RESEARCH_FILE
Amy C. Edmondson
Harvard Business School
Known for:Coining and empirically establishing psychological safety as a team-level climate variable — the foundational work showing that interpersonal risk climate, not personality, explains whether people speak up at work
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I can't show this yet”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Done enough can sit in the open for now.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Within 10 minutes, rename one work file with today’s date and either move it into a folder labeled Drafts or print/export a copy and place a single sticky note on the top page.
Key findings
- 1999
In a study of 51 work teams, Edmondson found that teams high in psychological safety — a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking — showed significantly greater learning behavior and better performance, establishing safety as a team-climate variable distinct from individual trust. Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams ↗
- 2003
Extending the research to hospital nursing teams, Edmondson found that higher-performing units reported more errors than lower-performing ones — because psychological safety made nurses willing to surface mistakes rather than hide them, inverting the usual assumption that fewer error reports means fewer errors. Speaking Up in the Operating Room: How Team Leaders Promote Learning in Interdisciplinary Action Teams ↗