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Psychological Safety: The key to happy, high-performing people and teams
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?
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?
174 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2018
56 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 4, 2021
The topic is vitally important and the book does a good job of introducing the concepts. Then, just I expected it to start going into some depth and flesh out the information, it ends with a short section which repeatedly urges you to buy their personal assessment ( 70$ ) and then pay to have one of their facilitators hold a workshop for your company.
In the language of this book; This violated my Fairness Domain and really degraded how I felt about the book. Pretty ironic that :)
In the language of this book; This violated my Fairness Domain and really degraded how I felt about the book. Pretty ironic that :)
January 24, 2021
Interesting read
For those interested in psychological safety this book provides some useful insights in to the individual needs via the SAFETY model that they introduce. My only dislike is that the book felt like a soft sell for their assessment and services. Whilst this is common practice it is not something I particularly admire.
For those interested in psychological safety this book provides some useful insights in to the individual needs via the SAFETY model that they introduce. My only dislike is that the book felt like a soft sell for their assessment and services. Whilst this is common practice it is not something I particularly admire.
December 24, 2022
Terrible book for several reasons, but, for brevity, I only pick up two of them:
- when in a book with pretense of being based on science and fact you find several times "Science says", quoting only one sparingly paper on the argument, you should really run...and run fast. It's ok when you have gurus (like, Daniel Pink does that a lot) doing that, but not book with such pretentious title or purpose (or maybe, it's just me who had higher expectations).
- in the book it advertised that at the end you can do your own assessment using the SAFETY model, pity is that at the end you will have to pay it. With also the interesting caveat that, ehi, sorry, we cannot model the Y, because, you know it's YOU and we cannot model that.
In summary, if you want to discover more about "psysafe"TM, better to go in other directions (T. Clarke, for instance)
- when in a book with pretense of being based on science and fact you find several times "Science says", quoting only one sparingly paper on the argument, you should really run...and run fast. It's ok when you have gurus (like, Daniel Pink does that a lot) doing that, but not book with such pretentious title or purpose (or maybe, it's just me who had higher expectations).
- in the book it advertised that at the end you can do your own assessment using the SAFETY model, pity is that at the end you will have to pay it. With also the interesting caveat that, ehi, sorry, we cannot model the Y, because, you know it's YOU and we cannot model that.
In summary, if you want to discover more about "psysafe"TM, better to go in other directions (T. Clarke, for instance)
August 30, 2021
A very fast and practical read about psych safety. The book includes useful references and research about the neuroscience behind psych safety and a useful model to help with applying it in practice. A nice supplement to anyone engaged in this work.
January 9, 2020
De los mejores libros que he leído en temas de creación de grupos y organiciones.
May 16, 2024
Really enjoyed this book, and love that it gives bullet-point examples. The framework provided is easy to understand and implement as well.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews