I came across this in an email from Georgia Murch and it really resonated with me so I’m copying it here but all credit goes to her for this one…
Safety without standards
In a warehouse, everyone knows the deal.
If someone drives the forklift recklessly, there’s a conversation. Straight away. No one calls it confrontation or worries about hurting feelings. It’s just what you do to keep people safe.
We don’t say, “Let’s not upset them, maybe they’ll drive better next time.” We say, “That behaviour could hurt someone.”
But in offices, it’s different.
When someone bulldozes through a meeting, ignores feedback, or keeps missing deadlines, we go quiet. We tell ourselves we’re protecting psychological safety, but really, we’re avoiding discomfort.
Somewhere along the way, safety got confused with keeping everyone comfortable. And that’s not safety. That’s avoidance.
Real psychological safety isn’t about being endlessly nice. It’s about being honest, even when it’s awkward. It’s knowing that if something’s off, someone will say it, because the standard matters.
If we don’t call out unsafe behaviour, people get hurt. Not physically, but mentally. Trust erodes, frustration builds, and the team quietly disengages.
We’d never let someone drive a forklift without standards. Why do we let people drive conversations, feedback, and culture that way?uu
