# Emergence & Dynamics of PS

*Tom Geraghty · History & Foundations, Models & Critique, Complexity & Systems*

Translates Bransby, Kerrissey and Edmondson's 'Paradise Lost' longitudinal study for a practitioner audience: new hires arrive with more psychological safety than their tenured colleagues, not less, and lose it as tenure accrues rather than steadily building it through familiarity, as the standard onboarding narrative assumes. Explains the erosion as newcomers moving from an initial grace period, where uncertainty and questions are expected and low-stakes, into being judged against established norms and assumed competence once that grace period lapses — meaning the moment organisations most need candour from new arrivals about what looks confusing, wasteful or risky from a fresh perspective is also the moment that candour is quietly closing down. Draws out the practical implication directly: onboarding should be treated as a window to protect and actively extend, not something to be rushed through, since a strong surrounding team climate measurably dampens the decline. Connects this to the wider point that psychological safety isn't a fixed team-level property that simply accrues with time together, but something that has to be actively maintained against a natural erosion curve, with the specific, actionable lesson being to watch for and intervene at the inflection point where a newcomer's early candour starts to taper off, rather than assuming the trajectory only ever points upward.

- **This page:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-emergence-and-dynamics-of-psychological-safety-over-time/
- **Read the full article on psychsafety.com:** https://psychsafety.com/the-emergence-and-dynamics-of-psychological-safety-over-time/
- **Interactive map:** https://explore.psychsafety.com/?node=emergence

## Connected concepts (15)

- [Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/meadows-1999.md) (paper)
- [Complexity](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/complexity.md)
- [Organisational Fabric](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-organisational-fabric-of-psychological-safety.md)
- [Paradise Lost (and Restored?): A Study of Psychological Safety over Time](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/bransby-kerrissey-edmondson-2024.md) (paper)
- [Rewetting Organisations](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/rewetting-organisations.md)
- [The Science of Complexity: An Alternative Perspective for Strategic Change Processes](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/stacey-1995.md) (paper)
- [Thinking Like an Ecologist](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/thinking-like-an-ecologist-a-field-guide-for-organisations.md)
- [Adaptive Cycle](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-adaptive-cycle-and-self-organised-criticality.md)
- [Ecotones & Edge Effect](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-59-ecotones-the-edge-effect.md)
- [PS is Not the Goal](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-is-not-the-goal.md)
- [Rebuilding PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/rebuilding-psychological-safety-when-its-broken.md)
- [Selection Pressure & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/selection-pressure-and-psychological-safety.md)
- [The Coevolution of Network Ties and Perceptions of Team Psychological Safety](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/schulte-cohen-klein-2010.md) (paper)
- [Three Horizons of Strategy](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-three-horizons-of-strategy.md)
- [Tuckman's Model](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-88-tuckmans-model.md)