Psychological Safety vs. High Standards: A Misunderstood Dynamic

The term “psychological safety” is often misleading. When managers hear safety, many dismiss it as a soft style that implies complacency. Meanwhile, psychology implies too much mumbo jumbo. High-profile figures like Elon Musk advocating for a “hardcore” style perpetuate this misconception. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between high standards and psychological safety.

In this piece, I unpack the confusion surrounding psychological safety and why you need both psychological safety and high standards to achieve high performance.

In his biography of Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson cites an exchange that’s telling. The backdrop is the initial days after Musk took over Twitter.

Amy Edmondson of Harvard, the leading researcher in psychological safety, defines it as the belief that you won't be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. It encourages intelligent risk-taking by reducing interpersonal anxiety.

Hundreds of studies, including Google’s Project Aristotle, show that psychological safety is essential for high performance in the modern workplace. Given its importance, you’d think managers would actively work to enable it.

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