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1-Page Summary of The Fearless Organization

Overview

We live in a knowledge economy where success depends on problem solving, coming up with new ideas, and collaborating. It’s not enough to be smart or hard-working; employees need to experiment and respond quickly to changing business needs.

However, many people don’t have the confidence to speak up in their workplaces. They’re afraid of being judged or are worried about what others will think of them.

This key point explains the importance of psychological safety in a work environment. Through research and examples, it breaks down how psychologically safe environments help people succeed and what leaders can do to create them. In this key point, you’ll learn about the playground habits that follow us into adulthood; why having clueless bosses is helpful; and how Google throws parties when their projects fail.

Big Idea #1: Worrying about how we’re perceived prevents us from doing our best work.

Imagine you’re in a meeting with your boss and other members of the team. The boss has shared some challenges that need to be addressed, and now she’s asking the team for suggestions. You have an idea, but you’re worried about sharing it because others might think it’s not good enough or they’ll criticize it. So instead of risking your idea being rejected, you keep quiet about it.

Most people have had the experience of wanting to say something but holding back because they feared that others would judge them negatively. This fear is learned during childhood, when we start caring what our peers think and avoid doing things that might make us look silly or weak.

As adults, most of us are used to keeping our opinions to ourselves. We don’t speak up when we have questions or concerns at work.

A study of workplace behavior revealed that 85% of participants felt they couldn’t approach their bosses with concerns about work. The main reason for this was because the employees didn’t want to be seen as negative by their bosses.

Even confident people have this problem. For example, Nilofer Merchant was called a visionary by CNBC and was awarded the Future Thinker Award in 2013. However, she admitted that while working at Apple, she would keep quiet about problems because she didn’t want to be wrong. She said “I’d rather keep my job by staying within the lines than say something and risk looking stupid.”

When fear keeps people from speaking up at work, they miss out on opportunities to come up with new ideas. This is especially dangerous in a world where businesses need to innovate if they want to succeed.

Big Idea #2: Psychological safety leads to better performance by both individuals and teams.

Let’s reexamine that meeting from the previous key point. This time, you’re sure your boss and colleagues will be receptive to your idea because they’ve already accepted it. If they like the idea, they’ll give you positive feedback and if not, then constructive criticism.

In the ideal scenario, you and your colleagues feel safe to express your thoughts and ideas without fear of retaliation. The author came across the concept while studying medical errors in hospitals. She was surprised to find that the best teams made more mistakes than lower-skilled teams but were willing to discuss them with each other. They found better ways of working together as a result of those discussions.

Refined and efficient processes are a benefit of psychological safety, but it also helps unleash creativity. A 2012 study by Taiwanese researchers Chi-Cheng Huang and Pin-Chen Jiang showed that teams with psychological safety performed better, while the other teams were too scared to share their ideas.