(Psychological Safety cont. 3)

Four Stages of Psychological Safety

Introduction

It acknowledges that we are
"...humans first and employees second......reflects the natural progression of human needs in social settings. These needs exist across demographics, psychographics, nations, and cultures..."
LeadFactor, 2022

The 4 stages for developing psychological safety:
"... - inclusion safety: can I be my authentic self?
     - learner safety: can I grow?
     - contributor safety: can I create value?
    - challenger safety: can I be candid about change?..."
LeadFactor, 2022

(source: LeadFactor, 2022)

An expanded version

(source: Pippa Hague, 2022)

Four Sequential Stages

1. Inclusion safety (satisfy the basic human need to connect and belong, ie everyone wants to be accepted; the need to be accepted precedes the need to be heard; need to go beyond interaction to meaningful, positive, positive connection; worth precedes worthiness; once a community develops a sense of shared identity and conviction that you matter;
"...Allows us to gain membership within a social unit and interact with its members without fear of rejection, embarrassment, or punishment, boosting confidence, resilience, and independence..."
Timothy Clark, 2020

If this does not happen, and you are deprived of basic acceptance and validation as a human being, it has a negative impact as it activates the pain centres of the brain.

"...When we create inclusion safety for others, regardless of our differences, we acknowledge our common humanity, reject false theories of superiority and arrogant strains of elitism..."
Timothy Clark, 2020)

"...all you have to do to qualify for inclusion safety is to be human and harmless......you can bring your whole self to work. When you don't, superiorty and hierarchy dominate your company culture. Barriers are maintained and reinforced..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

NB It's easy to bond with people who you naturally connect to, ie you
"...have the common ground, shared experiences, similar perspectives that make interaction easy and enjoyable..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

To connect with people with whom you don't have a natural affinity, you need to find ways to close the gap between who you are and who they are. Use bridging behaviour to close the gap; this involves:
"...- ask for my opinion
     - bring me into a group that doesn't think I belong to
     - give me more responsibility
     - express gratitude for my contributions
     - talk about me before we talk about work
     - start with questions, not statements
     - talk to me, not at me..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

2. Learner safety (it satisfies the basic human need to learn and grow as a basis for innovation to flourish, ie
".... It allows us to feel safe as we engage in all aspects of the learning process - asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and even making mistakes, not if but when we make them.....Learning is both intellectual and emotional. It's an interplay of the head and heart......When we create a learner safety zone for others, we give encouragement to learn in exchange for a willingness to learn..."
Timothy Clark, 2020

Learning is both intellectual and emotional; it involves a level of inhibition and anxiety; we all have insecurities and its associated fear of embarrassment, ie if I ask a question will others think I am dumb?

In the learner safety zone, people are more willing to be vulnerable, take risks, and develop resilience.

As learning is risky, you need to detach fear from mistakes and reward mistakes as part of the learning process.
"...there should be no stigma, no shame, and no embarrassment associated with mistakes or failures. They are simply stepping-stones. We should reward by you because is not a failure, it is progress..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

Furthermore, you need to develop learning agility, ie the ability to learn at or above the rate of change.
"...if learning agility is less than the speed of change, businesses, organisations, and individuals fall behind, become stagnant, and become irrelevant..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

However, lack of learner safety
"...triggers the self-censoring instinct, causing us to shut down, retreat and manage personal risk..."
Timothy Clark, 2020)

3. Contributor safety (it satisfies the basic human need to contribute and make a difference, ie make things better.
"...feel safe to contribute as a full member of the team using skills and abilities to participate in the value-creation process..."
Timothy Clark, 2020

You contribute with enthusiasm and energy; are keen to make a meaningful contribution; prefer empowering managers as they encourage your best efforts. Conversely, micromanagers stifle your freedom to reach your potential.

The greater contribution, the more confidence and competencies are developed. This involves empowering others with autonomy, guidance and encouragement in exchange for their best efforts and results; thrive under outcome accountability; roles are clearly defined; thinking outside the box is encouraged; small wins are celebrated; protection given in exchange for candour, ie encouraged to speak up when there is an opportunity to improve; people disagree productively.

Need to manage and harness friction as collaboration can cause friction; need to increase intellectual friction and decrease social friction
"...High intellectual friction within your team, harness creative abrasion and constructive dissent, and arrive at real innovation..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

However, social friction can threaten to derail innovative conversation; it separates and stratifies, ie
"...it encourages defensive, devisive, and disengaged behaviour......the problem keeps growing while the solution is nowhere in sight. Intellectual friction......is the bones of innovation..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

Need to manage social friction so that human interaction improves, with the resultant increase in intellectual friction, collaboration and innovation.

Three ways to decrease social friction

i) call it when you see it (develop shared terminology to name, describe and handle feelings around social friction)

ii) assign dissent (social friction increases when disagreements feel personal; need to make the distinction between disagreements that are honourable compared with malicious attacks; use an  impartial lens to explore negative feedback so that assumptions are not misread)

iii) break before breakdowns (as people become tired and/or interpersonal dynamics break down, identify tensions and take a break).

Three ways to increase intellectual friction in your team:

i) build on the ideas of others (piggyback on the ideas of others; encourage staff to be prepared to improve things by disassembling and rebuilding things that others have created; think outside your role)

ii) define the scope (clearly communicate what is being discussed, what should be considered (including dismantling and rebuilding), and what parameters don't budge)

iii) mandate a 'no interruption' rule (one person talking at a time and once he/she have finished, discussion can start)

Without this contributor safety, people fall silent and are punished for their bravery and candour.

NB
"...Unearned autonomy with no accountability can lead to disorder, discomfort, dissatisfying results. On the other hand, too much accountability with no autonomy can lead to micromanaging, hand-holding, and paternalism..."
LeadFactor, 2022a

There are 3 levels of increasing accountability:

(source; LeaderFactor, 2023a)

i) task (need to understand every aspect of the job; have minimal responsibility and accountability; activities that have to be done; generally have a predictable process and outcomes; chance to be promoted upwards; perform consistently; need to be checked on often, closely monitored and heavily mentor)

ii) process (tasks are arranged together in a predictable, consistent, known process; increased level of freedom but
"...Doesn't create a space for innovation, creativity, or challenging the way things are done..."
LeadFactor, 2022a)

iii) outcome (chance to become influential innovators, ie
"...Get your work done, how you accomplish your tasks, and how you manage projects and  processes doesn't matter so much. It's all about outcomes..."
LeadFactor, 2022a)

With autonomy and trust, you are allowed to push boundaries; develop a strong sense of responsibility for the projects and deliverables; you are self-motivated to be creative and innovative)

4. Challenger safety (satisfies the basic human need to make things better, ie feel confident enough
"...to challenge the status quo without retaliation risk of damaging your personal standing or reputation..."
Timothy Clark, 2020

Allowed to dissent and disagree; encourage candor; allowed to challenge conformity; be creative and innovative.

Able to ask the following types of question:

- Why do we do it this way?
- What if we tried this?
- Is there a better way?