Are known humanization practices not applied – or not properly applied? Or are we missing the point and do we actually need something completely different? Dr. Olaf Hermans, former Relationship Cognition Researcher at Penn State University and Mass Relational facilitator at SiR Meta Intelligence LLP, on psychological safety in the workplace. Using the book “The Fearless Organisation” by Amy Edmondson as a starting point.
Amy Edmondson: Creating Psychological Safety at Work.
It’s getting worse
What terrifies me most about psychological safety in organizations is that what Amy Edmondson tells us is true. And it is already broadly implemented … whilst the problems keep on growing.
Consequently, we must urgently look into a completely different and complementary angle with unique principles and practices. One that continues on Edmondson’s approach: “As organizations get more porous we are going to have to think how we both receive and put to good use all voices out there.” Today, despite our feedback and innovation and learning and social programs, we are very bad at capturing all voices in underlying stream of our organisations.
People relating with moving mass (like big system organisations needing to move forward and not just achieve goals and make money) behave very differently from people relating to people (-in-roles). Only the latter is what we mostly talk and preach about.
The Leadership we talk most about is totally different from the ownership we never talk about as process, only as capital or as motivational concept.
So, there is work to do, my friends. A lot of work to do. And really not just and not even first applying what we (believe to) know or think will work. Because that we now know simply is not enough. And doing it more without the other really new may actually make the problem bigger and bigger.
#psychologicalsafety ? #trust ? #relationalinnovation !
Dr. Olaf Hermans is also head coach at the Employee Engagement Awards Belgium.
