Why is Psychological Safety Important in a Scaled Agile Environment? With Olatunde Adekunle

This week’s Trainer Talk is with Olatunde, SAFe Program Consultant (SPC). A student asked about the importance of psychological safety in a scaled agile environment.

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Key Takeaways

So, someone asked me recently, “why do you believe in psychological safety? Why is it important when you're working in an enterprise and have teams of teams?”

My answer is a simple one. Anytime you cannot bring yourself to work and be part of the team, you don't belong in that organization. Anytime your words are not valued, or your feedback is devalued, you have outgrown the organization. The organization might be operating in its winter season while you are operating in your summer season. Or, you might be in the winter season, and the organization is operating in the summer season. Did you get my gist?

Psychological safety means the ability for me to bring myself to work and add value to the organization as the organization adds value to my life. Without psychological safety, there's no trust. Without sociological safety, there's no passion. When you lose passion for what you do, when you lose passion for where you are, it means the organization does not have safety dealing with you. And, you as well don't have the safety to deal with the organization.

However, when you have psychological safety, the passion it brings with it brings innovation. Innovation brings new ideas. Where there are new ideas, it brings growth. Where there is growth, you bring multiple clients.

Psychological safety is important when you're working in an enterprise. When you come to any of my SAFe training, I always take half a day, maybe three hours, to talk about the importance of psychological safety, respect for people, and respect for cultures.

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