Continuing the theme of great research environments, I explore how to contribute to creating great research cultures with a focus on the concept of psychological safety. I contrast the prize winning example we heard about in the last episode with examples of experiences with poor research environments. This leads to a discussion of the value of psychological safety as defined by Amy Edmondson, and others for enabling creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Psychological safety is about creating conditions where people feel safe speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns and mistakes and that foster a learning culture. I discuss practical strategies for leaders through their everyday interactions for fostering such an environment and enabling innovation, collaboration and personal growth and wellbeing. And I finish up with an invitation for all of us to reflect on our role in cultivating a supportive and inclusive academic culture.

00:00 Intro

00:29 Introduction to Creating Great Research Cultures

00:52 Recap of Prize-Winning Research Environment

02:38 Understanding Psychological Safety

03:40 Examples of Poor Research Environments

10:37 Defining Psychological Safety

12:21 Historical Context of Psychological Safety

15:42 Research on Psychological Safety

21:31 Psychological safety as key factor in Google's great teams

23:03 Leadership and Psychological Safety

24:15 Role Modeling and Self-Awareness

26:46 Fostering Belonging, Inclusion and Learning

29:18 Co-Creating Research Culture through our Actions

31:20 Conclusion and Reflection

Related links:

Previous podcast episode with Line, Nicklas, and Nina on Danis Young Academy prize research environments

Amy Edmondson web page

Amy C. Edmondson and Shike Lei, Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. Vol 1:23-43, 2014. 

Amy C. Edmondson. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley. 2019.

Pat Thomson, Blog article - Felling like an imposter?

Pat Thomson, feeling like an imposter?

Google’s Project Aristotle

Royal Society, Research Culture Embedding inclusive excellence: Insights on the future culture of research. (Tom Welton quote on culture p6)

Welcome to Changing Academic Life.

2

I'm Geraldine Fitzpatrick and this is

a podcast series where academics and

3

others share their stories, provide

ideas and provoke discussions about what

4

we can do individually and collectively

to change academic life for the better.

5

In today's solo episode, I want to

invite us all to reflect on what are

6

the ways that we can each contribute

to creating great research cultures.

7

And in particular, I'm going to focus

on this concept of psychological

8

safety as a key requirement for

creating research cultures that foster

9

good science and good wellbeing.

10

As a reminder in the last

episode, we celebrated a prize

11

winning research environment.

12

We heard from Line and Nicklas

who nominated their department

13

for the prize that was awarded

by the Danish Young Academy.

14

And we heard from Nina from the academy.

15

Who reflected on the patterns

that the committee saw across

16

the nominations for what makes

for a great research environment.

17

So just as a recap, let's hear from Nina.

18

Nina: The most common thing is that

people describe that they have a sense of

19

belonging to their research environment.

20

That's the most important factor.

21

To create that sense.

22

So, um, So that includes having a common

purpose or a common identity, a defined

23

mission that people can jump onto.

24

And also, ways of promoting diversity

and ensuring that people can be their

25

true selves, they feel comfortable as

the person they are, it's having a

26

shared set of values that people can

agree to having clear expectations.

27

So people know what, what is expected.

28

It's having a way to foster

and value creativity.

29

Setting up structures where people have

time to explore creative ideas and

30

discussing new ideas in an environment

where they're not afraid to express

31

those ideas and they can get constructive

feedback . As Line and Nicklas also

32

said that it builds on initiatives

from the top and from the bottom.

33

So everybody contributes in

their own way to this environment.

34

Geri: As Line and Nicklas

also said this connects to the

35

concept of psychological safety.

36

I asked them, what did they

mean by psychological safety.

37

Nicklas: Yeah, it's, it's that you're feel

safe in the environment you're a part of.

38

That you you'll safe enough to make

mistakes doing the process you're

39

in that you don't have to do it

the correct way every single time.

40

And then feel the support both when

you're succeeding with things, but

41

also when you're not succeeding.

42

So you feel like, yeah, you feel safe

in, in things when you're doing things.

43

Geri: This concept of psychological

safety and its association with, with

44

notions of belonging and inclusion.

