Gena Gorlin hosts a discussion on “psychological safety”
Good point in comments, that different people see different (sometimes opposite) things necessary for psychological safety. For some, it means they can speak candidly about whatever they think and feel. For others, it means that some things cannot be said in their presence.
I think, you can make it both, as long as it is one-sided, e.g. in a therapy, where the client could say anything, and the therapist would be careful about their feedback.
But this wouldn’t work at a workplace or any other larger group… unless you split people into “those who are safe” and “those who have a duty to make them feel safe”, and even then, maybe someone in the former group could make someone else from the same group feel unsafe.
You make a good point that it is not enough for your boss to tell you “you can speak freely”, you must also believe that it is true. (I also have a negative experience here: I was told to speak freely; I did; it had consequences.) This would probably sound more credible if other colleagues are already speaking freely. Also, if you generally don’t feel like your job is at risk somehow. For example, if your performance is below the average (and by definition, half of the team is like that), you might believe that neither your performance nor the candor alone would get you fired, but their combination would.
Good point in comments, that different people see different (sometimes opposite) things necessary for psychological safety. For some, it means they can speak candidly about whatever they think and feel. For others, it means that some things cannot be said in their presence.
I think, you can make it both, as long as it is one-sided, e.g. in a therapy, where the client could say anything, and the therapist would be careful about their feedback.
But this wouldn’t work at a workplace or any other larger group… unless you split people into “those who are safe” and “those who have a duty to make them feel safe”, and even then, maybe someone in the former group could make someone else from the same group feel unsafe.
You make a good point that it is not enough for your boss to tell you “you can speak freely”, you must also believe that it is true. (I also have a negative experience here: I was told to speak freely; I did; it had consequences.) This would probably sound more credible if other colleagues are already speaking freely. Also, if you generally don’t feel like your job is at risk somehow. For example, if your performance is below the average (and by definition, half of the team is like that), you might believe that neither your performance nor the candor alone would get you fired, but their combination would.