PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
The primary idea is that we have a deep, hardwired need for psychological safety and without it we function much less well cognitively. The need to be needed is actually more important than the need to be liked, and teams in which everyone feels needed perform better. Like so much of this stuff it derives from our evolution: belonging to, and feeling secure within, the tribe was fundamental to our survival.
It links to David Rock’s work on SCARF and much of the work on tribal psychology. For example the brain’s response to social exclusion is very similar to the response to physical threat.
Huge implications for leaders and those who influence work culture. Imagine trying to do complex thinking whilst walking along a narrow path with a 1000m drop on either side. At the extremes this is what a lack of psychological safety does and you’re not going to get great performance from people in that state.
And creativity often includes staying in uncomfortable conversations. Hard to do this if you don’t feel psychologically safe..