Transcript MARCH 25, 2012 Amy C. Edmondson | Novartis Professor of Leadership & Management | Harvard Business School.

MARCH 25, 2012
Amy C. Edmondson | Novartis Professor of Leadership & Management | Harvard Business School
Teaming is a Verb
team • ing (v.)
Teaming is teamwork on the fly–coordinating
and collaborating, across boundaries, without
the luxury of stable team structures
Teaming is especially needed when work
is COMPLEX and UNPREDICTABLE
Execution facing Uncertainty
EXECUTION-AS-EFFICIENCY
EXECUTION-AS-LEARNING
Leaders have the ANSWERS
STABLE
work processes
are put in place
work processes
provide a starting point
TENTATIVE
IMPLEMENTING CHANGE
CONSTANT SMALL CHANGES
is a huge undertaking
are a way of life
Feedback is ONE-WAY
Feedback is TWO-WAY
Employee judgment is DISCOURAGED
Fear (of the boss) is NORMAL
GOAL
Leaders set DIRECTION (strategy)
Be profitable today
Employee judgment is ESSENTIAL
Fear inhibits EXPERIMENTATION,
ANALYSIS, and PROBLEM SOLVING
GOAL
term
Create value over the long
Interpersonal Risk
NONE OF US WANT TO LOOK:
IT’S EASY TO MANAGE!
IGNORANT
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS
INCOMPETENT
INTRUSIVE
NEGATIVE
DON’T ADMIT WEAKNESS OR MISTAKE
DON’T OFFER IDEAS
DON’T CRITIQUE THE STATUS QUO
You Learn What They Let You
Learn
WORK UNIT
ERROR RATE
MEMORIAL 1
23.68*
UNIVERSITY 1
17.23
UNIVERSITY 3
13.19
MEMORIAL 2
11.02
MEMORIAL 4
8.6
MEMORIAL 5
10.31
UNIVERSITY 2
9.37
MEMORIAL 3
2.34
Sorted by Survey Ratings of Unit Psychological Safety
* preventable and potential adverse drug
events (ADEs) per 1000 patient-days
Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is a belief
that one will not be punished
or humiliated for speaking up
with ideas, questions, concerns,
or mistakes.
IT’S ESSENTIAL TO TEAMING.
What gets in the way?
Hierarchy and Psychological
Safety
Me a n Ps y c h o l o g ic a l s a f e t y
6.4
6.2
6
5.8
5.6
5.4
5.2
5
4.8
Ph y s ic ia n s
nur ses
r e s Pir a t o r y
t h e r a Pis t s
N=1100 clinicians
Nembhard, I. and Edmondson A.C. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional
status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in healthcare teams, Journal of Organizational Behavior.
Sacrificing Accountability
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SAFETY
ACCOUNTABILITY
Is it a matter of finding the right
point on a balance beam?
Psychological Safety &
Accountability
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SAFETY
high
Comfort Zone
Learning Zone
Apathy Zone
Anxiety Zone
low
low
high
ACCOUNTABILITY
The Blame Game
POTENTIAL CAUSES
OF FAILURE
QUESTION Which of these antecedents
involve blameworthy acts?
• Experimentation
QUESTION What percent of failures
• Uncertainty
in your organization are caused by
blameworthy acts?
• Complexity
• Lack of Competence
• Inattention
• Procedural Violation
QUESTION What percent of failures
does your organization treat as caused
by blameworthy acts?
Leading the Learning Organization
VISION
CULTURE
TEAMING
Set a clear
direction that
engages hearts
and minds
Model and
reward beliefs
that make it safe
for learning
Institute and
support
team-based
processes