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Den frygtløse organisation: skab psykologisk tryghed og styrk læring, innovation og vækst
Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy
Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy 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 organizationShed the "yes-men" approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy helps you bring about this most critical transformation.
Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy 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 organizationShed the "yes-men" approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy helps you bring about this most critical transformation.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published November 20, 2018
About the author
Amy C. Edmondson
36 books384 followersAmy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, where she teaches courses in leadership, organizational learning, and operations management in the MBA and Executive Education programs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 471 reviews
January 4, 2019
Another good TED Talk that was turned into a book with less than stellar success. If you have had no prior exposure to the concept of creating psychological safety, you might find this helpful. But, I would encourage you to just go watch her TED Talk.
March 9, 2020
This is an important topic, but it's a pretty bad book. Chapters 1-6 are packed with cautionary anecdotes demonstrating the badness of psychologically unsafe organizations. The chapter summaries for these are virtually interchangeable. Chapter 7 is a hodge-podge of management and leadership best practices ranging freely through coaching, emotional intelligence, communication, strategic vision, and governance. The theme of psychological safety is present as a kind of guiding star, but otherwise it reads like a high level overview of a dozen other management books. Chapter 8 is a FAQ.
I suppose that a book like this serves a purpose in getting the word out that this is an important issue. A much better book could have come from taking Chapter 7 as a basic outline and developing from there.
I suppose that a book like this serves a purpose in getting the word out that this is an important issue. A much better book could have come from taking Chapter 7 as a basic outline and developing from there.
December 23, 2019
“A culture of silence is a dangerous culture” This book does well with defining psychological safety and its importance in any organization. It also describes the consequences of low levels of psychological safety and organizations that are driven by fear. I was less impressed by the part about increasing psychological safety in the organization which felt a bit short and not so well structured (I guess more work is needed on that part). This is already not the first book that brought Nokia as an example of an organization with low levels of psychological safety (downfall with Symbian, people afraid to raise problems to senior managers), Pixar, Google and Bridgewater were on the other end of this spectrum.
"Psychological safety is broadly defined as a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves. More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution. They are confident that they can speak up and won’t be humiliated, ignored, or blamed. They know they can ask questions when they are unsure about something. They tend to trust and respect their colleagues. When a work environment has reasonably high psychological safety, good things happen: mistakes are reported quickly so that prompt corrective action can be taken; seamless coordination across groups or departments is enabled, and potentially game-changing ideas for innovation are shared. In short, psychological safety is a crucial source of value creation in organizations operating in a complex, changing environment."
Fear inhibits learning. Research in neuroscience shows that fear consumes physiological resources, diverting them from parts of the brain that manage working memory and process new information. This impairs analytic thinking, creative insight, and problem solving.
How psychologically safe a person feels strongly shapes the propensity to engage in learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, or experimenting. It also affects employee satisfaction .
VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
Leaders toolkit for building psychological safety:
1. A leader must set the stage by framing the work (setting the expectations and clarifying the need for voice) and emphasizing the purpose (identifying what’s at stake, why it matters and for whom) so that he accomplishes an atmosphere of shared expectations and meaning.
2. A leader must invite participation by demonstrating situational humility (admitting gaps), practicing inquiry (asking good questions) and setting up structures and processes (creating forums and providing guidelines for discussion).
3. Responding productively which encompasses expressing appreciation, destigmatizing failure, and sanctioning clear violations which, in turn, should achieve company-wide orientation toward continuous learning.
"Hierarchy (or, more specifically, the fear it creates when not handled well) reduces psychological safety."
"High standards in a context where there is uncertainty or interdependence (or both) combined with a lack of psychological safety comprise a recipe for suboptimal performance."
"Low levels of psychological safety can create a culture of silence (artificial harmony). They can also create a Cassandra culture—an environment in which speaking up is belittled and warnings go unheeded."
“Cheating and covering up are natural by-products of a top-down culture that does not accept “no” or “it can't be done” for an answer. But combining this culture with a belief that a brilliant strategy formulated in the past will hold indefinitely into the future becomes a certain recipe for failure.”
“failure of an employee to speak up in a crucial moment cannot be seen. This is true whether that employee is on the front lines of customer service or sitting next to you in the executive board room. And because not offering an idea is an invisible act, it's hard to engage in real-time course correction. This means that psychologically safe workplaces have a powerful advantage in competitive industries.”