45

Is so critically important

to creating great research

46

cultures, research environments.

47

And before I go on to describe

psychological safety in

48

a little bit more detail.

49

It's probably worth reflecting on what

might be the research environments

50

that could win the Razzie awards.

51

The, uh, anti great

research environment wards.

52

And towards this, I can reflect

on examples that I've heard from

53

different people that I've talked

with or, experiences that I've heard

54

people share workshops that we've run.

55

And also experiences that I've had myself.

56

Though, I won't make clear in

the following examples, which

57

are mine and which are others, or

which institutions are involved.

58

So.

59

Imagine you're in an environment

where you're in a meeting.

60

And this could be a faculty meeting or

a group meeting or a project meeting.

61

Maybe you're in a tenured position.

62

But you're fairly new to the place.

63

And you put your hand up to make

a contribution and the person

64

who's in charge of that meeting

every time you try to speak, they

65

deliberately or so it seems to you.

66

They turn around in their

chair to face away from you.

67

And may get distracted on their phone or

choose that moment to go to the bathroom.

68

And you're sitting there feeling really

red in the face and embarrassed because

69

this is conveying a message, not just

to you, but also to your colleagues.

70

That your contributions are not just not

heard, but also not valued in any way.

71

And that you are not valued.

72

So how likely are you going to be

to speak up again at a next meeting?

73

Or even attend in the first place

to put yourself in that situation.

74

Or imagine another situation where you've

just presented something that you've

75

been working on . And, you know, it's

work in progress and you really want to

76

hear some good feedback and have some

good discussions about the work so that

77

you can help develop it collectively.

78

But even while you're presenting

the work, you can see the senior

79

professor of the group raising their

eyebrows and shaking their head.

80

And instead of discussing your work,

it ends up being roundly critiqued and

81

criticized in the harshest of terms.

82

And even taken to a personal level,

telling you in front of everyone, that

83

you've no idea what you're doing and it's

just rubbish and you should start again.

84

Or imagine a situation where you

take a different methodological or

85

epistemological approach to your work.

86

And whenever you try to discuss

it, it's just laughed off as there

87

you go again, trying to push Y.

88

And there are conspiratorial

smiles all around the table.

89

And with that quick dismissal,

everyone moves on to discuss their

90

own work and their own approaches.

91

And if you're a young PhD student

or an early career researcher

92

and feeling insecure in any way.

93

Then in both of these previous situations,

you're not going to be wanting to

94

bring up your work again to this group.

95

You're going to be really reluctant

to seek any feedback in future.

96

Or present a different way of doing

things, present a different point of

97

view to what is the dominant model.

98

Or imagine that you're sitting in your

office and coming down the corridor are

99

sounds of people yelling at each other.

100

Not conversing, not communicating,

not discussing, just yelling.

101

A really tense, angry, toxic environment.

102

Not good.

103

Imagine having someone

say to you, unsolicited.

104

That so-and-so doesn't like you.

105

And this could be a so-and-so who's

in a position of power and this

106

really comes as a surprise to you.

107

You've no idea what might be the issue.

108

You thought you had a

fine relationship though?

109

You didn't interact with them very much.

110

And so you're not just wondering about

the relationship with this person, but

111

the fact that you've been told this means

that you're left wondering, What are

112

people saying about me behind my back?

113

And what else don't I know.

114

And who else has different perceptions

of relationships than what I have.

115

Imagine you're being critiqued

because you want to go home

116

at 6:00 PM to see your family.

117

And that's even still late.

118

And you don't want to participate

in the competition to see

119

who can work more hours.

120

But there's attention drawn to it and

you get the sarcastic remark of Oh.

121

Are you heading off already?

122

Imagine being in one of those situations

where you never know which version of

123

your line manager, leader, supervisor,

professor, you're going to get.

124

Is it going to be the nice

one or is it going to be the

125

stressed out and cranky one?

126

Or where you feel almost gaslighted,

where you've been working on something

127

that you believe is what you've agreed.

128

And then when you turn up again to share

that there's a dispute about whether

129

that was agreed or not, or whether they'd

actually asked you to do something else.

130

And then of course, we also hear

many stories of discrimination

131

and harassment in the workplace.

