Summary
Without a culture of safety, people literally can't think. We can't collaborate, create, or innovate. That is because as human beings, we are biologically hardwired to belong to a tribe that can protect us from outside threats. Unfortunately, most of us don’t feel a sense of safety in our work tribes. When our work relationships don’t feel safe, we armor up and spend precious energy protecting ourselves from each other instead of learning, collaborating, and well just … working. In this workshop, DesignOps professionals will get practical tools to build and scale the safety of their teams.
Key Insights
-
•
Feeling unsafe lowers a person’s operating IQ from around 100-120 to as low as 50-70, impairing cognitive function.
-
•
The brain processes information bottom-up: first checking physical safety (brainstem), then emotional safety (limbic), before allowing thinking (cortex).
-
•
Team safety is created collectively, while trust is built between individuals.
-
•
Physical, emotional, and psychological safety must be addressed in that order to enable effective thinking and collaboration.
-
•
Structured, regular meetings are the most effective lever to build and scale safety within teams.
-
•
A ‘boundary conversation’ where team members share what feels physically safe or unsafe can help build inclusivity.
-
•
Celebrating mistakes openly creates psychological safety that encourages learning and innovation.
-
•
Remote teams require intentional communication agreements to reduce ambiguity and build safety.
-
•
Safety deficits often exist between leadership and teams, requiring targeted conversations starting within smaller groups without leaders.
-
•
Anonymous surveys and dashboards can help track safety levels objectively and highlight unseen issues.
Notable Quotes
"Without safety, human beings literally can’t think."
"Our brain doesn’t know the difference between a tiger trying to eat us or an angry email from our manager."
"Trust is created between two people. Safety is created in a group of people."
"I feel internally relaxed when I’m in a group and we’re talking with each other and I don’t have to strategize about what I’m going to say."
"Meetings tell us what kind of conversations we are having and what kind of conversations we are not having."
"If our body doesn’t feel safe, or we can’t share emotions, we won’t be able to think or do work effectively."
"Mistake celebration meetings normalize errors and allow teams to get ahead of problems quickly."
"Starting small with relationship-building is key when safety is lacking, especially in large or hierarchical groups."
"Offering anonymity in safety surveys helps people be honest when they don’t feel safe to share openly."
"Deep listening means hearing not just what is said but what isn’t said, especially for people with different language or cultural backgrounds."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Who is not in the room is just as important as who is."
Alastair SimpsonDebunking the Myths of Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
October 24, 2019
"The more specific a story gets, the more universal the themes are felt by everybody."
Dan WillisEnterprise Storytelling Sessions
June 3, 2019
"People spend about 60% of their time on the work about the work."
Kristin Skinner Kamdyn Moore8 Types of Measures in Design Operations
April 16, 2020
"You can't heal your way out of death or oppression by reforming oppressive systems; you can only do so by dismantling those systems."
Matt Bernius Sarah Fathallah Hera Hussain Jessica Zéroual-KaraTrauma-informed Research: A Panel Discussion
October 7, 2021
"Only 8% of older adults are using the internet in contrast to 48% of younger adults."
Rittika BasuAge and Interfaces: Equipping Older Adults with Technological Tools
February 23, 2023
"Kenneth Bowles will close with a focus on responsibility and ethics in enterprise UX."
Uday GajendarTheme 1: Introduction
June 9, 2021
"At the committed stage, executives start asking what design can do for business strategy."
JJ KercherA Roadmap for Maturing Design in the Enterprise
June 15, 2018
"I want to see us running companies that prize curiosity over confidence, making decisions based on users’ unmet needs rather than business assumptions."
Chris GeisonWhat is Research Strategy?
March 11, 2021
"Artificial intelligence promises new independence for people with disabilities but raises questions of bias and privacy."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
September 9, 2022