"Psychological safety is broadly defined as a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves. More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution. They are confident that they can speak up and won’t be humiliated, ignored, or blamed. They know they can ask questions when they are unsure about something. They tend to trust and respect their colleagues. When a work environment has reasonably high psychological safety, good things happen: mistakes are reported quickly so that prompt corrective action can be taken; seamless coordination across groups or departments is enabled, and potentially game-changing ideas for innovation are shared. In short, psychological safety is a crucial source of value creation in organizations operating in a complex, changing environment."
Fear inhibits learning. Research in neuroscience shows that fear consumes physiological resources, diverting them from parts of the brain that manage working memory and process new information. This impairs analytic thinking, creative insight, and problem solving.
How psychologically safe a person feels strongly shapes the propensity to engage in learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, or experimenting. It also affects employee satisfaction .
VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
Leaders toolkit for building psychological safety:
1. A leader must set the stage by framing the work (setting the expectations and clarifying the need for voice) and emphasizing the purpose (identifying what’s at stake, why it matters and for whom) so that he accomplishes an atmosphere of shared expectations and meaning.
2. A leader must invite participation by demonstrating situational humility (admitting gaps), practicing inquiry (asking good questions) and setting up structures and processes (creating forums and providing guidelines for discussion).
3. Responding productively which encompasses expressing appreciation, destigmatizing failure, and sanctioning clear violations which, in turn, should achieve company-wide orientation toward continuous learning.
"Hierarchy (or, more specifically, the fear it creates when not handled well) reduces psychological safety."
"High standards in a context where there is uncertainty or interdependence (or both) combined with a lack of psychological safety comprise a recipe for suboptimal performance."
"Low levels of psychological safety can create a culture of silence (artificial harmony). They can also create a Cassandra culture—an environment in which speaking up is belittled and warnings go unheeded."
“Cheating and covering up are natural by-products of a top-down culture that does not accept “no” or “it can't be done” for an answer. But combining this culture with a belief that a brilliant strategy formulated in the past will hold indefinitely into the future becomes a certain recipe for failure.”
“failure of an employee to speak up in a crucial moment cannot be seen. This is true whether that employee is on the front lines of customer service or sitting next to you in the executive board room. And because not offering an idea is an invisible act, it's hard to engage in real-time course correction. This means that psychologically safe workplaces have a powerful advantage in competitive industries.”
January 7, 2024
LISTENING book. Overall a read worthy book for anyone aiming for a managerial position or working within HR. Although it feels like it has quite a American perspective and I’m not quite sure that it is equally as applicable for a Swedish organization. The author also points towards a great amount of examples and claims that the lack of psychological safety was the reason why these companies failed. She does this to such a degree that I’m not that all of the examples are applicable. To summarize it is a interesting book that provides some new perspectives, but maybe not for an HR person but rather an engineer-manager.
October 18, 2019
It's unmanly to admit, but sometimes I'm afraid. I worry about what might happen. Sometimes the problem is beyond my strength. I can attest that if anxiety takes hold, it dominates my thoughts. This leads to my biggest point of agreement with Amy Edmondson. You can't think clearly when you're afraid. I want to create a safe environment in my office. I don’t want my team to burn calories on anxiety so that they don't have the resources to do their best.
