We still don't have psychological safety

In 2016, Google’s Project Aristotle showed that psychological safety is an essential part of having high performing teams.

Since then, there has been lots of workshops, talks, and discussions - and yet we don’t have psychological safety in the majority of our organisations.

In this talk Gitte will explain what psychological safety is, why it is important to organisations, and why it is so hard to achieve.

She will dive into the role managers and leadership play in achieving psychological safety. She will also explain why it is important to create it for the whole company and not just for individual teams.

Participant takeaways:
* Psychological safety is important for our organisations
* Leadership has an essential role to play in safety
* Leadership needs safety as well

Transcript

1. We still don’t have psychological safety Agile Cambridge, October 2025 Gitte Klitgaard @nativewired
2. @nativewired.com Psychological safety and me
3. @nativewired.com Pronouns: She/her
4. @nativewired.com 4 It is not new 1965 1990s Photos by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
5. @nativewired.com 5 Project Aristoteles Psychological safety Dependability Structure & clarity Meaningful work Impact of work
6. @nativewired.com And we have talked about it ever since Emphasis on “talked”
7. @nativewired.com So, what is psychological safety? 7
8. @nativewired.com ”Psychological safety is being able to show and employ one's self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career" (Kahn) 8 Definition of psychological safety
9. @nativewired.com 9 Safety is not (always) comfort Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
10. @nativewired.com Why do we need it? 10
11. @nativewired.com * Asking questions instead of staying quiet in fear of looking ignorant * Admitting mistakes instead of hiding them in fear of looking incompetent * Offering ideas instead of holding on to them in fear of looking intrusive * Challenging norms instead of sitting back in fear of looking negative Amy Edmonson 11 What will it help us with?
12. @nativewired.com 12 Psychological safety and performance Anxiety zone Apathy zone Learning and high performance zone Comfort zone Low standard High psychological safety High standard Low psychological safety From “Fearless Organisation”
13. @nativewired.com * From a talk by @drunkcod “Things become better when we accept them as they are. Not as we want them to be.” * Not that we should just accept things, but that we accept, where they are right now. Then we can do something about it or not. * And yes we need it 13 Do we need it?
14. @nativewired.com What role does leaders and managers play in this?
15. @nativewired.com * Learning * Change readiness * Innovation * Resilience * Great leaders * Great teams 15 What do we need in the future?
16. @nativewired.com Europe 16 Europe Gallup report 2024
17. @nativewired.com 17 Managers play a big part Gallup’s report of the global workplace 2024 @nativewired.com
18. @nativewired.com * Set frames and a strong direction * Care for people * And provide regular feedback * Work with accountability and responsibility 18 A modern leader needs to
19. @nativewired.com 19 The good, the bad, and the ugly Take responsibility Give account
20. @nativewired.com 20 Responsibilities
21. @nativewired.com 21 Psychological safety and performance Anxiety zone Apathy zone Learning and high performance zone Comfort zone Low standard High psychological safety High standard Low psychological safety From “Fearless Organisation”
22. @nativewired.com * Fewer managers with more and more work * They don’t always have the tools * People skills are underrated * Hard skills are underrated * Lack of time for self-care * Lack of support 22 It is hard to be a manager
23. @nativewired.com “There can be a divide between who you are as a leader and what your company/society/surroundings says you should be. Times are tough That divide seems to be getting bigger” Me paraphrasing Geoff Watts
24. @nativewired.com Do we have it? 24
25. @nativewired.com 25 @it_depends_cp
26. @nativewired.com 26
27. @nativewired.com 27 Smart boss :) ”I think we have psychological safety, but I also know that if we don’t have it, I will probably not know” Sara Fahlander, Head of Department, SVTi
28. @nativewired.com Yes, it is hard * It takes investment in people * It takes time * It is individual * It is continuous work Oh, but it is hard…
29. @nativewired.com * Focus on money * Focus on cost of people and not of value they add * Short term thinking * Want fast return in investment * Especially if you are on the stock market * Firing rounds of many companies Oh, the times we live in
30. @nativewired.com So not really L
31. @nativewired.com * We need safety in organisations and in our lives more than ever * We can all make a difference We have work to do The world does not need more compliant, burned-out husks It needs more Calm REBELs Geoff Watts
32. @nativewired.com * Psychological safety is important * For people, for innovation, for learning * And yet we don’t invest (enough) in it * We need to invest in people and leaders * We need to invest in safety * Building safety takes an effort –and it is worth it J * Be kind – also to yourself Wrap-up Mummy by my friend Jakob Wolman
33. @nativewired.com I love connecting gitte.klitgaard@yahoo.dk http://www.nativewired.com/ dk.linkedin.com/in/gitteklitgaard/ Looking for a workshop or a talk? Thinking about getting some leadership coaching and guidance? Want to be coached? Have an organisation that could use help? Anything else I can do for you? Get in touch J
34. @nativewired.com Extra slides
35. @nativewired.com Europe 35 Gallup report 2024
36. @nativewired.com How to create safety I (Edmonson) As an organisation, look at the domains: * Attitude to risk and failure * Willingness to help * Open conversation * Inclusion and diversity
37. @nativewired.com How to create safety II (Edmonson) As a leader: * Frame work as learning * Model curiosity * Show fallibility Photo by Gary Butterfield on Unsplash
38. @nativewired.com How to create safety III (Me) * Set clear expectations * Listen * Care * Give and receive feedback * Be vulnerable * Be curious * Listen * Repeat yourself Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
39. @nativewired.com 39 Expectations ”I keep forgetting that I role model more than I assume; and without clear expectations, I create wrong implicit expectations” Marcin Floryan
40. @nativewired.com How to create safety IV (Me) * Set clear expectations * Listen * Care * Give and receive feedback * Be vulnerable * Be curious * Listen * Repeat yourself Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
41. @nativewired.com * A good intro to psychological safety by Amy Edmonson: Building a psyhologically safe workplace * Gallup State of Work report * Article with 7 questions to determine psychological safety https://hbr.org/2023/02/what-is-psychological-safety * Book: Amy Edmonson: “The fearless organisation” * Psychological safety when remote by Matthew Philip – talk and slides https://actineo.xyz/blog/psychological-safety-and- remote-work/ 41 Links and references
42. @nativewired.com * Gallup State of the workplace https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the- global-workplace.aspx * The website of Geoff Watts * Brene Brown: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability ?language=en * Alex Harms: The Little guide to empathic leadership https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Alex-Harms/dp/0692674853/ 42 Links etc
43. @nativewired.com Photos from unsplash.com 43 * Jordan Whitt * Charles Deluvio * Thomas Kinto * Shane Rounce * Michelle Tresemer * Karol Stefański * Riccardo Annandale * Element5 Digital * Vlad Hilitanu * Daniel Gonzalez * Jakayla Toney * Yusuf Onuk