The leadership snare that mistakes psychological safety for organizational ease.
In 2012, Google conducted research to identify the factors that determine effective teams. This research, now famously known as Project Aristotle, analyzed hundreds of teams and individual members to crack the code on what enables some to operate at high levels while others flounder. What their study revealed is something Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson had discovered almost two decades prior: the most important factor for high performing teams is psychological safety. That is to say, teams perform better when their members feel safe taking risks and being vulnerable with each other, without fear of punishment. Google’s watershed study brought light to Edmondson’s groundbreaking research and thrust psychological safety into the zeitgeist—and onto the tips of tongues of scholars, executive coaches, and business leaders alike across a wide array of categories.
