The More Your People Belong, the More They Innovate
That risky thing you've gotta figure out, it gets done because you feel, own, and care for someone. Not because you're safe.
Regardless of how psychologically safe you make your workplace, being safe isn’t why we step into a risky thing to do. Psychological safety will never be the driving force to:
to speak up because your boss needs to hear the old ways aren’t working
to be yourself, authentically
to stand up for your Samoan sister and her tattoos
You do it because you feel, own, and care for them and for your “self.” You belong.
you care for them by speaking up because you feel for your teammates so they wouldn’t have to lose their minds doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.
you feel the innate rightness of being yourself, being suppressed. You can do you and get the job done, and, your #innerittybittygrittycommittee tells you you’re enough just the way you are (complete with a great big inner hug). Even though your coworkers aren’t sure which pronoun to use with you.
you feel anger when you overhear someone saying, “She’s scary, and those tattoos…”, And you think to yourself, you can’t say that about my Samoan person, so you care for your friend by entering into the conversation and say, “You dudes, that ain’t cool, have you never worked with a powerful woman? How about going and talking with her instead of talking shit? We are one company here.
In truth, your heralding a psychologically safe environment might be the very thing preventing innovation. By proclaiming so, you’re telling your people they can only innovate when they’re safe enough.
The only place where we’re truly safe, even in the face of incredible odds and danger, is when we’re with whom we belong. Here, instead of fear of, we fear for each other. And in that place, we unite and fight instead of fight/flight. You know, go out on a ledge with each other.
We innovate for someone. Because we feel for them and their problem, they are ours so their problem is ours, and we’re going to care for them by doing something about it. And we just might get really uncomfortable, and even fail in the process.
We are always in fear. In belonging, we fear less and we fear for each other instead of, of each other.
We are always in aspiration. In belonging, we aspire more, with and for each other instead of at the expense of each other.
We are either in belonging, or not. The line of when it’s safe enough for us moves closer to us, the deeper our belonging.
Your innovation? That’s a natural outcome of your belonging.
(For a deeper read about the relationship of fear, belonging, and aspiration, click here.)
Are you saying to yourself, “Dang, I want my people to belong!”?
Give me a holler. I can help you make your own belonging culture. Thanks for reading, Paul.
#feelowncare #belonging #innovation #psychologicalsafety #fearbelongingaspiration