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Do we need Psychological Safety within Groups and Teams?
rod.willis@assentire.net Images copyright Assentire Ltd, all rights reserved
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Studies have revealed that the highest performing teams have one thing in common:
Psychological Safety and Accountability
WHAT does Psychological Safety help us achieve?
Definitions of terms is helpful here
Psychological safety, is a psychological state of being safe and protected from danger or harm (no reprisal or reprimand for speaking up)
Accountability, the fact of being responsible for your decisions or actions, being confident and competent, able to explain when asked to do so
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Where can I find out more about Psychological Safety?
How do you know if Psychological Safety is in play?
Latest research by Professor Amy Edmondson (Harvard)
Book: The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
Video: Building a psychologically safe workplace by Amy Edmondson https://youtu.be/LhoLuui9gX8
WHY do we need to care? The implications of no or low Psychological Safety?
People may NOT speak up
Innovation will be suppressed
Columbia Space Shuttle disaster
Limiting the group’s potential
*Defensive-Reasoning will be maximised Keeping ‘politically’ safe
*Productive-Reasoning will be minimized
Low performance from one or more groups
Limiting organisational adaptability
Limiting value creation
* Defensive-Reasoning and Productive-Reasoning are defined at the end of the presentation
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A puzzle for the engineering mindset What’s at play within us as we consider, do we feel Psychologically Safe?
We can explore using the Ladder of Inference Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
Do you know of the ‘Ladder of Inference’?
Poll #1
• YES • NO • NOT SURE
Select one option ONLY 7
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Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
3
Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
4
Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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The feedback loop we all have
Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
Many individuals are NOT aware of the ‘Reflexive Loop’
But what about Groups and Teams?
Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
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Psychological Safety within the team setting
Photo by Tim Trad on Unsplash
-v Inhibiting
+v Enabling
One View
Many Views
Individual
Collective
Tell
Ask
Manipulate
Collaborate
Closed
Open
Mistrust
Trust
Misunderstand
Understand
Degraded work-life quality
Enhanced work-life quality
OUTCOME: Defensive-Reasoning Lower Performance
OUTCOME: Productive-Reasoning Higher Performance
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But what about at the organisational level? 19
Teams and groups within context
(No reprisal or reprimand for speaking up)
Psychological Safety
+v Enabling/Encourages Trust and Openness
-v Inhibiting/Discourages Trust and Openness
Productive-reasoning High-performing Team
Productive-reasoning High-performing Team
However, potentially constrained by the Organisation
Fully supported by the Organisation
We see this from time-to-time
This is what’s needed for an agile organisation
Defensive-reasoning Team
Defensive-reasoning Team
Possibly reinforced by the Organisation
Out of character when contrasted with the rest of the Organisation
Very common in our experience
Not very common in our experience
-v Inhibiting/Discourages Collaboration
Organisational Environment
+v Enabling/Encourages Collaboration
(A culture that discourages or encourages collaboration between groups)
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What do you see in the workplace?
Poll #2
• • • •
+v Enabling Psychological Safety +v Enabling Organisational Environment -v Inhibiting Psychological Safety -v Inhibiting Organisational Environment
Select the option(s) that apply 21
Bringing it all together Psychological Safety within the team setting -v Inhibiting
+v Enabling
One View
Many Views
Individual
Collective
Tell
Ask
Manipulate
Collaborate
Closed
Open
Mistrust
Trust
Misunderstand
Understand
Degraded work-life quality
Enhanced work-life quality
OUTCOME: Defensive-Reasoning Lower Performance
OUTCOME: Productive-Reasoning Higher Performance
Individual(s)
Group(s)
Organisation(s)
Awareness of Reflexive Loop Reflection and/or Coaching
Awareness of Group Dynamics Free diagnostic https://bit.ly/2Nth2FV
Awareness of Organisational Culture Free diagnostic https://bit.ly/2CHtGPB 22
Further resources Free to use - this may help you Agile Pulse Survey https://getagilemindsets.com/agilepulsesurvey
If you do use this, please click here
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Further Reading
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Some people use defensive and productive reasoning
Productive reasoning
PRODUCTIVE REASONING
(1) (2) (3)
produces valid and validatable knowledge, creates informed choices, and makes personal reasoning transparent in order for the claims to be tested robustly. The core of productive reasoning is that the parties involved are vigilant about striving to avoid unknowingly deceiving themselves and others. — Reasons and Rationalizations: The Limits to Organizational Knowledge by Chris Argyris https://amzn.eu/cZe2r0L
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Some people use defensive and productive reasoning
Defensive reasoning (1) (2)
DEFENSIVE REASONING
(3) (4)
The objective is to protect and defend actor(s) The primary reasoning processes include making the premises explicit (on the assumption that they are valid) and testing them by the use of selfreferential logic (see definition). Transparency is avoided in the service of protecting the self and denying that one is protecting the self. Self-deception is denied by cover-up. In order for the cover-up to work, it too must be covered up.�
— Reasons and Rationalizations: The Limits to Organizational Knowledge by Chris Argyris https://amzn.eu/5D85SHJ
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Q&A Time
Questions after this session rod.willis@ietvolunteer.org
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