It’s interesting how threads emerge from the books we read. An idea springs out at you from one book and then occurs again in another or a link is found between the two. When it turns up a third time in a different place and from an alternate perspective you really take notice. I have had this experience with the concept of emotional or psychological safety.
It started a while back reading “Creative Confidence” by Tom & David Kelley. Even the title invoked thoughts of what it requires to be creatively confident in an organisation and what the benefits might be. I started to wonder what it would mean if teachers had creative confidence. Would they engage with the curriculum differently? Would they see it more as a guide than a set of directives to be followed to the letter? Might they be more flexible with their pedagogy or more open to change? In “Creative Confidence” the authors describe the restrictive power that a fear of failure has on our creative potential. We might have amazing ideas, but we are not going to try them if we do not feel safe to do so.
In our experience, one of the scariest snakes in the room is the fear of failure, which manifests itself in such ways as fear of being judged, fear of getting started, fear of the unknown. And while much has been said about fear of failure, it still is the single biggest obstacle people face to creative success. (Tom & David Kelley)
The idea emerged again as I read “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek. In this he describes importance of feeling safe. “Returning from work feeling inspired, safe, fulfilled and grateful is a natural human right to which we are all entitled and not a modern luxury that only a few lucky ones are able to find.” (Simon Sinek) Once again the idea of feeling safe comes through strongly and with it the need for leadership that values the input of all. In time when workplace stress seems to be endemic, Sinek indicates that “Stress and anxiety at work have less to do with the work we do and more to do with weak management and leadership.” Sinek points to significance of circles of safety within our lives. In organisations, leaders have the responsibility "Only when there’s a strong circle of safety is there innovation. Innovation requires risk, experimentation and failure. If people fear that they might lose their jobs simply because they tried and failed or lost some money then they won’t try so there is no innovation”. Building a circle of safety is one of the most important responsibilities and duties of leadership according to Sinek. "What makes a good leader is that they eschew the spotlight in favor of spending time and energy to do what they need to do to support and protect their people."
The role of safe workplaces came up again while reading “Radical Candour” by Kim Scott. In this book Scott shares insights from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). Analysing the causes and details aircraft accidents and incidents is one of the best strategies for finding ways to minimise them. Gathering this information requires honest and open conversations with pilots and airline personnel when something goes wrong but these conversations are not going to occur unless the people involved feel safe. The FAA recognised the importance that safety played and so set up interviews between relevant pilots and retired pilots who were viewed as less threatening than FAA officials. Further, except in cases of careless or reckless actions, pilots were granted immunity from prosecution based on the information they provided. The result is an industry that is constantly learning from its mistakes.
The final piece of the puzzle comes from “The Fearless Organisation: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation and growth” by Amy Edmondson. What is clear from reading this is that organisations need to be places that promote psychological safety for their staff. Scott writes "I have defined psychological safety as the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. The concept refers to the experience of feeling able to speak up with relevant ideas, questions, or concerns. Psychological safety is present when colleagues trust and respect each other and feel able – even obligated – to be candid.” Scott analysed teams of clinicians wanting to understand the conditions that lead to mistakes. She hypothesised that teams with a sense of safety would make fewer mistakes but the results were the opposite. Fortunately, she didn’t abandon her research. What she found was that teams which felt safe were more likely to report mistakes and in doing so were able to learn from them. In cultures that lacked psychological safety, teams hid mistakes and opportunities to learn were missed.
The takeaway from this is that if we want teachers to openly share their practice, to take risks with fresh ideas, to experiment and innovate, schools need to be places of psychological safety. This requires leadership that extends a circle of safety for all. Teachers need to know that when they try an innovative idea their leaders have their backs and when leaders ask their staff to try new ideas their staff know that they can be honest in their feedback. The circle of safety thrives in cultures that value the input of all and encourages healthy scepticism.
If the future of education requires innovation and creativity, then we must promote creative confidence and psychological safety.
By Nigel Coutts
Tom & David Kelley, (2013) Creative Confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all
Simon Sinek, (2014) Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
Kim Scott (2017) Radical Candour: Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity
Amy C. Edmondson (2019) The Fearless Organisation: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation and growth