Tag: Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety, Leadership, and Continuous Improvement

TL;DR: Psychological safety isn’t about comfort—it’s about creating the conditions where people can speak up, solve problems, and improve systems.

Psychological safety is the foundation of learning, quality, and continuous improvement. When people fear blame, embarrassment, or punishment, problems stay hidden and improvement stalls. When people feel safe to speak up, organizations learn faster and perform better.

These posts explore psychological safety through a Lean leadership lens—connecting daily behaviors, system design, mistake response, and respect for people. Drawing from healthcare, manufacturing, aviation, and executive leadership, this archive focuses on how leaders create (or destroy) the conditions for honest dialogue, problem solving, and sustainable improvement.

Join Me at the Michigan Lean Consortium Annual Conference in August!

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I'm excited to share my breakout session at the Michigan Lean Consortium Annual Conference! In this session, I dive into the critical role of...

Learning From Mistakes: Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement

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TL;DR: Organizations that learn from mistakes outperform those that hide them. Psychological safety enables people to speak up, strengthen problem solving, and sustain continuous...

Mistake vs Error: Is There Really a Difference? (And Why Leaders...

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What's the difference between a mistake and an error? When people search "mistake vs error," they're usually asking whether the two words mean different things...

Preventing Surgical Errors: Effective Strategies Over Warning Signs in Operating Rooms

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This is a Chat GPT / Dall-E generated image: It's silly, right? I've never seen a sign like this in an operating room. And I'm...

LinkedIn Poll on Barriers to Speaking Up: Fear and Futility

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Research by Ethan Burris shows that the top two reasons employees choose to keep quiet in the workplace are:1️⃣ Futility2️⃣ FearFear of getting in...

Why “See, Solve, Share” Needs a Missing Step Before Solve

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tl;dr: Steve Spear's "See, Solve, Share" model assumes people will raise problems, but in most organizations, fear and futility keep them quiet -- which...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: April 19, 2024

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Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly...

Why Psychological Safety Should Lead to Candor — Not “Being Vulnerable”...

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Vulnerability, Candor, and Psychological Safety at Work Does it really feel good to be "vulnerable" at work? A lot of leaders talk about vulnerability as if...

A Better Question Than “Do You Have Any Questions?”

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Recently, I've heard an idea a few times that I'd like to share and discuss in this post. As I'm writing this, I can't...

Instead of Urging Your Employees to Be Brave, Help Them Feel...

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It's 9 p.m. in an operating room, just before the last procedure of a long day that had been full of delays. A nurse...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: February 23, 2024

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Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this... there's always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Subscribe to get...

Continuous Improvement Requires Psychological Safety and Problem Solving

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TL;DR: Continuous improvement only takes root when psychological safety and problem-solving exist together. Leaders who replace blame with learning unlock better performance, innovation, and...
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