By Colleen Gallion

I will confess, using the phrase “psychological safety” in the title feels like a bit of a risk. I know some of you may have a difficult time focusing on this sentence because your eyes rolled so hard when you read the title. Thanks for staying with me! 

Psychological safety isn’t about making everyone feel good, handing out participation trophies, or making sure that your office space has proper “energy flow.” Psychological safety is a specific clinical and organizational term. The most widely accepted definition comes from Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the term in 1999:

“A shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

In a psychologically safe environment, employees don’t feel they have to be perfect. They believe that if they make a mistake, ask a “dumb” question, or challenge the boss, they won’t be punished, humiliated, or marginalized. It’s easy to tell yourself that this is a “nice to have,” but when you don’t have it, the consequences to your business can be catastrophic. 

Problem cultures

Back in 2015, the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen was brought to its knees by an emissions scandal, often referred to as “Dieselgate.”  When the experts looked for a root cause for this crisis, they discovered what they termed a “silence culture.” 

The company had rigid, top-down leadership that created an environment in which failing to meet a goal was not an option, and questioning the feasibility of that goal was seen as career suicide. If you wanted to keep your job, you made the numbers look the way your boss wanted them to look, regardless of whether those numbers were accurate. The result? More than $33 billion in fines, settlements, and recall costs; a 30% plummet in stock value; and a shattered reputation. 

Bob Lutz, the former vice chairman of the U.S. automaker General Motors, commented on the Volkswagen crisis: “The biggest problem was the culture of the company…a culture where people were afraid to tell the truth.”

A culture that lacks psychological safety isn’t always rigid and draconian, like Volkswagen. I served as an executive coach in an organization where the problem took the form of toxic positivity. Psychological safety requires creating space for all truths, even painful ones, and toxic positivity is the forced suppression of negative emotions or concerns in favor of a “good vibes only” culture. 

Salespeople would say “yes” to any client request, and operations had to scramble to fulfill it, even if it meant the company lost money. When people would bring the data to their leaders showing that the company was losing money, their boss would say things like, “Don’t bring me a problem unless you’ve figured out a solution.” 

Top talent exited the organization because they could see the writing on the wall. When new executive leadership was put in place, hundreds of people lost their jobs due to the fiscal mess created by a culture that refused to hear anything but “good news.” 

How safe is your company culture?

How do you tell if your company culture is unsafe? Let’s consider an example.

During a challenging project, everyone is working overtime to meet deadlines. One of your frontline managers comes to you and says, “My people are exhausted. I’m worried that if we keep this pace up, I’m going to lose my best folks to competitors.” 

Silence culture response: “Well, if they want to leave, then let them. We don’t have time to babysit our employees around here. They’re getting paid for their overtime. They have nothing to complain about.” 

Toxic positivity response: “Well, it sounds like you need to do a better job motivating them! This project is going to make or break us, so you need to get all hands on deck!” 

Genuine positivity response: “I hear you. This project has put a real strain on a lot of us. Who are the people you are most worried about, and what do you think would motivate them to hang in there?”

Take a moment to think about your organization. If a frontline employee had an urgent concern or a brilliant idea, what would happen if they went directly to the CEO with it? Would they be praised or reprimanded? Does your culture celebrate innovation and transparency, or does it encourage conformity and compliance? If your people don’t feel safe asking questions or taking risks, it could be costing you more than you realize. 

COLLEEN GALLION is an ICF-certified professional coach whose passion is supporting entrepreneurs and founders in building healthy and sustainable teams. For more information, visit www.gallioncoaching.com.