The Fearless Organization

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent--but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing.

This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.
* Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance
* Create a culture where it's "safe" to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes
* Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today's knowledge economy
* Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization

Shed the "yes-men" approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

Introduction xiii
What It Takes to Thrive in a Complex, Uncertain World xiii
Discovery by Mistake xvi
Overview of the Book xviii
Endnotes xxi
PART I The Power of Psychological Safety 1
Chapter 1 The Underpinning 3
Unconscious Calculators 4
Envisioning the Psychologically Safe Workplace 6
An Accidental Discovery 8
Standing on Giants' Shoulders 12
Why Fear Is Not an Effective Motivator 13
What Psychological Safety Is Not 15
Measuring Psychological Safety 19
Psychological Safety Is Not Enough 21
Endnotes 22
Chapter 2 The Paper Trail 25
Not a Perk 26
The Research 29
An Epidemic of Silence 30
A Work Environment that Supports Learning 35
Why Psychological Safety Matters for Performance 39
Psychologically Safe Employees Are Engaged Employees 41
Psychological Safety as the Extra Ingredient 43
Bringing Research to Practice 45
Endnotes 46
PART II Psychological Safety at Work 51
Chapter 3 Avoidable Failure 53
Exacting Standards 54
Stretching the Stretch Goal 60
Fearing the Truth 63
Who Regulates the Regulators? 66
Avoiding Avoidable Failure 68
Adopting an Agile Approach to Strategy 70
Endnotes 72
Chapter 4 Dangerous Silence 77
Failing to Speak Up 78
What Was Not Said 79
Excessive Confidence in Authority 83
A Culture of Silence 86
Silence in the Noisy Age of Social Media 92
Endnotes 97
Chapter 5 The Fearless Workplace 103
Making Candor Real 104
Extreme Candor 109
Be a Don't Knower 113
When Failure Works 116
Caring for Employees 119
Learning from Psychologically Safe Work Environments 123
Endnotes 124
Chapter 6 Safe and Sound 129
Use Your Words 130
One for All and All for One 135
Speaking Up for Worker Safety 138
Transparency by Whiteboard 142
Unleashing Talent 146
Endnotes 147
PART III Creating a Fearless Organization 151
Chapter 7 Making it Happen 153
The Leader's Tool Kit 154
How to Set the Stage for Psychological Safety 158
How to Invite Participation So People Respond 167
How to Respond Productively to Voice - No Matter Its Quality 173
Leadership Self-Assessment 181
Endnotes 183
Chapter 8 What's Next? 187
Continuous Renewal 187
Deliberative Decision-Making 189
Hearing the Sounds of Silence 191
When Humor Isn't Funny 193
Psychological Safety FAQs 195
Tacking Upwind 208
Endnotes 209
Appendix: Variations in survey measures to Illustrate Robustness of Psychological Safety 213
Acknowledgments 217
About the Author 219
Index 221