Design Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It
Summary
The highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety — the shared belief that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea. Studies show that psychological safety allows for moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and collaboration — just the types of behavior that lead to successful products and services. Creating psychological safety in a workplace - although at times a challenge - can be done. This interactive talk will present the key action steps that DesignOps professionals can immediately take to boost psychological safety in their design teams and create psychological safety between cross-functional teams.
Key Insights
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Safety is a neurobiological state of the autonomic nervous system, distinct from but necessary for trust.
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The autonomic nervous system has three states: safe (calm), mobilized (fight or flight), and immobilized (shutdown).
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Triggers like angry emails or unexpected deadlines can push individuals from safe to mobilized or immobilized states.
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Our brain deprioritizes rational thinking during mobilized or immobilized states, reducing IQ and peripheral vision.
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Connection—the sense of being seen, heard, and valued—is key to moving individuals back up to a safe state.
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Google's Project Aristotle found psychological safety to be the top factor for team effectiveness over individual traits.
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Psychological safety enables candidness and vulnerability without fear of judgment or punishment.
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Leadership changes can either erode or uplift psychological safety within an organization.
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Remote work impacts psychological safety differently depending on team culture and individual preferences.
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Psychological safety can be built or restored quickly through targeted team exercises and relationship repair.
Notable Quotes
"Safety is a state of our nervous system, not simply a feeling or relationship."
"Our nervous system does not know the difference between a tiger and an angry email from a manager—it just senses danger."
"When we’re mobilized or immobilized, our IQ literally drops by half and our peripheral vision narrows."
"Connection is the energy between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued without judgment."
"You cannot have trust if you don’t have safety first."
"Psychological safety means if I make a mistake on our team, the people won’t disconnect from me."
"If there isn’t safety and connection, you get a culture of transaction and silence that kills innovation."
"Leadership usually determines whether psychological safety is built or eroded in a culture."
"Remote work can uplift psychological safety through flexibility, or erode it if in-person connection is lost."
"Psychological safety can be created or rebuilt very quickly with intentional team exercises."
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