Watch Amy Edmondson’s TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8
VIDEO
Making Recognition a Resource
One of the best ways to support the conditions for healthy psychological safety is to make informal recognition a habit. To help us understand the power of this let’s reference one of my all-time favorites. If anyone knew about leadership and teamwork it was Pat Summitt the Hall of Fame basketball coach from the University of Tennessee. In her book - “Reach for the Summit t ” - she says:
“The amount of success you are capable of enjoying and the pleasure you are capable of feeling is equal to the number of people you are willing to share it with.”
Coach Summitt also says that sharing doesn’t come naturally, though. We’ve all seen this when we watch children playing: the crying starts when they have to share their favorite toy. Sharing and appreciation for others must be learned.
Diagnose Your Team
To help diagnose the state of your team, ponder how you would respond to this statement from Google’s “Project Aristotle” :
"If I make a mistake on our team, it is not held against me."
Responses will tell you how much you need to pump fear out of the room to begin making recognition come alive! Building the resource of recognition helps clarify the roles and responsibilities of teammates. It allows everyone to play to their strengths. It helps leverage the collective talents of the team. Finally, it helps everyone know how to best collaborate. Set aside your personal feelings, ambitions, and agendas. Make sure you're on the team for the right reasons and give up the false idea that you can go it alone. Realize we’re all responsible for creating the environm ent for effective teamwork. It's not ON any single person; it's IN all of us.
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