By Gina Battye
In today’s fast-paced corporate landscape, psychological safety is gaining recognition as being crucial for cultivating effective collaboration and driving innovation. However, alongside its critical importance, there is a prevalent misconception that oversimplifies its scope and impact. This misunderstanding not only hinders progress but also has detrimental effects on individuals and teams in the workplace.
Through my extensive work with organizations, I have identified two misconceptions about psychological safety that urgently need clarification. By debunking these myths, we deepen our understanding of what psychological safety truly entails and learn how to cultivate environments where everyone can truly thrive.
Misconception 1: “Psychological safety revolves around the fear of speaking up or making mistakes.”
There’s a widespread misconception that psychological safety simply means allowing your team to take risks, make mistakes, speak up and express opinions without fear of judgment. However, psychological safety is a much broader and deeper concept than interpersonal risk-taking. It is a multi-dimensional aspect of workplace culture that is often underestimated.
Psychological safety encompasses an individual’s subjective experience of safety, comfort and confidence within a specific context. It refers to how safe and at ease you feel in different settings, whether that is a physical space, an environment, a situation or when interacting with people.
Psychological safety incorporates many cognitive-emotional-behavioral aspects, such as your emotional and mental well-being, emotional responses, thought processes and behavior patterns.
This concept holds universal relevance, impacting every person and significantly influences daily life, particularly within workplaces. It is crucial for creating an environment where individuals and teams can truly thrive.
Addressing the misconception that psychological safety solely revolves around creating a “Speak Up” culture is essential. While a Speak Up culture encourages admitting mistakes, taking risks, giving feedback and voicing opinions, focusing solely on these actions without ensuring a safe environment can be counterproductive and contribute further to unsafe workplaces.
Many organizations prioritize superficial measures such as anonymous reporting tools or abstract concepts like building trust or respect. However, these approaches may fall short if they do not establish a genuinely safe environment where individuals feel comfortable. Encouraging people to speak up in an unsafe, negative or potentially toxic environment undermines their ability to speak up effectively. Psychological safety is essential; without it, genuine communication cannot thrive.
Furthermore, assuming that everyone inherently possesses the necessary intrapersonal awareness, communication skills, understanding of team dynamics and feedback skills to speak up effectively is unrealistic. Without adequate resources, training and a supportive environment to practice these skills, individuals may hesitate or struggle to voice their thoughts and concerns confidently.
To cultivate genuine psychological safety, organizations must prioritize creating supportive environments where individuals feel confident and empowered to bring their Authentic Self to work, as well as equipping individuals with the necessary skills and resources for effective communication, establishing safe spaces for dialogue and cultivating a culture that values healthy conflict resolution.
By encouraging a Speak Up culture, without laying this necessary groundwork, workplaces risk setting people up to fail, thereby exacerbating an already unsafe work environment.
Misconception 2: “Psychological safety and inclusion are intrinsically linked.”
There is a widespread belief that psychological safety and inclusion are inseparable, that one cannot exist without the other. I challenge this belief. It is possible for individuals to feel psychologically safe without experiencing full inclusion or integration into the group dynamic.
Consider a workplace scenario where an employee feels safe to bring their Authentic Self to work, communicates effectively and contributes positively as a team player. Despite these qualities, their ideas are often disregarded and they may feel excluded from social gatherings outside of work hours. This situation highlights that psychological safety alone does not guarantee feeling fully included in the broader team dynamics. Here, the individual feels psychologically safe, without feeling fully included.
Conversely, can one feel truly included without feeling psychologically safe?
Now, imagine another workplace where an employee is regularly invited to team activities and social gatherings. They feel included and appreciated for their presence, yet they perceive the work environment as highly competitive and judgmental. They fear expressing their true opinions or showcasing their Authentic Self due to potential criticism or negative consequences.
Inclusion encompasses a deeper sense of belonging and acceptance within a group or community. Without psychological safety, individuals may hesitate to fully engage or contribute within their workplace community, thereby hindering their sense of genuine inclusion. Inclusion alone does not guarantee psychological safety.
This example highlights that a lack of psychological safety prevents individuals from feeling like they truly belong, even if they are included in social activities.
It is essential to recognize that psychological safety serves as a foundation for genuine inclusion. Without psychological safety, achieving a truly inclusive culture becomes difficult.
Creating a psychologically safe environment establishes the groundwork for individuals to feel safe and empowered to express their Authentic Selves. This, in turn, cultivates a culture of belonging and acceptance where diversity, equity and inclusion can naturally thrive.
Organizations often prioritize inclusion initiatives without adequately addressing psychological safety, which can undermine efforts to create a truly inclusive culture.
To cultivate an inclusive workplace, it is crucial to prioritize psychological safety from the outset. This approach not only nurtures a dynamic and thriving workplace environment but also transforms organizational culture. By addressing these fundamental elements, we empower individuals and teams to truly thrive, surpassing superficial diversity and inclusion efforts.
By perpetuating these two misconceptions, workplaces inadvertently create environments where individuals may feel stifled, marginalized or hesitant to fully engage. Addressing these misunderstandings is crucial to cultivating environments where everyone can thrive.
By embracing the true depth of psychological safety, we cultivate workplaces that are psychologically safe, inclusive and forward-thinking.
This is an edited extract from The Authentic Organization: How to Create a Psychologically Safe Workplace, by Gina Battye – published by Wiley, June 2024, and available wherever books and eBooks are sold.
About the Author
Gina Battye is the Founder and CEO of the Psychological Safety Institute. Her mission is to create work environments where people thrive. Gina’s expertise has been sought after by the world’s largest multinational corporations, spanning countries and cultures. As the visionary behind the 5 Pillars of Psychological Safety, Gina’s contributions have earned widespread recognition.
