The Olympics always bring us incredible stories of perseverance, humanity, surprising wins, and unexpected loss. This year’s Olympics (or should I say last year’s?) were no different.
And while the games ended earlier this month there is a story that I haven’t been able to shake.
Simone Biles, the most decorated female gymnast, has left us awestruck at her skill and talent.
She has inspired my almost 5-year-old daughter Charlotte. Charlotte has been performing “Simone Biles routines” - as she calls them - on the coffee table in our living room and on 8x10 carpets at Lowe’s!
Biles captured the headlines about a month ago with her decision to withdraw, citing her mental health, and a case of the “twisties”.
Her honesty and candor are critical in continuing important conversations about humanity, empathy, and self-care.
I want to talk about something else.
I want to talk about WHAT made it possible for Biles to share her struggles and difficult decisions with the entire world.
I don’t know about you, but sharing those kind of personal details sounds pretty terrifying!
Here’s the thing…
There is a key that unlocks the door for honest discussion on topics of mental health and self-care.
This key also opens the door to creativity and innovation.
It invites effective collaboration and successful outcomes for teams.
This key doesn’t just work for an Olympic gymnastics team.
You can use it to unlock success for your team or organization as well.
It’s called psychological safety.
Maybe you’ve heard of it?
Here is a little primer on what can seem like a far-out concept.
What is psychological safety?
Dr. Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School, has been researching and teaching about the effect of psychological safety, or rather the absence of it, on performance and effectiveness in teams and organizations for over 25 years.
In her book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” She describes a psychologically safe team climate as being “characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves”.
Edmondson is clear that psychological safety is not about being nice.
It is not about holding back about things that may be unpleasant or avoiding conflict.
Differing points of view, conflict, and disagreements are reality. In a psychologically safe workplace, we encourage differing points of view, we remain curious, act respectful, and come out the other end with a better solution.
This recent tweet from organizational psychologist and best-selling author, Adam Grant, puts Edmondson’s definition into practical terms.
It is important to remember that psychological safety is NOT the goal. It is the means to doing great work, accomplishing excellence, furthering our cause, and supporting our colleagues.
What are the benefits to creating a psychologically safe workplace?
In 2012, Google embarked on a research project named Project Aristotle to study hundreds of the company’s teams. The goal – to uncover the secrets of effective teams at Google.
The research team found that who is on the team really didn’t matter all that much. Instead, the key to success was how the team worked together.
The #1 “how” turned out to be psychological safety. (Followed by dependability, structure and clarity, meaning, and impact).
According to the research done by Google those employees who experienced high psychological safety on their team were less likely to leave Google. Furthermore, those individuals are more likely to harness the power of diverse ideas from their teammates, they bring in more revenue, and are rated as twice as effective by executives.
Subsequent research has further supported Google’s findings.
It is undeniable that creating a psychological safe workplace is essential for individual and organizational success.
When our team members share their thoughts, ideas, and feedback openly and honestly without fear of repercussions we foster creativity and critical thinking.
Furthermore, our teams innovate and adapt more quickly.
These are all skills that have become increasingly important during the COVID-19 crisis when every single one of us has been thrown into personal and professional uncertainties.
These skills will continue to be critical in our rapidly changing world.
How can you create psychological safety at work? So glad you asked!
Asking for feedback is a common way leaders open the doors to creating a psychological safe climate. The thinking is that if we tell our employees to be honest with us, they will be.
Grant ran an experiment with a group of managers to test if asking for constructive criticism truly works to create psychological safety.
The results showed that that simply asking how you can improve is not the silver bullet to creating an open and honest workplace.
Some managers who asked for feedback didn’t like what they heard and became defensive. Others found the feedback useless, or felt helpless in trying to effect any change. In turn, they became discouraged in asking for feedback again.
So, now you know what not to do.
Instead, you have to go public!
In his experiment, Grant found that the managers who shared constructive criticism they have received in the past and areas they are working to improve were able to build psychological safety that lasted a full year later!
Publicly admitting your own imperfections does two important things…
First, it shows you can take it. You can handle constructive criticism AND you have made it public that you are open to feedback.
Second, you make being vulnerable a normal way of interacting with your team. This will allow others to be more comfortable sharing their challenges and struggles.
Now, this is not a one and done practice!
Your first experience with going public might feel uncomfortable and your team might be unsure how to respond.
That’s ok. Just stick with it.
If you continue to demonstrate humility, honesty, vulnerability, and curiosity you will change the dynamic.
In the July 28 press conference, Biles described how she told her coaches that she would be withdrawing from competition.
At first they tried to discourage her, telling her she would be fine. But she persisted, saying,
“No. I know I'm going to be fine, but I can't risk a medal for the team, so I need to call it.” And you usually don't hear me say things like that, because I'll usually persevere and push through things — but not to cost the team a medal. So they were like, “OK, well, if Simone says this, then we need to take a pretty serious.” So, I had the correct people around me to do that.
Her final sentence is the clincher. She had the correct people around her, she felt psychologically safe to make the hard decision and stick to her guns.
Simone Biles has since been mostly applauded for her decision to put herself first, and medals second.
I wholeheartedly join the applause.
I also applaud her team and coaches. Without their understanding, support, and creating a safe space for Biles to speak her truth this story may have a very different ending.
I hope we will learn from Biles, and the USA Gymnastics team, the importance of creating psychological safety – at the Olympics and at the office.
But most importantly, for all the 5-year old’s out there – our future athletes and leaders.