Psychological safety is a term coined by Amy Edmondson, author of The Fearless Organization.
At its core, psychological safety describes an environment where people feel safe to speak up, ask for help, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear of being blamed or rejected.
In this episode of Le Podcast on Emerging Leadership, I explore why psychological safety is such a foundational condition for effective teamwork.
Psychological safety as a conversation starter
I first discussed psychological safety with my team when sharing Google’s work on Project Aristotle, which identified psychological safety as the most important factor in high-performing teams.
What made it powerful was not the conclusion itself, but the conversations it enabled. Psychological safety gave us a shared language to talk about:
- fear and risk
- mistakes and learning
- inclusion and respect
Assessing psychological safety in a team
In the episode, I share a simple set of questions that can be used to assess psychological safety within a team. Each question can be answered on a scale from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”.
- When someone makes a mistake on my team, it is often held against them
- In my team, it is easy to discuss difficult issues and problems
- In my team, people are sometimes rejected for being different
- It is completely safe to take a risk on my team
- It is difficult to ask other members of my team for help
- Members of my team value and respect each other’s contributions
These questions are not a diagnostic tool. They are an invitation to reflect and to start meaningful conversations.
Beyond safety as comfort
Psychological safety is sometimes misunderstood as being “nice” or avoiding challenge.
In reality, it enables:
- honest feedback
- learning from mistakes
- healthy disagreement
- shared responsibility
Without psychological safety, teams tend to hide problems, avoid risks, and limit their contribution.
Further reading
In the episode, I also mention several books that explore related themes:
- The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson
- The Coddling of the American Mind
- In Great Company
Each of these books, in different ways, examines how environments shape behavior and learning.
A final invitation
Psychological safety is not something you install. It is something you practice, through everyday interactions and leadership choices.
If this topic resonates with you, I would love to hear your feedback and experiences.
Le Podcast – Season Two
- Playful Leadership: Helping Others Be Their Best
- Blessed, Grateful, and Human
- Build the Right Product, with Gojko Adzic
- Hiring and Diversity Without Dropping the Bar
- Leadership and Teamwork in a Crisis
- Chief of Staff: The Role, the Craft, the Community
- Belonging, Identity, and Better Hiring,
- What Software Teams Can Learn from Sporting Teams
- Agile and Open Innovation: Building the Bridge Between Tech and Business
- Radical Focus: OKRs, Cadence, and the “Seduction of the Task”
- Human-Centric Agility Coaching: The Expert Paradox and the Ideology Paradox
- The Job of an Open Leader: Context, Trust, and Growing Others
Le Podcast – Season One
- Growing as a Software Engineer: Learning, Sharing, and Impact
- Thirteen Rules for Building Strong Teams
- OKRs in Practice: Learning, Focus, and Common Pitfalls
- The Myth of 10x Engineers: Growing Beyond Technical Skills
- The Anatomy of Peace: Leadership Starts With Who You Are
- Psychological Safety: Creating Teams Where People Can Speak Up
- Leading Distributed Teams: Collaboration Across Time Zones
- Changing Your Team from the Inside: A Practitioner’s View on Leadership
- Why Shared Language Matters: How Terms Shape Collaboration
- How (Not) to Give Feedback: Responsibility, Ego, and Relationships
- Rock Stars and Superstars: Supporting Growth Without Losing Stability
- Do Cultural Differences Really Block Agile Adoption?
- How to Create Great Goals: Using OKRs to Focus on Impact
- Making Change from the Inside: Leadership Beyond Management Roles
- How to Form a Cross-Functional Team That Actually Works
