What is psychological safety at work?
A shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking — so people speak up, learn from mistakes, and improve together.
The research behind it
Psychological safety was defined by Prof. Dr. Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School. Her research showed that the highest-performing teams weren't the ones that made the fewest mistakes — they were the ones that talked about mistakes openly and learned from them.
"Psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking."
— Prof. Dr. Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School
Four dimensions of psychological safety
When psychological safety is present, these behaviours become normal in a team.
People share ideas, concerns and mistakes without expecting punishment or ridicule.
Team members ask questions, challenge assumptions and admit gaps in their knowledge.
Mistakes become information the team uses to improve, not blame to assign.
Everyone feels their contribution is valued, regardless of role or seniority.
What psychological safety is NOT
Common misconceptions often dilute the concept.
Psychological safety is about creating the conditions for honest conversation and shared learning — not removing accountability.
How teams build it in practice
Psychological safety isn't built through training alone. It emerges when teams can see shared signals, take action together, and measure progress.
- Make collaboration patterns visible through shared signals
- Choose guided team actions linked to what the signals reveal
- Run actions together in normal meetings
- Re-measure to see whether it helped
Framework origin: Duena Blomstrom · Research archive: Writings