Notes:
Recommended by Matthew McDaniel
Library book
Psychological safety is broadly defined as a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves. More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without free of embarrassment out retribution (xvi)
Psychological safety was far and away the most important of the five Dynamics we found (xviii)
fear inhibits learning. Research in Neuroscience shows that fear consumes physiological resources, diverting them from parts of the brain that manage working memory and process new information. This impairs analytic thinking, creative insight, and problem solving (14)
how psychologically safe a person feels strongly shapes the propensity to engage in learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, or experimenting. It also affects employee satisfaction (14)
psychological safety exists when people feel their workplace is an environment where they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without fear of being punished or embarrassed (15)
VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (19)
people often hold back even when they believe that what they have to say could be important for the organization, for the customer, or for themselves (31)
Workaround = accomplishes the immediate goal but knows nothing to diagnose or solve the problem that triggered the work around in the first place (37)
* leaders who welcome only good news create fear that blocks them from hearing the truth
* many managers confuse setting high standards with good management
* a lack of psychological safety can create an illusion of success that eventually turns into serious business failures
* early information about shortcomings can nearly always mitigate the size and impact of future, large - scale failure (71)
Freedom to fail (109)
Extreme candor - no one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up about it" (109). Personal note : this could probably be taken too far
Leaders who are willing to say I don't know play a surprisingly powerful role in engaging the hearts and minds of employees (124)
The most important skill to master is that a framing the work (158)
emphasizing a sense of purpose... Motivating people by articulating a compelling purpose is a well - established leadership task (166)
productive responses are characterized by three elements: expressions of appreciation, and sanctioning clear violations (173)
You can't have too much psychological safety, but you can have too little discipline (196)
Notes:
Recommended by Matthew McDaniel
Library book
Psychological safety is broadly defined as a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves. More specifically, when people have psychological safety at work, they feel comfortable sharing concerns and mistakes without free of embarrassment out retribution (xvi)
Psychological safety was far and away the most important of the five Dynamics we found (xviii)
fear inhibits learning. Research in Neuroscience shows that fear consumes physiological resources, diverting them from parts of the brain that manage working memory and process new information. This impairs analytic thinking, creative insight, and problem solving (14)
how psychologically safe a person feels strongly shapes the propensity to engage in learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, or experimenting. It also affects employee satisfaction (14)
psychological safety exists when people feel their workplace is an environment where they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without fear of being punished or embarrassed (15)
VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (19)
people often hold back even when they believe that what they have to say could be important for the organization, for the customer, or for themselves (31)
Workaround = accomplishes the immediate goal but knows nothing to diagnose or solve the problem that triggered the work around in the first place (37)
* leaders who welcome only good news create fear that blocks them from hearing the truth
* many managers confuse setting high standards with good management
* a lack of psychological safety can create an illusion of success that eventually turns into serious business failures
* early information about shortcomings can nearly always mitigate the size and impact of future, large - scale failure (71)
Freedom to fail (109)
Extreme candor - no one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up about it" (109). Personal note : this could probably be taken too far
Leaders who are willing to say I don't know play a surprisingly powerful role in engaging the hearts and minds of employees (124)
The most important skill to master is that a framing the work (158)
emphasizing a sense of purpose... Motivating people by articulating a compelling purpose is a well - established leadership task (166)
productive responses are characterized by three elements: expressions of appreciation, and sanctioning clear violations (173)
You can't have too much psychological safety, but you can have too little discipline (196)
March 21, 2020
Most of this I knew...I'm starting to think I know more about psychological safety than most. Anyway if you're not up on it this book will make sure you are now! The first half just talks about the research and the baseline. The second half was almost case studies -intriguing.
"Asking questions tends not to make the leader seem, not weak, but thoughtful and wise....rules of thumb for asking a good question:
1) you don't know the answer
2) you ask questions that d not limit the response options to yes or no
3) you phrase the question in a way that helps others share their thinking in a focused way.
...powerful questions, those that inspire, provoke, and shift people's thinking. Attributes:
1) generates curiosity in the listener
2) stimulates reflective conversation
3) is thought provoking
4) surfaces underlying assumptions
5) invites creativity and new possibilities
6) generates energy and forward movement
7) channels attention and focuses inquiry
8) stays with participants
9) touches a deep meaning
10) evokes more questions"
"Have I clarified the boundaries? Do people know what constitutes blame worthy acts in our organization? Do I respond to clear violations in an appropriately tough manner so as to influence future behavior?"
"Asking questions tends not to make the leader seem, not weak, but thoughtful and wise....rules of thumb for asking a good question:
1) you don't know the answer
2) you ask questions that d not limit the response options to yes or no
3) you phrase the question in a way that helps others share their thinking in a focused way.
...powerful questions, those that inspire, provoke, and shift people's thinking. Attributes:
1) generates curiosity in the listener
2) stimulates reflective conversation
3) is thought provoking
4) surfaces underlying assumptions
5) invites creativity and new possibilities
6) generates energy and forward movement
7) channels attention and focuses inquiry
8) stays with participants
9) touches a deep meaning
10) evokes more questions"
"Have I clarified the boundaries? Do people know what constitutes blame worthy acts in our organization? Do I respond to clear violations in an appropriately tough manner so as to influence future behavior?"
April 1, 2019
Powerful, emotion invoking case studies and stories showcase the role psychological safety plays in the success and failure of teams, projects, events and endeavors. The fearless organization is a book that leads by example. While explanations illuminate the anecdotes, the stories themselves speak to the necessity of creating workplaces that embrace people speaking up.
Interestingly as well, several tables and sections throughout the book list common mindsets that are antithetical to psychological safety, which I am sure many readers will relate to. Being able to see and articulate the issues around you is immensely powerful, and The Fearless Organization is a great lens with which to view them.
