How Psychological Safety Actually Works

Psychological safety means, in Edmondson’s words, “no one will be punished or humiliated for errors, questions, or requests for help, in the service of reaching ambitious performance goals.”

Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.

Studies show that teams whose members feel safe to speak up learn faster and hit their targets more often. Google’s Project Aristotle, which set out to understand what made teams successful, found that of all variables studied, psychological safety was the number-one predictor of high-performing teams.