The Field Guide › Article
Sets out the Psych Safety implementation framework — the action-oriented model underpinning the Psychological Safety Action Pack. Because psychological safety is an emergent property of a group, felt differently by its members, it is hard but worthwhile to study, and many have tried to codify it. The piece situates itself against existing models (Clark's Four Stages, the SAFETY model — of which the author is openly sceptical, feeling it was 'an acronym looking for a model') and explains the gap it set out to fill: a framework that doesn't just structure learning about psychological safety but also includes ways to sensitively sense it, alongside practical, achievable actions for leaders and team members to build it. It explicitly stands 'on the shoulders of giants', building on Deming and Edmondson, and disclaims ownership of the concepts — the goal is collective progress toward psychological safety being the norm. Its engine is Deming's PDSA cycle (Plan-Do-Study-Act; Deming preferred 'study' over 'check' as less perfunctory), applied iteratively to measure, build and maintain psychological safety. A statement of the practice's own method, and of its anti-proprietary stance.