Interestingly as well, several tables and sections throughout the book list common mindsets that are antithetical to psychological safety, which I am sure many readers will relate to. Being able to see and articulate the issues around you is immensely powerful, and The Fearless Organization is a great lens with which to view them.
December 27, 2020
Good overview of an important concept, but slipshod reporting. Have worked directly in more than one of the orgs profiled in the book, and know that the author was fed (and apparently adopted wholesale) a PR line, casting the rest of the work into doubt for me.
January 16, 2025
Fikk boken anbefalt av sjefen min. Det kan selvfølgelig tolkes i mange retninger. Selv om den tilsynelatende er milevis fra mitt interesseområde for litteratur valgte jeg å gi den en sjanse. Jeg skal ha for den, synes jeg.
Til å begynne med er det tydelig at forfatteren tar utgangspunkt i et arbeidsmiljø som er veldig forskjellig fra et nordisk sosialdemokratisk klima: både i offentlig og privat næring. Men boken vokser litt etter hvert. Gørrkjedelige akademiske betraktninger har likevel en del gode poeng. Selv om ideen kanskje slår inn åpne dører her hos oss er det smart for en leder å lese denne boka. Derfor er anbefalingen veldig snever denne gangen og følgelig ikke så høy score
Til å begynne med er det tydelig at forfatteren tar utgangspunkt i et arbeidsmiljø som er veldig forskjellig fra et nordisk sosialdemokratisk klima: både i offentlig og privat næring. Men boken vokser litt etter hvert. Gørrkjedelige akademiske betraktninger har likevel en del gode poeng. Selv om ideen kanskje slår inn åpne dører her hos oss er det smart for en leder å lese denne boka. Derfor er anbefalingen veldig snever denne gangen og følgelig ikke så høy score
May 17, 2022
3.5/5
TL;DR A great intro book that scratches the surface of this concept, but deems it necessary to explore the cited materials, because it fails to go into depth itself.
Review:
It's a great entry book if you're new in the space of "psychological safety" and have not read much about great company cultures of leaders such as Google or Pixar. While it presents a certain amount of valuable concepts and examples, it fails in exploring them more thoroughly.
First few chapters are kind of a drag, as they are used to explore the idea of "psychological safety" and how important it truly is. Which is a necessary statement, but first mention of why the concept mattered was enough - after that it just went on to repeat how great, and valuable, and great, and valuable, and great, and valuable safety truly was. I mean, that's why I picked the book up and was excited to see some examples to help bring the concept into life.
However, the latter half is where this books becomes valuable. Wide array of examples are shown, and some great books are cited - such as Creativity Inc from Ed Catmull or Principles from Ray Dalio - which are arguably the best books in this niche. But this is where I lacked a more thorough analysis of such case studies.
Still, I guess such mentions are a great way to remember and re-learn what I know from those books, while it can also be a big valuable recommendation for someone who is not familiar to go and explore those truly great materials.
Not great, not terrible.
TL;DR A great intro book that scratches the surface of this concept, but deems it necessary to explore the cited materials, because it fails to go into depth itself.
Review:
It's a great entry book if you're new in the space of "psychological safety" and have not read much about great company cultures of leaders such as Google or Pixar. While it presents a certain amount of valuable concepts and examples, it fails in exploring them more thoroughly.
First few chapters are kind of a drag, as they are used to explore the idea of "psychological safety" and how important it truly is. Which is a necessary statement, but first mention of why the concept mattered was enough - after that it just went on to repeat how great, and valuable, and great, and valuable, and great, and valuable safety truly was. I mean, that's why I picked the book up and was excited to see some examples to help bring the concept into life.
However, the latter half is where this books becomes valuable. Wide array of examples are shown, and some great books are cited - such as Creativity Inc from Ed Catmull or Principles from Ray Dalio - which are arguably the best books in this niche. But this is where I lacked a more thorough analysis of such case studies.
Still, I guess such mentions are a great way to remember and re-learn what I know from those books, while it can also be a big valuable recommendation for someone who is not familiar to go and explore those truly great materials.
Not great, not terrible.
April 5, 2023
This was a banger from beginning to end. It felt well
organized and laid out and didn't feel repetitive the way books of this type can.
organized and laid out and didn't feel repetitive the way books of this type can.
