**Creating a Culture of Psychological Safety in the Workplace**
In today’s corporate culture, the concepts of “psychological safety” and “failing fast” have become widely accepted. However, when we examine how these values are practiced in reality, we see a different story. Employees are hesitant to take risks or speak up due to a fear of reprisals. This has led to a toxic view of psychological safety, where comfort and safety mean avoiding stress and responsibility. Tech workers have been divorced from decision-making processes, becoming mere order-takers instead of owning their work.
To foster a high-performing practice and individuals, it is crucial to establish a different type of psychological safety. This means creating an environment where employees feel safe to take risks and speak their minds without fear of punishment or humiliation. Psychological safety should be about the ability to encounter risk in a supportive way, not about avoiding stress. As leaders, we must ensure that mistakes are tolerated in our organizations and encourage risk-taking and idea-sharing among our teams.
**The Value of Inserting Perspectives and Embracing Discomfort**
To truly enhance productivity and create valuable products and services, we must be willing to insert our perspectives into decision-making processes. Just like when factories were redesigned around electricity instead of relying on outdated approaches, technology should be used to energize our work, not simply improve marginal aspects. We need a challenger mindset and supportive leaders who encourage discomfort and value careful planning and human factors.
Encouraging discomfort does not preclude an organization from being psychologically safe; it reinforces the need for transparency on risks and a focus on value. Technology work comes with challenges, but by embracing the responsibility and healthy stress of owning technology in our organizations, we can achieve greater professional success and personal fulfillment.
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