132

And I've heard this in terms

of gender and ethnicity.

133

And along other more subtle dimensions.

134

So you can imagine again, feeling really

marginalized and like you don't belong.

135

You're maybe you're someone who

doesn't drink at all yet all of the

136

social gatherings in the group involve

significant amounts of alcohol,

137

where you're just not comfortable.

138

Or where you're the only woman in a group.

139

And everyone immediately turns to you and

expects you to make the cake to celebrate

140

someone's birthday or to take the notes.

141

And I'm sure you could come up with

loads of other examples where you just

142

haven't felt at home in the environment.

143

Where you haven't felt comfortable,

felt like you belonged.

144

Where you haven't felt free to

offer an opinion or a point of view,

145

or to just stand up for yourself.

146

And I don't know about you, but

my reaction in these situations

147

is to withdraw and to hide.

148

And what I'll often choose to

do is to redirect my efforts to

149

other communities outside of my

research group or my faculty.

150

Where I can feel like I'm more

accepted and where I can feel like

151

I belong, because why would I put my

head on the block again only to get

152

knocked down or hurt in some way.

153

And that's what psychological

safety is about.

154

How do we create environments where

these sorts of scenarios don't happen?

155

Where people genuinely feel free to

show up fully human fully themselves.

156

Where they don't have to change to fit in.

157

But where there is space made

for everyone to be able to find

158

their place, to find their voice.

159

It means people being able to challenge

the status quo to express opinions or

160

preferences without fear of ridicule.

161

And instead where those

opinions and preferences are

162

engaged with, with curiosity.

163

It means people feeling seen and heard.

164

Where their ideas are valued.

165

And it doesn't always mean

you have to be in agreement,

166

but it feels okay to speak up and to

make contributions and we can explore

167

and understand our differences.

168

And it means the embracing

the fact that we're all human.

169

We all make mistakes.

170

And we're able to own up to them without

fear of being critiqued or judged.

171

Or without being shamed.

172

And not just that, but that

where the, the sharing of this

173

is embraced and celebrated.

174

And we then can participate in a

shared learning journey about what

175

we can take from this for next time.

176

Psychological safety is just such a

critical factor for our research cultures.

177

So, where does the term come from?

178

We can trace it back to Carl Rogers in

179

brought into management studies work in

180

And they talked about it in terms of

reducing interpersonal risk and where

181

people feel accepted and worthwhile.

182

And then in 1990, William Kahn also

talked about psychological safety

183

to describe conditions that were

influencing personal engagement at work.

184

And talked about it in terms of being

able to show up and be yourself without

185

fear of negative consequences to your

self image or your status or career.

186

However, the more recent resurgence of

interest in psychological safety can be

187

attributed to Harvard business school.

188

Professor Amy Edmondson.

189

Amy drew on this concept for her 1999 PhD

thesis, to explain why the best performing

190

clinical teams in a hospital were not

the ones who made the fewest mistakes as

191

they had hypothesized, but they were in

fact, the ones who've made more mistakes.

192

But what distinguish them was that they

felt safe enough to own up to and talk

193

about and learn from these mistakes.

194

Amy defined psychological safety is a

belief that "one will not be punished

195

or humiliated for speaking up with

ideas, questions, concerns, or mistake.

196

And that the team is safe for

personal interpersonal risk taking".

197

And she's written about this in a 2019

book called 'The fearless organization.

198

Creating psychological safety

in the workplace for learning

199

innovation and growth'.

200

And I'd highly recommend that book.

201

And it's interesting in that

title where she talks about

202

learning innovation and growth.

203

Because that really captures why

psychological safety is so important.

204

And how relevant.

205

Our learning innovation and growth

are for our research environments.

206

On her webpage.

207

Amy also talks about psychological

safety being what is needed to clear

208

blockages that will block innovation,

collaboration, and risk taking.

209

And again, that sort of terminology

of innovation, collaboration, and

210

risk-taking could be very much the

terminology that we would use as basic

211

definitions of what science is about.

212

We embrace many of today's problems

and try to address them and

213

solve them through innovation,

collaboration, and risk taking.