November 19, 2023
Very nice, goeie info voor werk. En op zich ook voor leven in general. Fouten maken is oke, geef ze toe en leer ervan. Levensles eigenlijk jeetje
March 24, 2025
VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
Verktøy for å etablere psykologisk trygghet:
1. Sett standarden - Framing the work. Legg vekt på hvorfor vi gjør det vi gjør, sett klare forventninger og fortell hva som står på spill for hvem.
2. Invitere til deltakelse gjennom selvsikker ydmyket, stille gode spørsmål og sette klare instruksjoner for prosesser.
3. Å respondere produktivt innebærer å vise takknemlighet, fjerne stigmaen for å gjøre feil og gi klare og tydelige reaksjoner når noen går over en grense. Kontinuerlig læring.
Dette var en veldig amerikansk bok, tilpasset amerikansk arbeidskultur. Trekk lærdom for hvordan skape trygge omgivelser, vær varsom med å trekke direkte linjer fra disse eksemplene til egne situasjoner.
Verktøy for å etablere psykologisk trygghet:
1. Sett standarden - Framing the work. Legg vekt på hvorfor vi gjør det vi gjør, sett klare forventninger og fortell hva som står på spill for hvem.
2. Invitere til deltakelse gjennom selvsikker ydmyket, stille gode spørsmål og sette klare instruksjoner for prosesser.
3. Å respondere produktivt innebærer å vise takknemlighet, fjerne stigmaen for å gjøre feil og gi klare og tydelige reaksjoner når noen går over en grense. Kontinuerlig læring.
Dette var en veldig amerikansk bok, tilpasset amerikansk arbeidskultur. Trekk lærdom for hvordan skape trygge omgivelser, vær varsom med å trekke direkte linjer fra disse eksemplene til egne situasjoner.
June 19, 2020
There is a good chance I would have given this book a better rating had it not been my third in a row on the topic of building well-functioning teams (the other two being Leonconi's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" and Scott's "Radical Candor").
The bad: it is not well written (both the 5 Dysfunctions and Radical Candor are much more fun to read) and since Edmondson is a professor it lacks the useful, practical advice Scott (who has actual experience managing at Google and Apple) gives in her book.
The good: Since Edmondson is a professor it is the only book of the three that actually backs up its findings with peer-reviewed studies. Thus it is a good complement to the other two books. It is comforting to know that there is actual research supporting some of the intuitions of Leonconi and Scott. Edmondson is also the one deserving credit for coining the term psychological safety. So perhaps not surprisingly, she also has the best definition I’ve heard to date: Psychological safety is “the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
Last but not least, I know I just complained about the lack of useful advice in this book (which–who knows–I might feel differently about, had I read the books in different order), but there is one nugget hidden at the very end of the book that I'll leave you with: the best way to establish an environment of psychological safety is to act as though it already exists.
The bad: it is not well written (both the 5 Dysfunctions and Radical Candor are much more fun to read) and since Edmondson is a professor it lacks the useful, practical advice Scott (who has actual experience managing at Google and Apple) gives in her book.
The good: Since Edmondson is a professor it is the only book of the three that actually backs up its findings with peer-reviewed studies. Thus it is a good complement to the other two books. It is comforting to know that there is actual research supporting some of the intuitions of Leonconi and Scott. Edmondson is also the one deserving credit for coining the term psychological safety. So perhaps not surprisingly, she also has the best definition I’ve heard to date: Psychological safety is “the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
Last but not least, I know I just complained about the lack of useful advice in this book (which–who knows–I might feel differently about, had I read the books in different order), but there is one nugget hidden at the very end of the book that I'll leave you with: the best way to establish an environment of psychological safety is to act as though it already exists.
December 12, 2019
This book reminded me of what the Anna Karenina-principle. Successful organisations are often alike one another, whereas every failed organisation (usually) has an interesting story to tell. However, avoiding mistakes will only get you so far (as the author does point out), so doing things right takes gut and effort.
I knew about the google example from before and had the privilege of working for good organisations so far. Hence I bought the main claim on page 10 of the book. Hearing more and more failed examples was entertaining, but I came here for tips on implementing, not for horror stories. There was a really good book hiding in there, but I felt it took a bit too many pages before it started uncover.
Full five stars for the topic, though. No question regarding that part of it :)
I knew about the google example from before and had the privilege of working for good organisations so far. Hence I bought the main claim on page 10 of the book. Hearing more and more failed examples was entertaining, but I came here for tips on implementing, not for horror stories. There was a really good book hiding in there, but I felt it took a bit too many pages before it started uncover.
