Psychological Safety: Why Google's Most Important Discovery Can Transform Your Team

In 2012, Google launched a research project called "Project Aristotle." The goal: Find out what distinguishes successful teams from less successful ones. The answer surprised everyone.

It wasn't talent. Not experience. Not intelligence.

It was psychological safety.

What Is Psychological Safety?

Psychological safety is the shared belief within a team that it's safe to take interpersonal risks.

Definition by Amy Edmondson (Harvard):

"Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes."

What It Means

In psychologically safe teams, people can:

• Ask questions without appearing stupid
• Admit mistakes without fear of consequences
• Voice ideas without being laughed at
• Raise concerns without being seen as negative
• Take risks without being punished for failure

Related: Lack of psychological safety amplifies Impostor Syndrome – the feeling of not deserving your success.

What It Does NOT Mean

• Not: Everyone is always nice to each other
• Not: No criticism or high standards
• Not: Cuddle culture without accountability
• Not: Everyone gets what they want

Psychological safety + high standards = high performance

Google's Project Aristotle

The Research

Google analyzed 180 teams over 2 years. They examined:

• Team composition (personalities, skills, backgrounds)
• Team dynamics (communication, meetings, decisions)
• Team performance (goal achievement, innovation, satisfaction)

The Surprising Results

What was NOT decisive:

• Who's on the team (individual performance)
• How long the team has worked together
• Team size
• Physical proximity
• Consensus in decisions

What WAS decisive (in this order):

Psychological safety was by far the most important factor.

Why Psychological Safety Matters in Tech

The Special Challenges in Tech

1. Complexity Requires Questions

Without Psychological Safety:
- Junior doesn't ask, doesn't understand code
- Builds on wrong understanding
- Bug discovered only in production

With Psychological Safety:
- Junior asks: "Can someone explain this?"
- Understands concept correctly
- Builds correct solution

2. Innovation Requires Risk

Without Psychological Safety:
- "That's a dumb idea" → Idea not shared
- Team continues as usual
- No innovation

With Psychological Safety:
- "What if we...?" → Idea is discussed
- Maybe it works, maybe not
- But: Team learns and innovates

3. Quality Requires Feedback

Without Psychological Safety:
- Code review: "That's bad" (defensive)
- Or: No honest criticism out of fear
- Code quality suffers

With Psychological Safety:
- Code review: "Here's an alternative..." (constructive)
- Open exchange
- Code quality improves

4. Bugs Require Openness

Without Psychological Safety:
- Bug is hidden/covered up
- Escalates in production
- Blame game starts

With Psychological Safety:
- Bug is reported immediately
- Team fixes together
- Retrospective without blame

The Business Case

The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety

According to Timothy R. Clark, there's a hierarchy of psychological safety:

Stage 1: Inclusion Safety

Question: Do I belong?

Symptoms when lacking:

• Outsiders in the team
• Cliques and exclusion
• "Them vs. Us" thinking

Building it:

• Actively including everyone
• Onboarding with personal touch
• Consciously including diverse teams

Stage 2: Learner Safety

Question: Can I learn and make mistakes?

Symptoms when lacking:

• Nobody asks questions
• Mistakes are hidden
• No experiments

Building it:

• Normalize questions ("There are no stupid questions")
• Share your own mistakes as a leader
• Value learning over knowing

Stage 3: Contributor Safety

Question: Can I make a contribution?

Symptoms when lacking:

• Only a few speak in meetings
• Ideas aren't shared
• "The boss decides that"

Building it:

• Actively ask for input
• Appreciate contributions
• Enable autonomy

Stage 4: Challenger Safety

Question: Can I challenge the status quo?

Symptoms when lacking:

• Nobody disagrees
• "We've always done it that way"
• Criticism = career risk

Building it:

• Demand dissent
• Reward criticism
• Institutionalize Red Team / Devil's Advocate

Measuring Psychological Safety

Team Assessment (anonymous, 1-5 scale)

1. If I make a mistake on this team, it's not held against me
2. Members of this team can bring up problems and tough issues
3. People on this team don't reject others for being different
4. It's safe to take a risk on this team
5. It's not difficult to ask other team members for help
6. No one on this team would deliberately undermine my efforts
7. My unique skills and talents are valued and utilized on this team

Scoring:

• 28-35: High Psychological Safety
• 21-27: Medium Psychological Safety
• 14-20: Low Psychological Safety
• 7-13: Critically low

Observable Indicators

Building Psychological Safety

For Leaders

1. Model Vulnerability

POWERFUL:
"I made a mistake with..."
"I don't know the answer."
"I need help with..."

