Importance of psychological safety

1. Building Trust
and Creating
Psychological Safety
David Mantica
VP & GM SoftEd
davidm@softed.com

2. • Being an Adult, Treating Your Team like Adults
• Basics of Trust
• The Truth and Reality of Accountability
• Mindset for the Agile Group
• Mindset for Agile Leadership
• Psychological Safety
• Two tools to Support employee on road to gaining Psychological Safety
Agenda

3. Agile Practitioner Must: Understand and Belief

4. Trust
Section One

5. • A Leader must consider the team a group of adults
• The team must see each other as adults
• What does it mean to be “treated like an adult”
• Acting like an adult
• Adult definition
• N: One who has attained maturity or legal age
• Adj: Fully developed and mature
• Adulthood
• The state (responsibility) of a person who has attained
maturity
• Self-Esteem
The Foundation of Trust… Being an adult?

6. Trust Speed Cost
* Adapted from: The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey
The Speed of Trust
Trust Speed Cost

7. • Provide guidance / advice but allow the team to make the
decision
• On the schedule, cost estimates, work product released,
quality judgments etc.
• Foster the ability for the team to test / fail / try again, lean learning
• Give the team opportunities to gain trust and build trust
• Watch your body language, do you mean what you are saying
• Cut pain points FAST don’t allow a “sore to get infected”
Trust in more detail (authority position)

8. • Rational understanding you are not getting everything you want, or think is
right
• Rational understanding you will need to delay gratification or accept a
decision that hurts you in the short term
• Ultimate acceptance of decision without continuous back seat driving
• Your choice to say means you participate at 100% effort, regardless of belief
• Less effort because it wasn’t your decision is completely unacceptable
Trust in more detail (Squad member)

9. • Account for what you do
• Accept responsibility for your actions
• Disclose results
• Provide honest feedback (good or bad)
• Expect continuous improvement
• The starting point to driving away the “fear” of mistakes
• Require, effort, results and positive attitude
• The “meat” of the daily stand-up
Accountability and its Role in Trust

10. Mindset
Section Two

11. • Discuss: “why do people hold on to knowledge in
your organisation and how can they be encouraged
to share it with those who can benefit from it?
Community of Inquiry

12. • I can learn anything I want to
• When I’m frustrated, I persevere
• I want to challenge myself
• When I fail, I learn
• Tell me I try hard
• If you succeed, I’m inspired
• My effort and attitude determine
everything
Growth
Mindset
Fixed
Mindset
• I’m either good at it, or I’m not
• When I’m frustrated, I give up
• I don’t like to be challenged
• When I fail, I’m no good
• Tell me I’m smart
• If you succeed, I feel threatened
• My abilities determine everything
What kind of mindset do you have?

13. • Discuss: why a Growth Mindset is
considered fundamental for Agile?
Community of Inquiry

14. • Learned helplessness:
A condition in which a person suffers
from a sense of powerlessness,
arising from a traumatic event or
persistent failure to succeed.
• Initial experiments that formed the
basis for this theory were conducted
in the late 1960s and early 1970s by
psychologists Martin Seligman and
Steven Maier.
• Worker gives up the ability to make
decisions and be autonomous
Learned Helplessness

15. • The Seeking System makes people
curious about their world and promotes
learning and behaviour directed toward
pleasurable outcomes or objects
• The Fear system is a self-protective
neural system for avoiding pain or injury.
It gives rise to freezing, withdrawal,
avoidance, or flight when activated.
• Fear and seeking systems are highly
evolved circuits and the fear system will
overrule the seeking system. If it is done
enough, the seeking system may never
recover, it just shuts down.
Panksepp's Primal Emotional Systems
Panksepp, Jaak, and Lucy Biven. 2012. The archaeology of mind: neuroevolutionary
origins of human emotions. New York: W.W Norton.
Fear vs. Seeking System

16. System Location key neuropeptides/
neurotransmitters
that arouse system
Associated
Feelings
Action Tendencies
Fear Central and lateral amygdala
to medial hypothalamus and
dorsal periaqueductal gray
(PAG)
Glutamate (+), CRF (+),
CCK (+), Alpha-MSH (+),
Oxytocin (-)
Threatened,
Anxious, Worried
Narrow Attention;
when threat comes from
within group, submission
Seeking Nucleus accumbens -- ventral
tegmental area, mesolithic
and mesocortical outputs,
lateral hyptothalamus to PAG
Dopamine (+), Glutamate (+),
Opioids (+), Neurotensin (+),
Orexin (+)
Curious, Excited,
Enthusiastic
Play, experiment, explore,
learn from enironment
Source: Montag, C. Panksepp, J. Personality neuroscience: Why it is of importance to consider primary emotional systems!
In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Fear vs. Seeking Systems

17. Fear vs. Seeking Systems

18. Mindset-Leadership
Section Three

19. Discuss:
“What is the role of leadership in Agile environments?
How might "Agile leadership" differ from traditional leadership and why?”
Community of Inquiry

20. “ A universal feature of transformation success is
the leadership mindset. Where agile and
management practices and methodologies were
implemented without the requisite mindset, no
benefits were observed. With strong leadership
and agile mindset, transformations succeed
regardless of methods and practices.”
Scrum Alliance Learning Consortium
The Learning Consortium Report