214

Where we really need everyone to

contribute in order to make a difference.

215

We need people to be able to speak up.

216

We need people to be able to take risks

and to ask challenging research questions

217

and to live with uncertainty and deal

with trying different paths and see

218

things not working and trying again.

219

It's for these reasons that I really

see it as a critical concept for

220

research and research environments.

221

So with co-author Zhike Lei.

222

I'm not sure if I

pronounce that correctly.

223

Amy wrote an interesting paper that was

224

of research that had been conducted on

psychological safety up to that point.

225

And I'll put a link to

the paper on the webpage.

226

And in that paper, they identified a

number of what they call consistent

227

relationships across the studies.

228

So just listen to these and think

about them through the lens of

229

doing innovative research in a

interdisciplinary collaborative teams.

230

So, first of all, they identified that

there's a significant relationship between

231

psychological safety and performance.

232

And they talk about this relationship

between psychological safety and effective

233

performance as being particularly

relevant, where there is uncertainty

234

and a need for either creativity or

collaboration to accomplish that work.

235

So psychological safety enables us to

deal with the uncertainty and own up to

236

all of the risks that's involved in that.

237

And isn't that the definition of

research, engaging with uncertainty

238

in order to make new contributions,

to knowledge and to society.

239

And the collaboration aspect too enables

us to deal with the importance of

240

needing lots of different contributions.

241

And working out how to best mobilize

those contributions and negotiate all the

242

challenges that arise from recognizing

that collaboration involves difference,

243

different opinions, different points

of view, different personalities.

244

And how we negotiate,

navigate those differences.

245

And the importance of us all being free to

speak up and offer our opinions and so on.

246

So the second theme that they talk

about is in relation to learning.

247

And again, what is research, if

not an ongoing learning journey?

248

So to quote directly from their article.

249

"Much learning in today's

organization takes place in the

250

interpersonal interactions between

highly interdependent members.

251

And learning behaviors can be

limited by individual concerns about

252

interpersonal risks or consequences,

including a fear of not achieving one's

253

goals and learning anxiety created

by feelings of incompetence that in

254

that occurred during the learning".

255

End of quote.

256

And here I'm reminded from this lovely

quote from Pat Thompson, a researcher

257

from Nottingham university who talks

about us as academics, needing to get

258

comfortable being learners on the path

to becoming professional not knowers.

259

I'm not sure if I've got

that totally correct.

260

But don't you love that?

261

We're always going to be learners and

we have to be just come comfortable

262

with being professional not knowers.

263

So that means that learning

is always about that gap, that

264

uncomfortable gap between what we

know now and what we need to know.

265

One of the common ways that we bridge

that gap is often through trying things

266

out by trial and error that doesn't work.

267

And reflecting on it and trying

something else or by making mistakes.

268

And I think in that learning,

it's also about just being human

269

and having good and bad days.

270

And they go on to talk about how the

fact that "people are more likely

271

to offer ideas, admit mistakes,

ask for help, or provide feedback

272

if they feel safe to do so".

273

Again, this is so important for being

able to come up with our best research

274

solutions that have impact on society and

the challenges that we're trying to solve.

275

And that's the very reason why we're

doing research in the first place.

276

And the third strand that they're

identified across their studies is

277

about people needing to feel prepared

to speak up to power in a way.

278

So they, to quote them "Individuals who

experienced greater psychological safety

279

are more likely to speak up at work.

280

Upward communication can be a

vital force in helping contemporary

281

organizations learn and succeed.

282

By speaking up to those who occupy

positions to authorize actions,

283

employees can help challenge the

status quo, identify problems or

284

opportunities for improvement.

285

And other ideas to improve

their organizations wellbeing".

286

End quote.

287

We can think that through for

many situations where it feels

288

particularly risky to speak up to

some sort of power or authority.

289

Especially if they seem to know much more

than what we know, or if they're really

290

under stress and pushing, delivery on

the project, because they're concerned

291

about producing results for the funding

agency or the next publication for

292

their CV or for their promotion case.

293

And so on.

294

And it's this safe feeling

that you can speak up.

295

That's going to be so important.

