This is the English translation of the article published on “Il Sole 24Ore” (May 19th 2025)
Psychological Safety, brought to global attention by the studies of Amy Edmondson (Harvard Business School), lies at the heart of the culture of every social system and has a strong impact on performance in organizations. Investing in psychological safety is strategic. The topic is becoming mainstream but, as it spreads, confusion grows as well. So, let’s clarify what it is, why and how it affects results, and what concrete benefits it generates.
Psychological safety is the perception we have, while working, that we can expose ourselves in order to contribute to the common goal. To expose ourselves, for example, by saying “I didn’t understand,” “I disagree,” by asking questions and making proposals, taking initiative, assuming responsibility, sharing errors, concerns, and doubts. We might think these are normal gestures. And in fact, they are—but only when we perceive psychological safety. When in doubt—“Should I say it or not?”—we stay silent. Everyone, at every level, knows this experience. We remain silent to avoid being judged incompetent, inappropriate, or weak. And so we fuel the epidemic of silence. The push to speak or to remain silent—which shapes the climate and lies at the heart of every organizational culture—affects behavior 24/7. Let’s be clear: psychological safety is not about saying the first thing that comes to mind. The issue arises when speaking up or staying silent affects the quality of collective performance.
Understanding (or not understanding) while we work, having (or lacking) the right information—these make a huge difference. And speaking up to say “I disagree” or to make alternative proposals can change an outcome, the destiny of a project, or of the entire company. Many companies have failed because people, out of fear, stayed silent. Others, thriving, have made open and transparent debate their way of working. Think about how many, in your organization, stay silent about unclear objectives, well-founded doubts, proposals, ideas, and mistakes… Thousands of small actions that never happen — and together they become an avalanche. The effect on business performance is obvious. Companies invest heavily to improve competitiveness—mostly in technology, products and services, reorganizations, and acquisitions. Fine. But how do we safeguard returns if people do not use the technology effectively, do not participate or contribute to improvement and innovation, keep doing things the same way to avoid mistakes, and reinforce barriers? Put simply, psychological safety is the precondition that determines whether these investments bear fruit or not.
So, what can we do to spread it? Let’s remember that psychological safety is a team product, not an individual one, and it spreads (or fails to) within the boundaries of the everyday environment through transparency, rich debate, feedback, and the sharing of mistakes. Does our corporate culture encourage people to move in this direction? Is management ready to create safe spaces within their teams? Are people motivated to step out of their comfort zone to contribute actively to collective results? We know that this is not the case.
Psychological safety is the elephant in the room that we live with every day without seeing it. So it is useful to build awareness among management, starting from the top, about the benefits it generates—and the costs when it is absent. But if we truly want to transform workplaces into evolutionary hubs for competitiveness, we must focus on real teams—that is, on the people who work together every day, leaders included. Because this is where value is primarily created: in offices, production units, project groups, sales teams, laboratories… And this is where we can intervene to increase psychological safety. The “how” is not the problem; we know how to do it. But this approach requires a mental shift in those who run the company. We can no longer think that performance lies in the hands of individuals. Nor believe that acting only on managerial populations is enough to activate change. Only the people who work together can join forces, every day, to transform their working methods and the company culture into a driver of evolutionary advantage.
by Marina Capizzi, author of Hierarchy to Die or to Thrive?