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…to identify the factors that distinguish teams with high performance and well-being, the most important differentiator isn’t who is on the team or even how meaningful their work is. What matters most is psychological safety.

In performance cultures, the emphasis on results often undermines psychological safety.

Creating psychological safety can’t be an isolated episode or a task to check off on a to-do list.

…mindsets aren’t enough to transform a culture. Although psychological safety erases the fear of challenging authority, it doesn’t necessarily motivate us to question authority in the first place.

It isn’t enough to figure out which candidates are competent and then move them along safe, predictable paths. That’s a recipe for lackluster results.

In big organizations especially, the notion of hunting for talent in quirky ways evokes shudders. Formulaic conformity feels safer.

If we feel safe among our own people, in our own tribes or organizations, we relax and are more open to trust and cooperation.

If certain conditions are met and the people inside an organization feel safe among each other, they will work together to achieve things none of them could have ever achieved alone.

When we do not feel safe from each other in the environment in which we work, our instincts drive us to protect ourselves at all costs instead of sharing accountability for our actions.

Given our obsessive need to feel safe among those in our tribe – our communities and companies – we inherently put a premium value on those who give us their time and energy.