The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
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Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy
The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent―but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing.
This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.
Explore the link between psychological safety and high performanceCreate a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakesNurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economyFollow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization
Shed the “yes-men” approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.
From the Publisher
Publisher : Wiley
Publication date : November 20, 2018
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1119477247
ISBN-13 : 978-1119477242
Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
Dimensions : 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #15,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Human Resources & Personnel Management (Books) #80 in Business Management (Books) #128 in Leadership & Motivation
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,047 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers say
Customers find the book provides great insights and is easy to read, with one customer noting it includes numerous case studies. They appreciate the encyclopedia content, with one review highlighting how it presents examples of real-world corporate struggles solved. Customers are satisfied with the book’s value, with one describing it as “worth its weight in gold.” However, several customers note that the content is repetitive.
10 reviews for The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
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Original price was: $32.00.$15.45Current price is: $15.45.
Wally Bock –
If you want to drive fear out of your organization, start by buying this book
In 1986, W. Edwards Deming introduced his â14 Points for Managementâ in the book, Out of the Crisis. Here is number eight.âWhether fear of failure, fear of reprisals or fear of management, fear is unhelpful to the success of your business. Drive out fear by encouraging communication, respect and teamwork at all levels of your business.âThat was good advice, but there wasnât much guidance on how to drive out fear or how your workplace might function when you did. Amy Edmonsonâs The Fearless Organization gives you a mental model, so you know what an organization looks like after you follow Dr. Demingâs advice to âDrive out fear.âIâve read a lot about âpsychological safetyâ in the past several years, including several articles by Dr. Edmondson. Since she coined the term, many other people have used it. I bought this book to go to the source and find out what Dr. Edmondson had to say.She describes her goal for the book in the Introduction. She wants to âequip you with some new ideas and practices to make knowledge-intensive organizations work better.â She defines the fearless organization this way.âThe fearless organization is one in which interpersonal fear is minimized so that team and organizational performance can be maximized in a knowledge intensive world.âThe Fearless Organization is divided into three parts. Part I is, âthe power of psychological safety.â Chapter two is an excellent summary of the research. If youâre interested in going into more depth about psychological safety, this chapter is worth the price of the book. In addition to this chapter on research, Dr. Edmondson includes detailed notes and references at the end of every chapter. Minor these at your pleasure.Part II is âPsychological Safety at Work.â Chapters three and four give you real-world examples of organizations without psychological safety. Youâll recognize most of them. Chapters five and six share examples of organizations with psychological safety. You may be surprised at some of them. You will see a strong contrast between the two groups in terms of organizational life and productivity.Pare III is âCreating a Fearless Organization.â Chapter seven provides a toolkit for leaders. The tools fall into three buckets. They are, setting the stage, inviting participation, and responding productively. If you want to follow Dr. Demingâs advice to drive out fear, hereâs how.Chapter eight is titled, âWhat Next.â It includes an excellent section on the questions Dr. Edmondson is frequently asked about psychological safety.This is an excellent book, whether youâre investigating psychological safety as an intellectual exercise or seeking some help in improving psychological safety where you work. The big insight for me was that psychological safety deals with interpersonal fear and is an emergent property of a group. I had the basic concepts, but now I have deeper insights and language to express them.This is a good, helpful package of important ideas. But they may not seem new to you. You probably know that itâs not a good idea to shoot messengers who bring bad news. You may understand your job as creating an environment where both productivity and morale are high. Donât pass up this book on that account.First, no matter how much you know, you can learn something here about psychological safety., Just knowing isnât enough. As my friend Rod Santomassimo likes to say, âDonât KID yourself, knowing isnât doing.â This book can be a powerful tool to improve the work and morale of any team. But that wonât happen if all you do is read about psychological safety.In a NutshellThe Fearless Organization demonstrates what psychological safety is, why itâs important, and how to make it happen where you work. If youâre responsible for the performance of the group, put this book on your must-read list.
Benjamin Ehrlich –
Culture: Substance Matters!
Not your book if you like culture/leadership books that are:Easy, obvious, fluffYour book if you like culture/leadership books that:Have substance, will challenge you, actually can help you create a great cultureI work in a combination of school and sports settings as a mental performance coach. I find a lot of schools and coaches are drawn to what’s easy when it comes to culture. As a result, they reach for the fluff on bookshelves- makes them feel good but doesn’t really do anything. This book is not that. It’s well researched and well explained. With some effort, you can draw some really great concepts and tangible ideas to help create and work to maintain a great culture wherever you may work. The stories are well told and connect well with the points made. If I had to pick one negative, the book mentions education several times without providing any specific stories from the education world. That said, the lessons learned can clearly be applied to education. It’s one of my favorite books I’ve read on culture/leadership, and I plan on recommending it to whoever will listen. We need more books like this!
