Amy Edmondson on Team-Based Psychological Safety
Why It Matters 💡
This short video delivers a quietly empowering message for leaders and managers: you don’t need to change the whole organization to make a real difference. Psychological safety is not an abstract cultural ideal — it’s something that can be built, or eroded, at the team level.
For anyone leading from the middle, this is good news.
What It Explores 🤔
Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School professor, reflects on the findings from Google’s Project Aristotle, which set out to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some teams consistently outperform others?
The surprising result wasn’t talent, education, or team composition. It was psychological safety — the degree to which people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and offer ideas.
Crucially, Edmondson highlights that psychological safety varied widely across teams within the same organization. This means it’s not primarily a function of corporate culture, but of local leadership and interpersonal climate.
Key Themes 🧭
Psychological safety as a performance driver
Team-level climate vs. organizational culture
The power (and responsibility) of middle managers
Local leadership leverage
Small systems, real impact
What the Research Suggests 🔬
The key insight from Project Aristotle wasn’t that Google had unusually high (or low) psychological safety — but that it had high variance between teams. That variance made psychological safety visible as a predictor of performance.
In other words: even in strong cultures, teams can feel radically different. And those differences matter. A lot.
Practical Reflections Shared 🛠️
You don’t need permission to create psychological safety
Teams are “pockets” or “bubbles” leaders actively shape
Local norms matter more than corporate slogans
Small behavioral shifts can change the interpersonal climate
Progress starts where you stand
Why It’s Relevant for Leaders 🚦
Many leaders feel stuck, believing that culture change requires senior sponsorship, large programs, or organizational mandates.
This video reframes the problem: start with your team. Psychological safety is built in meetings, conversations, and daily interactions — not in values decks.
That makes this especially relevant for team leads, middle managers, facilitators, and anyone working in complex or imperfect systems.
The Takeaway 🥡
Psychological safety isn’t an all-or-nothing organizational trait.
It’s local. It varies. And it’s shapeable.
Wherever you stand, you can create a pocket of safety — and that’s often where meaningful change actually begins.