WHY IT WORKS:
If the leader can be vulnerable,
it's safe for everyone.

2. Respond Positively to Risks

Someone brings an idea that doesn't work:

WRONG:
"That will never work."

RIGHT:
"Thanks for sharing that. What was your
thinking? What can we take from it?"

3. Actively Ask for Input

NOT: "Anyone else have anything?"
(Suggests: Meeting should end)

BETTER: "[Name], what do you think?"
(Direct invitation, shows appreciation)

4. Act Immediately on Violations

Someone puts someone down:

NOT ACCEPTABLE: Silently ignoring

NECESSARY: "That's not how we communicate
here. [Name], what did you mean?
[Affected person], how did that feel?"

5. Separate Person from Problem

BAD:
"You introduced a bug."

BETTER:
"There's a bug in the code. How can we
fix it together and prevent this
from happening again?"

For Teams

1. Use Retrospectives Properly

• Vegas rule: What's discussed here, stays here
• No blame, only learning
• "What" instead of "Who"

2. Pair Programming / Mob Programming

• Normalizes questions and learning
• Shows: Nobody knows everything
• Builds relationships

3. Blameless Post-Mortems

STRUCTURE:
1. What happened? (Timeline)
2. What did we learn?
3. What are we changing?

EXPLICITLY FORBIDDEN:
- Personal blame
- "Who did...?"
- Consequences for individuals

4. Failure Fridays / Fuck-Up Nights

• Regular sharing of failures
• Makes failing normal
• Focus on learning

For Individuals

1. Be the First

• Ask the "stupid" question
• Admit the mistake
• Share the half-baked idea

2. Respond Supportively

• When others take risks: Show appreciation
• "Good question!" (and mean it)
• Don't exploit others' mistakes

3. Speak Up

• If you feel unsafe: Communicate it
• "I have the feeling that..."
• Become part of the solution

Common Obstacles

"But we need accountability!"

Psychological safety and accountability are not contradictory:

The goal: High psychological safety AND high standards.

"My Boss Is the Problem"

Strategies for difficult superiors:

1. Start in your own team – You can build PS in your sphere of influence
2. Convince with results – Show the business value
3. Find allies – Other leaders, HR
4. Consider escalation – If toxic, potentially draw consequences

"That Takes Too Long"

Psychological safety takes time – but there are quick wins:

• First retrospective with clear rules
• Leader shares first mistake
• One question in a meeting that would otherwise go unasked

Psychological Safety and Remote Work

Special Challenges

• No body language visible
• Muted mics = Silence
• Asynchronous communication = Misunderstandings
• Isolation = Less belonging

Solutions

1. Camera On (When Possible)

• Shows presence and attention
• Enables nonverbal communication

2. Institutionalize Check-ins

Every meeting starts with:
"How is everyone today?" (1 word or 1 sentence)

3. Psychologically Safe Channels

• #random for non-work
• #help for questions without shame
• #wins AND #fails for both sides

4. Virtual Coffee Chats

• Random 1:1s for relationship building
• Tools like Donut for Slack

Conclusion: The Multiplier Effect

Psychological safety isn't a nice-to-have – it's the multiplier for everything else:

• Talent × Psychological Safety = Utilized Talent
• Processes × Psychological Safety = Lived Processes
• Tools × Psychological Safety = Effectively Used Tools
• Strategy × Psychological Safety = Implemented Strategy

Without psychological safety, potential remains unused. With it, a group of individuals becomes a real team.

The one question you should ask yourself:

Do the people on my team feel safe enough to give their best – or are they holding back?

If you're not sure, ask them. That would already be a first step.

Want to understand how you as a leader can create psychological safety? Our guide on Servant Leadership shows a leadership style that puts trust at the center. Related: Overcoming Impostor Syndrome and Burnout Prevention.