Dr D –
Very specific and illuminating
I very much enjoyed this read. Full disclosure, I liked it more because I identified ways in which my managerial success in my first job leading a sizeable team are attributable to psychological safety. I definitely came away with new ideas, tools, and language to more clearly and conscientiously implement this approach, as well as useful criticisms of my current practices. I have received glowing feedback to my management approach from many colleagues with decades in the company. Though I have thought of my success primarily as allowing myself and my team to bring their whole selves to work and finding purpose in the work, this helped dissect the impact of this stance and the reasons it resonates for so many people.This pairs well with the Dream Jobs episode of the Hidden Brain podcast. Lots of overlap in the area of meaning and associated reward.Knocked one star because about 75% of the way through, there were numerous grammatical errors. It was almost like the editors lost focus at the end or didn’t make it there. I hope that’s not true, as the end had all the useful tips in it!
Meg Brown –
Amazing book on psychological safety!
I ordered this book after learning about Psychological Safety on a LinkedIn learning course. This book honestly reads itself! I finished it in two days. I had so many takeaways to share with my team that I ended up creating a presentation that I presented to our Diversity, inclusion, and belonging employee resource group! ! I made sure to plug the book and encourage others to read it and learn for themselves! I continue to reference this book daily as an HR professional and will look forward to more information coming out from the author in the future as we all crave more information to cultivate psychological safety on our teams!
“Ronin” –
A sound research that provides a clear path forward in restoring safety in organizations
I appreciate the agile combination of research findings, case studies, and reflections this book offers. Professor Edmonson provides clear tips and practices to restore safety in organizations. This thin book explores in depth the benefits of safety and offers sufficient research evidence without being overwhelming for the non-researcher. I mainly found the examples relevant and helped me travel back in time to when I was a leader facing the same difficulties I had then face. I wish I had had the opportunity then to read this book. The elegant “flow” of the book kept me engaged and helped me reflect on the routines, processes, habits of execution, and expectations that set teams to fail. Once again, Professor Edmonson offers a significant contribution to help organization strengthen environments for humans maximize innovation and learning.
Dominique Arrighi de Casanova –
Voulant prouver, lors de sa thèse universitaire, qu’il y avait une corrélation étroite entre la qualité du management et le faible nombre d’erreurs répertoriés dans les services hospitaliers, Amy Emondson s’est rendu compte que les résultats de son étude donnait les résultats inverses que ceux qu’elle croyait trouver.Surprise par ce résultat, elle approfondit son étude et s’est rendu compte que dans les services où le management était moins bon, indiquer que l’on avait fait une erreur signifiait prendre le risque d’être mal jugé, voire licencié. D’où le très faible niveau de recensement des erreurs.De là est né ce concept de sécurité psychologique comme condition essentielle d’une dynamique de progrès dans le fonctionnement collectif.Elle définit cette notion de la façon suivante :- Lâassurance que lâéquipe ne recevra pas mal, ni ne rejettera ou punira, la prise de parole de chacun de ses membres- Un climat caractérisé par la confiance interpersonnelle et le respect mutuel, dans lequel chacun se sent à lâaise dâêtre pleinement lui-même.Mais aussi comme la capacité à considérer l’erreur ou l’échec comme une source de progrès pour peu qu’on puisse en tirer les leçons.Ce livre très axé sur la description de manière de faire d’entreprises réputées pour leur management (Pixar, Bridgewater, Eileen Fischer, …) offre de nombreuses pistes pratiques pour installer une culture propice à la sécurité psychologique et met l’accent sur la nécessité d’allier à la sécurité psychologique l’exigence si l’on obtenir des résultats durablement positifs.La lecture de ce livre facile à lire est à recommander à tous ceux qui se soucient d’améliorer l’efficacité collective de leur équipe/entreprise.
Mehmet Kocaali –
great read with many real cases from different industries, companies, organizations; enjoyed every page and learned many practical ideas.
Uday Bhingarde –
AN insightful read and advocates for leaders to create workplaces that embraces candor and failure to drive unique performance. A must read and hard copy to be part of your collections.
meiliany –
This book offers many practical insights and tips on creating effective psychological safety at work.
Cyara –
A colleague recommended it, and wow, what a readâsuch insight. I understand the topic of psychological safety so much better. The examples show much of what is right and wrong about business and work-life today in the 21st centuryâan essential read for all managers and business owners.