1 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, It's Carlie Taylor here for this speaks Mojo Monday. 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: So Paul and I were having a chat the other 3 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: day and we were talking about psychological safety, and I thought, 4 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: this is actually a really good topic to talk about 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: on Mojo Monday because it's been one of those phrases 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: that we hear everywhere. Well, we hear the word safety 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,639 Speaker 1: a lot now, but it's the meaning of this has drifted, 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: especially for our young people in schools and universities. So 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: I wanted to go back to what it originally meant, 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: which is kind of the cruts of the conversation that 11 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: Paul and I were having. So the early researchers, people 12 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: like Shine and Bennis in the sixties and later William Kahn, 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: when they talked about psychological safety, they weren't talking about comfort. 14 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: They were talking about and they were talking about creating 15 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:08,320 Speaker 1: environments where people could speak up, they could admit their 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: mistakes and be honest without being punished or humiliated. And 17 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: Amy Edmondson, who did this famous nineteen ninety nine study, 18 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: showed exactly that that teams with high psychological safety weren't 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: comfortable teams. They were high learning teams. So they asked questions, 20 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: they owned their mistakes, they challenged each other, and they 21 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: performed better because of it. But somehow along the way 22 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: the meaning has changed. And you really notice this when 23 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: you look at young people today and especially the messages 24 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: that are out there in social media, and for decades, honestly, 25 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: right up until the two thousands, universities were places of 26 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: lively disagreement. You know, students were able to argue politics 27 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: and philosophy and identity and gender and ethics, all of it. 28 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: And of course i'm talking generally here, but you could 29 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: strongly oppose someone's viewpoint in a tutorial and then walk 30 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: out and grab a coffee and stay friends. So debate 31 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: wasn't considered something dangerous. It was actually normal and it 32 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: was part of the university experiences. But researchers like Jonathan 33 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: Height and Greg looking on Off have documented this big 34 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: shift in their work on university culture. They show how 35 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: certain ideas are now treated not as wrong, but as 36 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: harmful and therefore must be avoided. And Australian psychologist Nick 37 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: Haslam talks about this concept creep, where definitions of harm 38 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 1: or trauma and safety have expanded so widely that everyday 39 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: discomforts and disagreements get labeled as threats. So when this happens, 40 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: we stop debating, we stop stretching our thinking, we start 41 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: avoiding anything that feels uncomfortable, and so we avoid, and 42 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: then avoidance gets framed as safety. But that is the 43 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: modern misuse of psychological safety, and it's the complete opposite 44 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: of what the original research intended. So psychological safety was 45 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: never about protecting people from feeling discomfort. It was about 46 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: creating a space where we can enter into discomfort honestly, respectfully, 47 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: and with enough trust that we don't collapse under it. 48 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: And this is really relevant for our young people because 49 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: the evidence is really clear growth requires discomfort, Confidence comes 50 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: from doing difficult things, and resilience is built by moving 51 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: towards challenge and not away from it. So if you 52 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: are a young person listening to this, or if you 53 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: work with them or love young people, here's something to 54 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: keep in mind. Feeling uncomfortable isn't a sign that something 55 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: is wrong. It's often a sign that you're learning. So 56 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: real psychological safety isn't about being shielded from hard conversations. 57 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: It's about having those conversations without fear of being shamed 58 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: or silenced. So this week, instead of slipping into avoidance 59 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: if that's what you tend to do, try asking yourself, 60 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: am I willing to make room for this discomfort so 61 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: I can grow from it? Or can I feel this 62 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: discomfort in the service of becoming the person that I 63 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: want to be? Because comfort, as we know, does not 64 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: build resilience, but challenge, supported, honest, psychologically safe challenge absolutely does. 65 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 1: So that's me for this week's Mojo Monday thing to 66 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 1: think about, and I hope you all have a great 67 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: week and I'll catch you next week. See ya.