WHAT THIS IS

Psychological safety is the shared belief that it’s safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and offer ideas without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

It’s one of the strongest predictors of team performance and innovation.

When safety is high, people contribute, challenge, and create.

When it’s low, they play safe, stay quiet, and disengage.

This guide helps you assess and strengthen psychological safety within your team or organisation.

“People don’t share ideas because they don’t care. They stay silent because they don’t feel safe.”

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WHY IT MATTERS

In Be More Strategic, Charlie describes how collaboration and creativity are built on trust and permission – the freedom to think out loud and make meaning together.

Psychological safety enables that freedom. It leads to:

• More open and honest conversations

• Smarter risk-taking and innovation

• Stronger learning and resilience

• Greater inclusion and belonging

Cultures like Pixar, Google, and IDEO show that safety and creativity are inseparable. At Pixar, for example, teams use the “Braintrust” – regular feedback sessions where anyone, regardless of role, can challenge story ideas openly and respectfully.

Safety doesn’t remove accountability. It amplifies it.