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No Mistake About It: Trust Is Key in Learning
It's a real Catch-22: Learning is more critical than ever to firm success, yet the process often requires making mistakes. And many people believe mistakes lead to failure and thus avoid risking them or try to cover them up.
What happens, however, when members of a work team believe that well-intentioned efforts, regardless of outcome, will neither be seen negatively nor lead to punishment or rejection? New research by HBS assistant professor Amy C. Edmondson shows that such teams are more able to learn - and, consequently, perform better - than groups that fear the social consequences of making errors. "There are real differences in the levels of 'psychological safety' that exist across teams - even those within the same company - and those differences correspond with differences in the way people approach learning," Edmondson told the Bulletin.
In her working paper, "Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams," Edmondson presents field research she conducted at Office Design Incorporated (ODI), a midwestern manufacturer of office systems and furniture known for its innovative products and management practices. There, over a five-month period, she observed 8 teams and surveyed some 427 employees.
Edmondson found that members of teams with higher levels of psychological safety (those characterized by greater mutual respect and trust) were more likely to ask thoughtful questions, request feedback and help, and admit errors. These teams were also judged to be better performers by nonteam members assessing their work. In addition, they were better able to overcome roadblocks to success such as a lack of material or financial resources. "The team members who were comfortable taking risks were freer to engage in the behaviors necessary to learn and perform well, and they appeared to be less constrained by outside factors," Edmondson explained.
Edmondson contends that managers and team leaders can set an example when it comes to creating an open, supportive environment. "Those in a leadership role must be willing to take risks, admit mistakes, and ask for help themselves. Appearing invincible is counterproductive. Real leaders are not afraid to show their vulnerability," she concluded.
Tapping Hidden Wells of Knowledge
A nurse follows her inner voice to discover that a patient is in distress. A kiln operator adjusts the oven because it "doesn't sound right" and prevents a disaster. A steel alloy salesperson who has kept his eye on emissions regulations knows what "the next big thing" in furnace manufacturing will be long before it hits the factories. These people are all acting on tacit knowledge - intuition - developed through years of experience in their areas of expertise, although none of them could likely explain where their information has come from. "By its very nature, the tacit dimensions of knowledge are very difficult to articulate," said HBS professor Dorothy A. Leonard in a recentinterview.
Yet tacit knowledge is often the unquantifiable advantage that makes an employee so valuable and leads to creativity and innovation within an organization. Are there ways to capture something that is so difficult to isolate and quantify? Can companies retain such knowledge when experienced workers retire or move on? Leonard and coauthor Sylvia Sensiper examine such questions in a 1998 HBS working paper that was published as "The Role of Tacit Knowledge in Group Innovation" in the spring 1998 California Management Review.
The authors argue that tacit knowledge is indeed an important catalyst for new ideas. "The creativity necessary [for] innovation derives not only from the obvious, visible expertise but from invisible reservoirs of experience," they write. Such reservoirs, they note, are particularly helpful in problem solving and often lead to breakthroughs in thinking and development.
Tacit dimensions of human behavior can also point to new directions in product creation, say Leonard and Sensiper. In designing an automobile navigation system, for example, researchers at the product-design company IDEO noticed that some subjects consistently oriented maps to the north, while others turned them in the direction of travel. The discovery of such unspoken preferences among consumers led the company to make important changes in the development of its navigational system.
The authors conclude by urging managers to create an atmosphere that encourages respect for different thinking styles. "It's also important that they give people the flexibility to make 'intelligent failures,'" said Leonard.
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