21. The servant-leader
shares power, puts the
needs of others first
and helps people
develop and perform
as highly as possible."
Robert K. Greenleaf
Traditional Leadership Servant Leadership
The Servant Leader
“

22. “The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader.
The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.”
J. Carla Nortcutt
• Creating an environment of trust
• Demonstrating and expecting
accountability
• Sharing power with the group
Agile leadership
is…
• Always being the nice guy
• Watching the team crash and burn
• Hold a committee meeting to discuss
every decision
Agile leadership
is not…
22
Agile Leadership

23. “ Solutions to adaptive challenges reside not in the
executive suite but in the collective intelligence of
employees at all levels”
"Adaptive Leadership is the practice of mobilizing
people to tackle tough challenges and thrive”
Ronald A. Heifetz & Donald L. Laurie
Adaptive leadership, making decisions
at Point of Work

24. Psychological Safety
Section Four

25. One is psychologically safe when one is “able to show and
employ one's self without fear of negative consequences
of self-image, status or career”
William Kahn, 1990
“Psychological Safety is by far and away the most
important team dynamic, it underpins everything else.”
Google Re
“
Psychological Safety

26. comfort zone learning and
high performance zone
apathy zone anxiety zone
Low Standards
High
Psychological
Safety
Low
Psychological
Safety
High Standards
Edmondson, Amy C. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Psychological Safety

27. Discuss:
• “What destroys psychological safety in teams?
(psychological safety is a team-level phenomena)
• How can we build psychological safety in teams?
Community of Inquiry

28. 28
Setting
the Stage
Inviting Participation Responding
Productively
Leadership
Tasks
Frame the Work
• Set expectations about failure,
uncertainty, and
interdependence to clarify the
need for voice
Emphasize Purpose
• Identify what’s at stake, why it
matters, and for whom it
matters
Demonstrate Situational Humility
• Acknowledge gaps
Practice Inquiry
• Ask good questions
• Model intense listening
Set Up Structures and Processes
• Create forums for input
• Provide guidelines for discussion
Express Appreciation
• Listen
• Acknowledge and thank
Destigmatize Failure
• Look forward
• Offer help
• Discuss, consider, and
brainstorm next steps
Sanction Clear Violations
Accomplishes Shared expectations and meaning Confidence that voice is welcome Orientation toward
continuous learning
Edmondson, Amy C. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for
Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Enabling Psychological Safety

29. Tools for Trust / Safety
Section Three

30. Pre-Journey Trigger Application Selection
On-
boarding
Week 1 Month 1 Year 1 Year n Exit Alumni
Doing
Employed at
competitor
Friend makes
referral
resume
updating,
interviewing
resigning old
job and
counter offer
meeting team
and learning
ropes
settling into
light duties,
lots of admin
settling into a
rhythm
working
away, nothing
notable
working
away,
nothing
notable
found other
job
repeating
cycle in
other job
Thinking
“Happy where I
am”
“worth
checking out”
“unsure about
pros and
cons of
leaving”
“need to
clarify
contract
terms”
“lots to learn”
“not sure of
what is
expected of
me”
“not sure I’ll
make bonus”
“expected
better
training”
“stuck in a
rut”
“need to
change”
“glad to be
out”
Feeling
a bit stuck in a
rut where I am
“Disloyal to
current
employer”
very anxious
on multiple
levels
excited for
new
opportunity
still excited
a bit left out
of social
groups
not as good
as I expected
a bit let down
by promises
of training
flat gutted negative
Experience
A friend says
good things
about
company
X
Offer well
articulated
★★★★
process
stressful
★
good
★★★★
good
★★★★
a bit flat
★★
OK
★★★
OK
★★★
Jaded
★★
Jaded
★
Jaded
★
Opportunities
Referral fees,
Social Media
targeting
confidential
after hours
interview
prompt
feedback,
transparent
rating
plain English
contracts
“best-selves”
induction
better team
and inter-
team
socialization
more one-on-
one time
while settling
in
better training
& dev
don’t allow
employee
stagnation
don’t allow
employee
stagnation
Alumni
gatherings
page #28 workbook
Employee Journey Sample

31. 1. Doing — what is the persona doing at this point in the journey? Describe it
like a movie scene
2. Thinking — what are the rational thoughts the persona is considering at
this point in the journey?
3. Feeling — describe what they are feeling and plot their emotional state
(high or low)
4. Experience — rate the overall experience. Is it neutral, positive or
negative? Use stars or other score ranking
5. Opportunities — what are the opportunities for experience improvement?
6. Emotional state (the wavy line) — how is the person generally feeling,
high or low?
page #29 workbook
Employee Journey Dimensions

32. • Stretch Goal is giving someone the opportunity to do something
they have not done before but have the skills and capabilities to do:
• Communicating with them at every step
• Making sure there is psychological safe
• Knowing there will be mistake, anticipating and enjoying
mistakes as part of growth process
• Celebrate success
Stretch Goals as a Tool building Psychological Safety

33. PDU
Credit: 1 Leadership PDU
Course Identifier: BTPSWeb020620X
PDU Claim Code: 4102Y5CH76

34. Thank you!!!
I appreciate your time.
Books:
The Energy Bus, ISBN 978-0-470-100028-8
Radical Candor, ISBN 9781509845385
Speed of Trust, ISBN 9781608475650
The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, ISBN 9781422105764