Full five stars for the topic, though. No question regarding that part of it :)
March 1, 2019
Do you know those books that upgrade your understanding of the world and enact real good changes in your life? This is what "The fearless organization" was to me.
The author is not only very precise to describe the "psychological safety" concepts with scientific rigor, but also to address practical advices on how to implement these concepts in real life.
One week after reading this book and I can feel positive changes on my behavior when dealing with people.
I hope this book can reach a broader audience and help to create a whole new world of omnipresent psychological safety
The author is not only very precise to describe the "psychological safety" concepts with scientific rigor, but also to address practical advices on how to implement these concepts in real life.
One week after reading this book and I can feel positive changes on my behavior when dealing with people.
I hope this book can reach a broader audience and help to create a whole new world of omnipresent psychological safety
November 18, 2019
This book is a smooth read to get a bit more insight into the research and case studies around psychological safety. However, you can see the tension between a well researched scholastic book and an easy how to guide for business people. Unfortunately It ends up falling short in both categories.
Some of Amy Edmoson's articles and blogs give you the same info with no narrative behind but accomplish the same goal perfectly.
Some of Amy Edmoson's articles and blogs give you the same info with no narrative behind but accomplish the same goal perfectly.
January 5, 2020
I had great expectations on this book since the author seems to be the authority on the subject. What I did aopreciate about it was solid scientific references. It feels that the bigger part of the book is lengthy wordy stories through. Some, like the one about pilots in an emergency, seems to be very vagely related pstchological safey. There are perhaps 30 good pages in here, but to unfocused and lengthy for my taste.
September 19, 2024
As I read this I was grateful to reflect that most of my professional experience has been in psychologically safe environments, which may be the result of working in higher education and then a coaching organization. That said, it’s not assumed by industry and even currently we can do better. Ultimately this book gave me some new things to think about as a manager.
March 31, 2023
This could have been a blog post, I didn't learn anything new :(
August 26, 2023
I led a book club at my workplace reading this book. We had 30 leaders commit to reading and had three discussions throughout the summer that proved insightful and acted as great team-building and trust-creating exercises. The general concepts of psychological safety are ones that successful organizations and leaders must foster and cascade if they are to reach their full potential. Be curious, not judgmental. Reframe failure. Eliminate fear as a rate-limiting or mitigating factor. Definitely good and thoughtful concepts. If I am able to take one or two nuggets from this book and apply them practically to my team, I believe this concept will begin to form a foundation for our communication and ultimately lead to greater success.
October 23, 2021
An informative book on psychological safety in the workplace and the benefits it creates in a culture of inclusion, learning, innovation, and growth. It reiterated many aspects of a book called the four phases of psychological safety and enhanced it with examples from the industry. I recommend it not just for leaders in an organization, but, for everyone. The ideas here can support the cultivation of a workplace that enhances belonging, engagement, inspiration, and better outcomes towards the mission of an organization.
November 30, 2022
2.5* A generic and repetitive overview of psychological safety at the workplace.
Of the 9 chapters, only 1 chapter deals very specifically with how-tos. The rest of the book talks about why you need psychological safety with many, many case studies that roughly point to problems or benefits of psychological safety, without very clear takeaways…
The cases studies are generally flat and not very instructive. Edmonson repeats herself a lot and tends to ramble quite a bit. If you remove the roundabout sentences and stories, there are just a few key points which could’ve been presented much more clearly. There are little bits of gems hidden here and there, but overall it was a rather boring and uninspiring read.
Book summary at: https://readingraphics.com/book-summa...
Of the 9 chapters, only 1 chapter deals very specifically with how-tos. The rest of the book talks about why you need psychological safety with many, many case studies that roughly point to problems or benefits of psychological safety, without very clear takeaways…
The cases studies are generally flat and not very instructive. Edmonson repeats herself a lot and tends to ramble quite a bit. If you remove the roundabout sentences and stories, there are just a few key points which could’ve been presented much more clearly. There are little bits of gems hidden here and there, but overall it was a rather boring and uninspiring read.
Book summary at: https://readingraphics.com/book-summa...
December 19, 2021
Interessante leitura que apresenta o conceito de Segurança Psicológica e alguns exemplos de ambientes de trabalho sem e com a segurança psicológica. Leitura importante para o momento atual que estamos vivendo, recomendo para todos que querem entender como criar um ambiente de trabalho mais aberto ao aprendizado, crescimento e, consequentemente, a inovação.
