Episode 39: Psychological Safety, with Nils Davis
Danielle and Kristy talk about psychological safety with Nils Davis, an author, trainer, and podcast host in the field of Product Management. We talk about what psychological safety is and why it’s important. Nils provides a series of practical tips to build psychological safety with others. We also talk about how to have psychological safety with yourself and why you might want to stop using self-deprecating humor. Danielle and Kristy geek out over their favorite podcasters reinforcing the primary philosophy of this podcast about how to live your best life.
Notable Ideas:
Definition of authenticity: A shared belief of members of the team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.
Ways to build Psychological Safety:
Frame the work as a learning problem, not an execution problem
Acknowledge your own fallibility
Model curiosity and ask lots of questions
Praise
Encourage experimentation
Encourage “dumb questions”
Remember that people are doing their best
Go to bat for your team
25:30 The second arrow; The first arrow is the one you can’t avoid. The second arrow is the one you shoot at yourself.
Resources from Nils:
Book: The Secrets of Product Management
Podcast Episode: Build psychological safety in your teams
Other Resources: