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Today's episode is a solo episode as  Nuala is busy as the lead coach on our project in Turkey, with rubbish internet connectivity. However, they [the project]  recently reached a milestone of moving from the ‘new rig' mobilisation phase into drilling operations with many celebratory moments along the way for both the national oil company and our client.

In this episode, I [Karin] will share a little more about psychological safety.  We talk about it a lot which you will have picked up in the previous episodes. During the last two or three years, I have run several sessions, either webinars, workshops, or short conversations around psychological safety and why it's so important.

Here is a LinkedIn article written by our client on a  series of Psychological Webinars we have run and the new Psychological Safety for Leaders programme, which is about to kickoff. 

Let us know if you would like to have a similar conversation. 

The conversation around psychological safety has been around for quite a long time; it goes way back to the early 60s. But it really came to the forefront through the work of Amy Edmondson and the Google Aristotle project, giving the subject life, the words, and the flavour we are experiencing today. 

So what is psychological safety? And we discuss what it is not. 

We describe it as an environment of rewarded vulnerability.

Consider this very human question. Will my vulnerability be rewarded or punished? Meaning, what will happen if I engage in the act of vulnerability? 

What are acts of vulnerability? 

How many of the following 12 questions apply 

• Have you ever felt excluded in a social setting?
• Have you ever been afraid to ask a question? 
• Have you ever remained silent when you know the answer to a problem?
• Have you ever had someone steal credit for something you did?
• Have you ever been ignored in a discussion? 
• Have you ever been rudely interrupted in a meeting?
• Have you ever felt that you were the target of a negative stereotype?
• Have you ever faced retaliation for challenging the status quo?
• Have you ever had a boss who asked for feedback but didn't really want it?
• Have you ever been publicly shamed or made fun of?
• Have you ever been punished for making an honest mistake?
• Have you ever been made to feel inferior? 

Visit the show notes for a downloadable of the 12 Questions and an image of the Ladder of Vulnerability, which you can use with your teams and beyond. 

These tools can be used to kick off conversations with your own team. Of course, you can set them as anonymous polls to start with. However, open and candid discussions will kick-start the change process. 

The work we reference is the 4 Stages of Psychological Safety, derived from the work of Dr Timothy R. Clarke.

We review the four stages, which are…

1. Inclusion Safety
2. Learner Safety
3. Contributor Safety
4. Challenger Safety

Connect with Us

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: safetycollaborations.com
• Leave us a comment in the show notes on our website
• LinkedIn: Karin Ovari, Nuala Gage, and Company Page

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Stay Safe, Stay Well
The Safety Collaborators