Acredito que será um daqueles livros que vou constantemente voltar a ter contato para aperfeiçoar o entendimento e conseguir aplicar os conceitos apresentados na prática.
Acredito que será um daqueles livros que vou constantemente voltar a ter contato para aperfeiçoar o entendimento e conseguir aplicar os conceitos apresentados na prática.
March 6, 2023
I thought this was a very compelling read about psychological safety - why it’s important, how it effects organizations and the employee experience, and how to foster it. I wish it would’ve had more doer and front line leader examples. The examples listed in the book were mostly actions and decisions made by top executives at companies. Though, Edmondson made it clear that psychological safety is everyone’s responsibility. I’m excited to read this for my next book club!
July 2, 2020
I think the main thesis is true, but this book doesn't present any convincing evidence. It's just the usual random citations to academic studies (e.g. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?do..., where the term only appears in the title). There's some case studies. There's Google's very overblown Aristotle project. There's no formal or detailed publications on this, just some vague blogposts. Google also acts completely contrary to what it preaches in these blogposts.
Bizarrely, the author singles out the James Damore firing for discussion, not seeing the irony of praising Google for their research findings WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY firing people who voice complains internally! I mean, HELLOOO! I quote her part:
"In July 2017, Google engineer James Damore wrote a 10-page memo railing against the company's diversity stance, arguing that biological differences explained why Google had fewer women engineers and paid them less well than men, and circulated it widely within the company.34 Someone then leaked the memo, creating a public firestorm.35
How did Google respond? Damore was promptly and publicly fired a month later, earning the company both praise and criticism. Thoughtful arguments have been made on both sides of the firing debate. Rather than coming out on one side or the other, let's step back to consider when firing constitutes a “productive response,” and when it doesn't.
Take this specific case. To begin, it is a shame that Damore chose to share his personal concerns electronically and widely within the company, all but ensuring that someone who disliked the memo would share it publicly. Ideally, an employee with an opinion to express related to an important work issue or policy would first solicit feedback from colleagues, especially with those who might be likely to have a different view. The person might want to first learn more about the potential impact of those ideas and the forms in which they could be expressed. Very few of us are able to see complex issues from multiple perspectives and consider the potential consequences well enough to make good decisions about them alone. This doesn't matter when stakes are low. But stakes are high when a document that affects your colleagues, customers, or company may be read by millions.
But, once the inflammatory memo has been made public, how should a company respond? My intention is not to illuminate the specifics of Damore's memo at Google but rather to suggest a general strategy for productive responses to actions or events in your organization that you wish had not occurred.
If there are clear policies against the use of company email addresses or social media platforms for the expression of personal opinions, then an employee who violates these policies commits what we can call a blameworthy act. In this case, a productive response indeed involves tough sanctions, which may include terminating the employee. A tough response is productive because it lets people know that the company is serious about its policies and values, which shapes future behavior, and because it constitutes a fair response to a stated violation.
If policies are unclear, however, a productive response is one that turns the unfortunate event into a different kind of learning opportunity – for the company and sometimes for the interested public. In the Damore case, executives might express dismay at the employee's opinion (and perhaps dismay at his ignorance of a larger set of societal forces that have systematically diminished advancement opportunities for certain demographic groups over decades). They might then go on to explain their plans for educating employees on what they believe to be the value of a diverse workforce. As part of this organizational learning process, company managers at all levels would elicit and listen to ideas, questions, concerns, and frustrations. They might create opportunities for engaging in perspective taking, building empathy, developing inquiry skills, and more. The organization might also seek ways to come up with new, improved ways to leverage employee diversity to build better products and services.
In short, a productive response is concerned with future impact. Punishment sends a powerful message, and an appropriate one if boundaries were clear in advance. Indeed, it is vital to send messages that reinforce values the company holds dear. However, it is equally vital not to inadvertently send a message that says, “diverse opinions simply won't be tolerated here,” or “one strike and you're out.” Such messages reduce psychological safety and ultimately erode the quality of the work. In contrast, a message that reinforces the values and practices of a learning organization is, “it's okay to make a mistake, and it's okay to hold an opinion that others don't like, so long as you are willing to learn from the consequences.” The most important goal is figuring out a way to help the organization learn from what happened. And so, if there is ambiguity about public self-expression related to company policies, then a productive response is one that engages people in a learning dialogue to better understand and improve how the company functions. Table 7.5 shows how a productive response to failure in an organization should vary for different failure types."
