Sitting on hands or raising hands? - on psychological safety

„I used to go to meetings and see the problem so clearly, when others could not. But worrying about being “wrong” I kept quiet and learned to sit on my hands lest they raise up and betray me” – Nilofer Merchant in her early days as an administrator in Apple*

A person who sits on their hands is one who used to hear:

❌ Why do you always need to question everything?
❌ Can we just stick to the plan? We have a solution already!
❌ At your level, you should know that.
❌ That's not your area of expertise.
❌ We don't have time to entertain new ideas right now.

A person who raises their hand is one who used to hear:

✅ This is a great question, I’m glad you asked.
✅ I appreciate your perspective, haven’t thought about it.
✅ It’s so good you told me about this mistake upfront, we can fix it!
✅ Your input is valuable, let's explore that further.

It's daily that we assess the risk of sounding ignorant, incompetent or disruptive and decide to stay silent eventhough the remark or solution we could offer is potentially a game-chaning one.

It's also daily that we can create an environment where people speak up.

Let's actively work towards that. What do you think needs to change first to achieve that? Please feel free to share in the comments.

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*Source: “The fearless organization” Amy C. Edmondson