296

If we're going to see a decrease

in the number of retracted papers,

297

say due to methodological problems

that aren't being honestly reported.

298

Or the fudging of results.

299

You know, And often junior researchers

not feeling brave enough or safe enough to

300

actually say there was a problem with the

particular performance of an experiment.

301

So that was their three themes.

302

And it's interesting that an internal

303

and actually involved significant

amount of data studying 180 of their

304

teams identified psychological safety

as the most important factor to explain

305

what made the most successful teams.

306

And this was in a project that

they called project Aristotle.

307

So it wasn't about having the best

technical superstars in the team.

308

And in fact, their top five factors

also reflect very much what Nina said

309

about the patterns that they saw at

the academy across the nominations for

310

what makes a good research environment.

311

So those top factors that made for that

Google's most successful teams were 1.

312

Psychological safety that people

felt safe to take risks and be

313

vulnerable in front of each other.

314

2.

315

Dependability that people got things

done on time and to a high standard.

316

3., that there was structure and clarity

around roles and plans and goals.

317

And remember Nina talking

about clear expectations.

318

4.

319

About the work being meaningful.

320

And personally important in some way.

321

And 5.

322

Impact feeling like their

work and contributions matter

323

and help create change.

324

Now I know that in a research environment,

we have a lot of structural problems that

325

are implicated here in the pressures that

we might be experiencing that lead to a

326

lack of psychological safety in some way.

327

You know, our highly competitive

performance culture are very

328

metrics driven environment.

329

And I don't want to discount the work

to be done at this structural level.

330

But I still think it's an 'and' situation

. It can have implications for all of us.

331

So I'm just going to focus here for

the rest of this episode what I think

332

of particularly the implications

for those of us who might be in some

333

position of leadership or authority,

and this doesn't have to be a formally

334

recognized big L type leadership position.

335

It's any of us who have

interactions with others that may

336

involve some power difference.

337

So, whether you're a project leader

or a research group leader, or a

338

supervisor advisor of students, As a

leader, I think we have a particular

339

responsibility to set the tone.

340

And to role model the sorts of

behaviors that we want to see.

341

So I can go through a few things here.

342

One is role modeling,

what it means to be real.

343

In the workplace, like

showing up as ourselves.

344

It means role modeling

when we've made a mistake.

345

. . . And that means owning up to the fact

that we can have good and bad days.

346

So we may get cranky.

347

We may speak to someone in a

way that we're not happy about.

348

We may engage in some non-verbal

behaviors that convey some sort

349

of disapproval or critique.

350

But I think we need to be big enough

to go and apologize and say that

351

wasn't good enough rather than just

let it hang, because if we let it

352

hang, that becomes a standard of

behavior that's acceptable around here.

353

That we can have a bad day

and take it out on people.

354

It means role modeling that

we don't know something.

355

And that it's okay not to know everything

and to invite input and opinions

356

and perspectives from other people.

357

It means role modeling,

seeking feedback for ourselves.

358

Genuinely interested in how we

can improve, even if it's hard.

359

And showing that we are also

on a learning journey as well.

360

And wanting to know how we can

be better, how we can do better.

361

And not just inviting the feedback

from others, but also responding

362

to it with curiosity and grace.

363

And showing that we actually value

that feedback by making changes and

364

reporting back, how are we going

365

And so we, we need as leaders

to be so much more self-aware.

366

Of how we react or respond in situations

and to be aware of how our actions and

367

reactions can be perceived by others.

368

That even if we don't intend to

knock people down, that may be

369

by spinning around on a chair and

not giving attention to the person

370

who's speaking, where inadvertently.

371

Whether deliberately or not

communicating that this person's

372

point of view is not important.

373

So self-awareness and self reflection

I think is really key to thinking

374

about how we show up and how we role

model, what are the behaviors we

375

value as part of a psychologically

safe supportive research culture.

376

Second bundle of things I think is

very much around, Requiring us to

377

get to know people as individuals.

378

Because belonging is really a core

underpinning for psychological safety.

379

And, belonging is about.

380

Being seen and heard and valued.

381

For who we are.

