Workers Are Sick of Change: The Cure is Psychological Safety
Summary
At the heart of any organization, people are the driving force. And the past few years have not been easy on any of us. The pandemic, the great resignation, tech layoffs, bank collapses, among other significant changes, have challenged workers in ways like never before. Fortunately, there is a cure to the human energy crisis, and that cure is: a culture of psychological safety. Join Alla Weinberg, a leading culture designer for organizations undergoing change, for this masterclass and you’ll leave with practical ways to increase psychological safety on your team or organization. In this masterclass, you will: Understand the neurological root cause of the human energy crisis Learn why psychological safety is the cure to burnout and exhaustion Learn how to effectively communicate change
Key Insights
-
•
Psychological safety is not only psychological but fundamentally neurobiological, rooted in the autonomic nervous system.
-
•
Stress from ongoing change is wired as a danger by our nervous system, triggering fight, flight, or freeze responses even if the change is positive.
-
•
Burnout decreases employees’ willingness to speak up, exacerbating psychological safety deficits.
-
•
Context, choice, and connection are essential for employees’ nervous systems to feel safe during organizational change.
-
•
Creating psychological safety requires systemic cultural change, not just individual resilience or benefits like EAPs.
-
•
Historically oppressed groups need explicit policies and protections alongside connection to experience psychological safety.
-
•
The autonomic nervous system processes environmental cues without conscious thought, influencing mental and physical health.
-
•
Leaders should regulate their own nervous systems before communicating changes to avoid triggering employees’ stress responses.
-
•
Intentional practices like personality assessments, sharing personal 'operating manuals,' and openly discussing fears build connection and safety.
-
•
Physical activities and connecting with animals can help shift nervous systems from stress states back to safety.
Notable Quotes
"Mental health challenges are now the norm among employees across all organizational roles."
"Stress drops our operating IQ by half, making it impossible to collaborate or problem-solve effectively."
"Psychological safety is the felt permission for candor — permission to be honest without fear of negative consequences."
"Our nervous system cannot tell the difference between a company reorg and a hungry lion trying to eat you."
"If you don’t understand the why, what, and how of change, don’t communicate it — you’ll only cause more stress."
"Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued, not about being nice or avoiding disagreement."
"The goal is not to always stay in a safe state, but to create environments where we can recover back to safety quickly."
"People work longer hours because of the fear of saying no and fearing job loss, not because it's sustainable."
"Safety needs to start with your team first, then slowly scale out to other parts of the organization."
"The companies that will attract talent moving forward are those that are most flexible and give people choices."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Accessible mobile designs can be reused on desktop, but desktop-first accessibility is harder to transfer to mobile."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
September 8, 2022
"Defining teams by shared value — what’s desirable, compliant, feasible, and viable — broke down silos effectively."
Erin HauberDesign is Not the Frosting on the Scaled Agile Layer Cake
October 24, 2019
"Only people who work intimately in a space can effectively map that space; outsiders cannot produce useful strategy maps."
Simon WardleyMaps and Topographical Intelligence
January 31, 2019
"Designing technology from the perspective of what matters to Black women is just as important as for any other social group."
Yolanda RankinBlack Feminist Epistemology as a Critical Framework for Equitable Design
March 11, 2021
"At Meta, one product partner said quality doesn’t matter because we’re bringing in $90 billion a year."
Renee BouwensLanding Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products
December 15, 2023
"We design with our biases and subjectivities, so we must work with diverse stakeholders to avoid tunnel vision."
Paul Pangaro, PhDSystems Disciplines: Table Stakes for 21st Century Organizations
June 6, 2023
"If you think fossil fuel companies are going to help us solve this, then we probably have a very different idea of how this system works."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"Start with making a big list of all the things breaking within design and bucket them to prioritize."
Courtney KaplanTaking it to the next level: Career paths in DesignOps
November 8, 2018
"Everyone seems to have a design system, but many don’t understand why they need one."
Dan DonaldDesign Systems as a Vehicle for Systemic Change
June 1, 2023
