Psychological safety has become the holy grail of modern team culture. Leaders everywhere are working to create environments where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and take risks. But what happens when this well-intentioned goal goes too far? This provocative talk challenges the conventional wisdom by exploring the dark side of psychological safety—when it becomes a shield against necessary friction, tough conversations, and the kind of productive conflict that drives breakthrough thinking.
You'll discover why some of the most innovative teams in history felt anything but "safe," how conflict avoidance masquerades as psychological safety, and why agreeable teams often produce mediocre results. Drawing on research from organizational psychology and real-world leadership experiences, this session reveals when leaders need to deliberately introduce tension, how to distinguish between destructive conflict that tears teams apart and generative conflict that makes them stronger, and practical techniques for calibrating the right level of discomfort for innovation.
This isn't about abandoning psychological safety—it's about understanding its limits and knowing when your team needs something different. You'll leave with a more nuanced view of what healthy team culture actually means and the courage to push back when "being nice" becomes the enemy of being excellent.