What people get wrong about psychological safety. Say no at work without guilt. How to uncover what customers want.
One “must” for this week: What people get wrong about psychological safety
Psychological safety means having an environment where people feel safe to speak up.
It was once an obscure term in psychology and management research
Now is a popular concept, and misconceptions about psychological safety are impeding organizations’ performance.
These misunderstandings have even led some to dismiss psychological safety as a passing “management fad”.
According to Amy Edmondson and Michaela J.Kerrissey:
It’s not about being nice
It’s not about getting your way
It does not mean “job security”
It does not require a trade-off with performance
It’s not a policy
It does not require a top-down approach
Instead, it’s more about the quality of the conversations, the goals of the organization, and why everyone’s input matters, so we can create a place where we get timely input, candid feedback, and have robust debates.
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One of my favorite books as a father is “How to talk so kids will listen, and listen so kids will talk” Here’s how Shortform captures the messages the books wants us so send to our children: “You’re a competent person, and I trust that you’ll do the right thing.”
It’s a timeless book from 40 years ago and Shortform’s guide focuses on its five main ideas:
· How to deliver empowering praise
· How to respond to your child’s negative feelings
· How to encourage cooperation and independence
· How to challenge your own preconceived ideas about your children
· How to set limits and encourage desired behavior without punishment
The summary gave me a few ideas for a series of illustrations on the book.
The core of Shortform is that it distils each book's core ideas with chapter breakdowns, analysis, commentary, and even counterpoints from other sources, allowing you to deepen your understanding fast, or to refresh it.
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Personal development
Say no at work without guilt
Insights from eight books on reflection
The Dunning-Kruger effect: the psychology of overconfidence
Reflections from a “Think Week” retreat
Five ways to come up with tiny experiments
Thinking about the founder leap? How to prep for the emotional gauntlet
A flexible routine can help you change for good
Innovation
How to uncover what customers want
The recent history of AI in 32 otters
How to prevent embarrassment in AI
How Revolut trains world-class product managers
When customers buy your competitor’s product… and then buy yours
The Notion of Design
Leadership and management
What people get wrong about psychological safety
Five principles for successfully managing managers
The secret recipe for organizational culture is no recipe
How women in leadership can shape how others see them
The debt you can't see (but your team suffers)
Don’t just coach your employees, teach them
How to pick the right seat in a meeting
One book
“Our iceberg is melting” by John Kotter.
See you next Saturday,
Roberto
How to take advantage of the agent opportunity, with Jack Rowbotham
What if agents could be among your most effective team members?
We are in a moment when so much is happening all at once, and AI agents will soon be not just tools: they’ll become parts of our workforce.
But how can we ride this wave? What should we learn? What are the challenges?
Jack Rowbotham is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for Copilot Studio at Microsoft, where he oversees the Agent building platform.
In his almost eight years at Microsoft, he has been at the forefront of launching Copilot Studio and has received multiple awards.
Jack shares unique insights from both the technical product side and his real-world customer experiences helping organizations.
I'm excited to invite you to a LinkedIn Live event with Jack:
📅 Wednesday, June 12th
⏰ 17:00 CET / 8:00 AM PDT
We'll talk about how agents are transforming businesses and what this means for you and your organization.
📌 What will you get?
Real stories and use cases of AI agents in action
Practical strategies for getting started with agents
Insights on helping teams adapt to working alongside agents
Understanding the agent opportunity and how to stay ahead
Tips on overcoming overwhelm and taking the first steps
And the opportunity to ask questions directly to Jack!