Fearless Organization book notes

It is not enough to hire smart, motivated people. They should have safe environment to take risks to accomplish innovative creative work

The fearless organization is one where fear is minimized so that performance can be maximized

Phycological safety (PS) is a climate in which people are comfortable expressing and being themselves

Good teams don’t make more mistakes; they report more

Trust is at individual level; PS is at group/organizational level

Trust is about giving others the benefit of doubt, and PS related to whether others will give you the benefit of doubt

PS exists where people feel they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without being punished or embarrassed

PS is not about being nice

	Low standards	High standards
High PS	Comfort zone	Learning and high performance zone
Low PS	Apathy Zone	Anxiety zone

PS is important in uncertain, interdependent , VUCA (volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world

Motivation by fear works in certain, well known world. It is not effective in bringing creativity and passion needed to accomplish challenging goals in knowledge-intensive workplaces

A culture of silence is a dangerous culture

Without freedom to fail, people will try to repeat safe options

When you don’t know and you are really listening intently, people want to help you. They want to share

Framework

1. Setting the stage (Shared expectations and meaning)
1. Frame the work:
1. Set expectations about failure, uncertainty
2. Identity what's at stake, why it matters, and for whom
2. Inviting participation (Confidence that voice is welcome)
1. Demonstrate situational humility
1. Acknowledge gaps
2. Practice Inquiry
1. Ask good questions
2. Model intense listening
3. Setup structure and processes
1. Create forums for input
2. Provide guidelines for discussions
3. Responding Productively (Orientation towards continuous learning)
1. Express appreciation
1. Listen
2. Acknowledge and thank
2. Destigmatize failure
1. Look forward
2. Offer help
3. Discuss, consider and brainstorm next steps
3. Sanction clear violations

Neither preventable (process deviations) nor complex (system breakdown) failures are worthy of celebrations

Intelligent (new ideas, new territory, trails) failures should be celebrated

An Intelligent failure second time is not an intelligent failure anymore

When leaders express humility, teams engage in more learning behavior

Rule of thumb for asking a good question

1. The one you don’t have answer for
2. One that does not result in yes/no answer

Productive responses

1. Thank you so much for speaking up

Powerful phrases to create PS

1. I don’t know
2. I need help
3. I made a mistake
4. I am sorry

Questions to ask

1. What can I do to help?
2. What are you up against?
3. What are you concerns?

PS is reinforced by fair , thoughtful responses like sanctioning, firing to potentially dangerous, harmful behaviors

PS does not guarantee effectiveness, it just makes it easier to find out what people have to offer.

Anyone can influence others by modeling 3 Cs

1. Curiosity : Ask genuine questions
2. Compassion : Understand what others are up against
3. Commitment: People believe when you demonstrate meeting goals