Innovation and creativity are inextricably linked. However, in the murky waters of ambiguity we often lose our way. We cling to what is known and what is safe, and create environments where accountability and preserving the status quo trumps the potential gains of innovation. For us to truly innovate, we need to foster environments of psychological safety: where we are certain about some things so we can embrace the uncertainty of others. In this session we will dig into research, some stories from the trenches and best practices to find how we can unlock innovation and creativity through creating a place where your team feels safe to try.
The Fearless Organisation - Amy Edmondson: A book from the researcher who brought psychological safety to the fore. Brings stories of what psychological safety looks like (and what it looks like when it's not there) and gives practical advice at how to build workplaces marked by psychological safety.
Dare to Lead - Brené Brown: A distillation of Brené Brown's work focused on the workplace.
Resilient Management - Lara Hogan: Primarily focused on new leaders, Lara Hogan's book is chocked full of practical ways to level up as a manager.
What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team - The New York Times article which summarises the research and results of Project Aristotle, Google's effort to discover what makes teams successful.
Four Ways to Cultivate a Culture of Curiosity - A bite-size HBR article about a non-profit and their push towards curiosity over blame and how they do it.
What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means - Carol Dweck, who originally produced the research which resulted in what we now know as Growth Mindset, writes for HBR, clarifying what growth mindset is and what it isn't
A Roadmap for Saving a Failing Startup Through Vulnerability - The story of a struggling startup and its road back from the brink through vulnerability.
Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct - Amy C. Edmondson and Zhike Lei (2014): A comprehensive review of the research and literature around Psychological Safety, co-authored by Amy Edmondson who brought the ideas of psychological safety to the fore.
Evidence of a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups - Woolley, Anita & F Chabris, Christopher & Pentland, Alex & Hashmi, Nada & Malone, Thomas. (2010): The 2010 paper outlining experimental evidence for a collective intelligence found in groups, and the factors which predict it.
A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality - Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988): The original research paper from 1988 which formed the ideas that would become