Whose Job Is the People Job?

(Warning - super long. Please don't start reading it if you have no time and then get annoyed I am too verbose and therefore hit Unsubscribe :)

We only ever talk about one thing: psychological safety as an enabler for high performance in teams.

Sure that means we have to touch on various other things and that we talk about teams and even individuals and of course organisations and leadership (and in this week’s other newsletter the lack of teams and rampant fear at the top) how could we possibly get away from it? The topic in itself, in the absence of the people work execution we advocate so vehemently for, is absolutely sterile and talking about the theory in a world that needs urgent help and practice is not only futile but arguably irresponsible.

We know it’s urgent because, while most people are able to abstract the topic of HumanDebt and its many horrid manifestations away by simply blocking the thoughts out and focusing on their day-to-day, this IS our day-to-day so we feel it in every meeting and every time a new organisation lays on our theoretical PeopleNotTech couch whether intentionally or not.

We hear from many new organisations every sprint. Their stories are shockingly similar. They may think they are unique but when you boil down what’s happening to fundamentals, the struggles they face are absolutely and nearly identically shared.