382

And that means as leaders, our

responsibility to get to know who people

383

are and to understand what each person's

strengths are and what they can bring in

384

what they can contribute to the group.

385

And also how we can best

support different people.

386

And this requires deep listening

skills and deep empathy skills.

387

Another class of activities can be

around how we engage with difference

388

and how we run our groups, how we

invite seriously invite different

389

voices, different opinions and engage

with disagreements in our groups.

390

And treat them as sites

for productive engagement.

391

For, um, opportunities for learning.

392

And this becomes really important in terms

of not just what we say, but what we do.

393

So we may invite people

to bring up problems.

394

And then it becomes really

important that we don't focus.

395

On the problems in terms

of looking back or seeking.

396

To blame or whatever, but that.

397

We really learn how to facilitate

the discussions where we can.

398

Move it forward.

399

And what can we draw out from this?

400

What can we learn from this for next

time so that we can get better together?

401

So it's about inviting the voices

and, and rewarding people for

402

speaking up and making it a learning.

403

How do we learn?

404

And it's the consistency

in how this plays out.

405

And in terms of clarity around

roles and responsibilities

406

as was brought up previously.

407

So psychological safety is created by

enacting and enabling belonging and.

408

Inclusion.

409

Now that are both sort of like the basic

requirements for psychological safety,

410

as well as outcomes in a way of having

a psychologically safe environment.

411

So I think there's this sort of

mutually reinforcing relationship

412

between psychological safety

and belonging and inclusion.

413

And we can also connect here to

definitions of research culture.

414

Where research culture is often talked

about as encompassing the behaviors,

415

the values, the expectations,

attitudes, norms of what we expect

416

around here and what we accept.

417

It's how we do things.

418

And there's this lovely quote by

professor Tom Welton in a UK Royal

419

Society report that talks about the

way in which cultures are enacted.

420

That we enact culture there.

421

So let me start that quote.

422

"Cultures are not set by policy documents

or by distributing a leaflet, but

423

through the people with whom we meet

in thousands of seemingly insignificant

424

interactions on perfectly ordinary days.

425

And we should all ask ourselves whether we

display the characteristics that we value.

426

And want to see embedded within

the cultures in which we work.

427

Some people are more visible than others.

428

[And here I can interject

that this would be the leaders

429

that I've just talked about.

430

And to continue the quote].

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But none of us are invisible.

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And we all have a part to play

in developing an inclusive and

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supportive research culture for all".

434

End of quote.

435

And this connects beautifully to

what Line and Nicklas and Nina said.

436

About everyone having a role

in contribution to creating

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great research cultures.

438

And this means we all have a part

to play in contributing to making

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that a psychologically safe culture.

440

Where people can show up as their

authentic selves and without fear

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of rejection or ridicule and so on.

442

So what might be some examples

of these seemingly insignificant

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interactions on perfectly ordinary days?

444

In closing here I invite you

just to reflect on what might

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be some examples for you.

446

Of the seemingly insignificant

interactions on perfectly ordinary days.

447

And it's an invitation to

reflect on how you show up.

448

And how you contribute to creating

a great research environment.

449

That you may one day want to put forward

for a research environment prize as

450

an example of how to do great work.

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And we know that these great research

environments, aren't just about

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feeling good and everyone being happy.

453

But they're actually about

creating the conditions in

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which we can do our best work.

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Our best creative thinking

our best collaborations for

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the benefit of great science.

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And psychological safety

is really key for that.

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Not just for great science, but

also for enabling the wellbeing and

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development of people and learning

processes that support the production

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of that great science and taking risks.

461

Culture matters.

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It really matters.

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And we create and

co-create culture together.

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By our choices and by our

everyday interactions.

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We can make it better.

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You can find the summary

notes, a transcript and related

467

links for this podcast on www.

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changingacademiclife.

469

com.

470

You can also subscribe to

Changing Academic Life on iTunes,

471

Spotify and Google Podcasts.

472

And I'm really hoping that we can

widen the conversation about how

473

we can do academia differently.

474

And you can contribute to this by rating

the podcast and also giving feedback.

475

And if something connected with

you, please consider sharing this

476

podcast with your colleagues.

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Together, we can make change happen.