Bizarrely, the author singles out the James Damore firing for discussion, not seeing the irony of praising Google for their research findings WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY firing people who voice complains internally! I mean, HELLOOO! I quote her part:
"In July 2017, Google engineer James Damore wrote a 10-page memo railing against the company's diversity stance, arguing that biological differences explained why Google had fewer women engineers and paid them less well than men, and circulated it widely within the company.34 Someone then leaked the memo, creating a public firestorm.35
How did Google respond? Damore was promptly and publicly fired a month later, earning the company both praise and criticism. Thoughtful arguments have been made on both sides of the firing debate. Rather than coming out on one side or the other, let's step back to consider when firing constitutes a “productive response,” and when it doesn't.
Take this specific case. To begin, it is a shame that Damore chose to share his personal concerns electronically and widely within the company, all but ensuring that someone who disliked the memo would share it publicly. Ideally, an employee with an opinion to express related to an important work issue or policy would first solicit feedback from colleagues, especially with those who might be likely to have a different view. The person might want to first learn more about the potential impact of those ideas and the forms in which they could be expressed. Very few of us are able to see complex issues from multiple perspectives and consider the potential consequences well enough to make good decisions about them alone. This doesn't matter when stakes are low. But stakes are high when a document that affects your colleagues, customers, or company may be read by millions.
But, once the inflammatory memo has been made public, how should a company respond? My intention is not to illuminate the specifics of Damore's memo at Google but rather to suggest a general strategy for productive responses to actions or events in your organization that you wish had not occurred.
If there are clear policies against the use of company email addresses or social media platforms for the expression of personal opinions, then an employee who violates these policies commits what we can call a blameworthy act. In this case, a productive response indeed involves tough sanctions, which may include terminating the employee. A tough response is productive because it lets people know that the company is serious about its policies and values, which shapes future behavior, and because it constitutes a fair response to a stated violation.
If policies are unclear, however, a productive response is one that turns the unfortunate event into a different kind of learning opportunity – for the company and sometimes for the interested public. In the Damore case, executives might express dismay at the employee's opinion (and perhaps dismay at his ignorance of a larger set of societal forces that have systematically diminished advancement opportunities for certain demographic groups over decades). They might then go on to explain their plans for educating employees on what they believe to be the value of a diverse workforce. As part of this organizational learning process, company managers at all levels would elicit and listen to ideas, questions, concerns, and frustrations. They might create opportunities for engaging in perspective taking, building empathy, developing inquiry skills, and more. The organization might also seek ways to come up with new, improved ways to leverage employee diversity to build better products and services.
In short, a productive response is concerned with future impact. Punishment sends a powerful message, and an appropriate one if boundaries were clear in advance. Indeed, it is vital to send messages that reinforce values the company holds dear. However, it is equally vital not to inadvertently send a message that says, “diverse opinions simply won't be tolerated here,” or “one strike and you're out.” Such messages reduce psychological safety and ultimately erode the quality of the work. In contrast, a message that reinforces the values and practices of a learning organization is, “it's okay to make a mistake, and it's okay to hold an opinion that others don't like, so long as you are willing to learn from the consequences.” The most important goal is figuring out a way to help the organization learn from what happened. And so, if there is ambiguity about public self-expression related to company policies, then a productive response is one that engages people in a learning dialogue to better understand and improve how the company functions. Table 7.5 shows how a productive response to failure in an organization should vary for different failure types."
August 13, 2025
While I understand her point and think it’s valid, there is no reason this should have been as long as it was. It’s a very common sense topic that people perform better and are loyal to their workplace when they don’t fear reprisal from their employer for speaking up. I didn’t need 300 pages and dozens of studies to tell me that. Feels like something LinkedIn Lunatics would latch onto.
April 26, 2022
A great insight into the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. Interesting examples throughout, well written and engaging until the end. Only gripe is that it feels like it could have just been a detailed blog or summarised into two pages of key actions. Worth a read though!
January 3, 2024
DNF. I love the concept of psychological safety and enjoy hearing Edmonson talk about it. It’s something I think about a lot at work and try to create. But the book was very dry and academic and wasn’t engaging.
June 29, 2024
3.5 stars
Great concepts and guidance for creating a culture of psychological safety but some of the examples were too wordy and I had a hard time projecting those on the business/finance world.
Her Ted Talk is great and sums up the book well.
Great concepts and guidance for creating a culture of psychological safety but some of the examples were too wordy and I had a hard time projecting those on the business/finance world.
Her Ted Talk is great and sums up the book well.
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