Psychological Safety

Within the Path

Prepared and presented by: Mohra Al Zubair
Produced by: Warrant Officer Ward Al Rawahi
Production: ALSUMOOD FM

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Within the bath. Every bath begins with a vision where ideas and strategies define directions. From the depth of strategic thinking to ever-evolving dynamics of the world. Prepared and presented by Muharrab Bint Zubair Az-Zubair and Audio Director, Warrant Officer Warat Bin Salim Ar-Rawhi.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Assalamu Alaikum, dear friends. Welcome back to Within the Path. In our last episode, we spoke about diffusion of responsibility. How when others are present, something changes in how we respond. How responsibility can feel less personal as it no longer feels entirely ours to carry. We ended with a reminder that the presence of others should not make us overlook our own sense of responsibility. Today we take that reflection further. Because even when responsibility is felt, acting on it can become more complex. Today, we focus on the work of Amy Edmondson and the concept of psychological safety. Drawing from one of her talks where she explores why people choose to speak up or remain silent. Edmondson shares a number of examples that bring this to life. One of them is of a pilot in a military training flight who notices that a senior officer might have made a crucial misjudgment, yet lets the moment pass. The context she shares is quite common. Something was seen, yet it remained unsaid. And this is because people often hold back because they are thinking about how they will be perceived. She explains that no one wants to come across as ignorant, incompetent, intrusive, or negative. And so silence becomes a way of protecting oneself. She explains that this is something we learn early on. And over time it becomes almost automatic. We manage impressions without even realizing it. Choosing when to speak and when to remain quiet based on how we think others will respond. While this may protect the individual in the moment, it comes at a cost. Questions remain unasked, concerns remain unspoken, and ideas remain unshared. This is where she introduces what she calls psychological safety, describing it as a belief that it is acceptable and even expected to speak up with questions, concerns, ideas, or even mistakes. In environments where this exists, people are more willing to contribute. Where it is limited, people tend to hold back even when they have something important to say. She then shares an example from her own research that is particularly telling. She was part of a team studying medication errors in hospitals, looking at whether better teams made fewer mistakes. When the data came in, the results appear to show the opposite. That the better teams were making more mistakes. At first, this seemed like a problem, but as she reflects on, she realizes that these teams were more willing to report what happened, to discuss it, and to address it openly. What appeared as higher error rates reflected a more open environment. And this shifts how we understand performance. It is about what happens and also about what is brought forward and examined. Some places create space for people to share ideas, ask questions, and raise concerns. In others, people move more carefully, paying close attention to how their words may be received. What is already apparent is that speaking is closely tied to the conditions around us, too. The tone of the environment, the openness of those within it, and the way ideas are received all shape how people engage. It also highlights the role of the leadership and place that creates an environment that allows for such interactions to flourish. At the same time, how something is said also plays a role. The way a thought is expressed can contribute significantly to the tone of the environment as well. Returning to the example Amy Edmondson shared from her own research in hospitals, the important thing to take from it is the openness of teams in reporting what had happened. They spoke about their mistakes, examined them, and worked through them together. But there was also a sense of confidence, a willingness to say, this happened and we will address it. Mistakes are part of how we learn, adjust, and how we improve over time. And when they are acknowledged, they become useful. But when they are overlooked, the opportunity to learn is missed. Edmund Send also speaks about this as a learning process. In environments where people speak openly about what went wrong, those moments become lessons. They are discussed, understood, and used to improve what comes next. Thank you. Until next time, this is Muhra Azjubair from within the path.

unknown 7:22

Within the bath.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Within the bath. Every bath begins with a vision, where ideas and strategies define directions. From the depth of strategic thinking to ever-evolving dynamics of the world.