requires careful management rather than labeling it as a lack of psychological safety.

Leaders can address these situations by making issues discussable, sharing their experiences openly, and inviting team input to foster collaboration and understanding.

Importance of Open Communication

By expressing vulnerability and seeking help from the team, leaders can transform challenging dynamics into opportunities for learning and improvement.

Engaging in open dialogue allows both leaders and teams to clarify expectations and align on goals, enhancing overall effectiveness.

Impact of Hybrid Work on Psychological Safety

The transition to hybrid work models has generally negatively affected psychological safety within teams, highlighting the need for intentional strategies to maintain engagement and trust among remote workers.

Understanding Psychological Safety and Accountability in Teams

Defining Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is described as the sense of permission individuals feel to speak up and share their thoughts, which can be more challenging in remote settings compared to face-to-face interactions.

Challenges of Remote Communication

The difficulty of scheduling meetings (e.g., Teams meetings) can hinder spontaneous communication, making it essential to find ways to facilitate healthy exchanges of ideas that would occur naturally in person.

Designing Effective Hybrid Work Environments

Organizations must thoughtfully design structures and systems for hybrid work, ensuring clarity on when team members are expected to be present physically versus working remotely.

It's crucial to identify which tasks are best suited for collaboration in-person versus those that can be completed independently, allowing for intentional planning around work schedules.

Intentionality in Team Interactions

Establishing clear purposes for meetings—whether brainstorming or decision-making—is vital. This helps ensure that discussions are meaningful and productive despite the challenges posed by remote work.

The New Tasks of Hybrid Work

As commuting becomes less relevant, teams must recognize that new tasks related to managing hybrid work require effort and structure. These tasks replace the natural interactions that occurred in a traditional office setting.

Reframing Accountability as a Positive Force

Redefining Accountability

In some cultures, accountability may carry negative connotations; however, it should be viewed as a privilege that signifies trust and ownership over one's contributions within a team context.

Importance of Accountability in Teams

Accountability is linked with psychological ownership—the willingness to own both successes and failures—which fosters a culture where team members actively engage with their responsibilities.

The Role of Psychological Ownership

True accountability allows individuals the freedom to contribute creatively rather than merely executing predefined scripts. It empowers them to take responsibility for outcomes while learning from mistakes.

Linking Accountability with Learning

There exists an intrinsic connection between accountability, psychological safety, and learning. When employees feel safe taking risks without fear of blame, they are more likely to learn from their experiences.

Types of Accountability

Different levels of accountability exist: individual accountability relates directly to personal contributions; mutual accountability occurs among team members; collective accountability encompasses broader systemic responsibilities within organizations.

Culture of Accountability in Teams

Importance of Interconnectedness

The discussion emphasizes the need for teams, stakeholders, and interconnected work to foster a culture of accountability. A disconnect often exists that hinders this ideal.

Striving for Ideal Settings

There is an argument made about the ambition to achieve idealized settings in work environments. It reflects on how people sometimes opt for ease instead of striving for excellence, which is seen as a sad reality.

Individual vs. Mutual Accountability

Concerns are raised regarding individual accountability leading to feelings of micromanagement or blame. Mutual accountability can also be affected by egos and siloed behaviors within teams.

Navigating Accountability Levels

The conversation highlights the importance of navigating through individual, mutual, and collective accountability to establish a true culture of accountability within teams.

Learning from Failure and Risk-Taking

Psychological Ownership and Mistakes

The dialogue shifts towards psychological ownership in relation to mistakes. Sharing failures is crucial for both individuals and teams to learn effectively from their experiences.

Distinction Between Mistakes and Failures

A key point made is the difference between mistakes (unintended deviations from known practices) and failures (undesired outcomes). This distinction is critical in understanding team dynamics.

Types of Failures

Three types of failures are discussed:

Basic failures caused by preventable mistakes.

Complex failures resulting from multiple factors.

Intelligent failures that arise from smart experiments which should be celebrated as learning opportunities.

Encouraging Risk-Taking in Teams

Overcoming Fear of Failure

An anecdote illustrates how fear of looking bad can inhibit risk-taking from an early age. Encouraging children (and adults) to take risks despite potential failure is essential for growth.

Balancing Risk with Job Security

The challenge lies in balancing risk-taking with job security concerns. Organizations must create environments where taking calculated risks is encouraged without fear of negative repercussions.

Innovation and Risk-Taking in Teams

The Role of Innovation Departments

Innovation departments thrive on experimentation and risk-taking; success is not the only measure of performance.

Leaders must communicate that failure is part of the innovation process, emphasizing the need for teams to explore uncharted territories.

A culture that avoids risks can hinder growth; children and adults alike benefit from experiences that challenge their abilities.

Mindset and Learning

Fixed vs. growth mindset: individuals who succeed without facing challenges may not be learning as effectively as those who take risks.

Embracing a growth mindset allows individuals to view their abilities as muscles that can be strengthened through effort and challenges.

Psychological Safety and Belonging

Psychological safety fosters an environment where team members feel safe to express themselves, leading to better collaboration.

Belonging is defined as the confidence in being a valued member of a group, which enhances engagement and reduces stress related to impression management.

Team Dynamics in Modern Workplaces

The concept of belonging extends beyond individual teams; many people identify with multiple teams, necessitating a "one team" mindset.

Feeling like an outsider can lead to disengagement; fostering belonging helps individuals contribute more fully.

Final Thoughts on Thriving Teams

Psychological safety and belonging are interconnected; both are essential for honest contributions within teams.

Creating a sense of belonging across various contexts encourages broader decision-making rather than siloed thinking.

Thriving Teams and Psychological Safety

Authentic Reactions to Stories

The speaker expresses excitement about a story, highlighting the surprise of receiving positive reactions from others. They emphasize authenticity in interactions, noting that people often warn against meeting heroes due to potential disappointment.

Key Insights on Thriving Teams

Amy Edmonson shares her final thoughts on thriving teams, emphasizing that they are fundamentally learning teams. She identifies curiosity as a foundational attribute essential for team success.

Practical Tips for Building Psychological Safety

The discussion includes practical strategies for leaders to foster psychological safety within teams, specifically mentioning the "3M's model": messaging, modeling, and mentoring.

High-quality conversations are highlighted as crucial for effective teamwork. Skills such as sharing, listening, balancing questions, and inquiry are recommended for enhancing communication.

Self-Assessment and Team Accountability

The conversation touches on the importance of self-assessment both individually and collectively within teams to evaluate progress in building psychological safety.

There is a shared passion between speakers regarding redefining accountability in organizations to create more supportive environments.

Additional Resources and Programs

Listeners are invited to explore various leadership programs offered by the podcast hosts, including thriving leaders programs focused on women in leadership and team coaching.

Information is provided about signing up for a newsletter that shares insights on leadership development tools. Additionally, listeners can find resources like books available through major online retailers.