Just $0.99/month for the first 3 months on Audible. Limited-time offer. Start now.
Enjoy this audiobook free + more
Free title with your free trial!
$0.00
  • Click above to get a preview of our newest plan - unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $17.19
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use. and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,951 ratings
See all formats and editions

The Fearless Organization offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent - but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule, or intimidate.

Not every idea is good, and yes, there are stupid questions, and yes, dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing.

This audiobook explores this culture of psychological safety and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.

Previous slide of product details
  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 43 minutes
  2. Author
    Amy C. Edmondson
  3. Narrator
    Jennifer Jill Araya
  4. Audible release date
    April 9, 2019
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Gildan Media, LLC
  7. ASIN
    B07Q33FMBY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next slide of product details
$0.99/month for the first 3 months
For a limited time, save 90% on Audible. Get this deal

Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 43 minutes
Author Amy C. Edmondson
Narrator Jennifer Jill Araya
Audible.com Release Date April 09, 2019
Publisher Gildan Media, LLC
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07Q33FMBY
Best Sellers Rank #109,267 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#132 in Occupational & Organizational Popular Psychology
#247 in Organizational Behavior (Audible Books & Originals)
#873 in Business Management (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,951 global ratings
Critical Thinking in the work place
5 out of 5 stars
Critical Thinking in the work place
Great read, the author gives excellent real world examples of organizations that have adopted the Psychological Safety concept and how it can transform innovation and growth.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Meg Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book on psychological safety!
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
I ordered this book after learning about Psychological Safety on a LinkedIn learning course. This book honestly reads itself! I finished it in two days. I had so many takeaways to share with my team that I ended up creating a presentation that I presented to our Diversity, inclusion, and belonging employee resource group! ! I made sure to plug the book and encourage others to read it and learn for themselves! I continue to reference this book daily as an HR professional and will look forward to more information coming out from the author in the future as we all crave more information to cultivate psychological safety on our teams!
Helpful
 Report
Wally Bock
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to drive fear out of your organization, start by buying this book
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2022
Verified Purchase
In 1986, W. Edwards Deming introduced his “14 Points for Management” in the book, Out of the Crisis. Here is number eight.

“Whether fear of failure, fear of reprisals or fear of management, fear is unhelpful to the success of your business. Drive out fear by encouraging communication, respect and teamwork at all levels of your business.”

That was good advice, but there wasn’t much guidance on how to drive out fear or how your workplace might function when you did. Amy Edmonson’s The Fearless Organization gives you a mental model, so you know what an organization looks like after you follow Dr. Deming’s advice to “Drive out fear.”

I’ve read a lot about “psychological safety” in the past several years, including several articles by Dr. Edmondson. Since she coined the term, many other people have used it. I bought this book to go to the source and find out what Dr. Edmondson had to say.

She describes her goal for the book in the Introduction. She wants to “equip you with some new ideas and practices to make knowledge-intensive organizations work better.” She defines the fearless organization this way.

“The fearless organization is one in which interpersonal fear is minimized so that team and organizational performance can be maximized in a knowledge intensive world.”

The Fearless Organization is divided into three parts. Part I is, “the power of psychological safety.” Chapter two is an excellent summary of the research. If you’re interested in going into more depth about psychological safety, this chapter is worth the price of the book. In addition to this chapter on research, Dr. Edmondson includes detailed notes and references at the end of every chapter. Minor these at your pleasure.

Part II is “Psychological Safety at Work.” Chapters three and four give you real-world examples of organizations without psychological safety. You’ll recognize most of them. Chapters five and six share examples of organizations with psychological safety. You may be surprised at some of them. You will see a strong contrast between the two groups in terms of organizational life and productivity.

Pare III is “Creating a Fearless Organization.” Chapter seven provides a toolkit for leaders. The tools fall into three buckets. They are, setting the stage, inviting participation, and responding productively. If you want to follow Dr. Deming’s advice to drive out fear, here’s how.

Chapter eight is titled, “What Next.” It includes an excellent section on the questions Dr. Edmondson is frequently asked about psychological safety.

This is an excellent book, whether you’re investigating psychological safety as an intellectual exercise or seeking some help in improving psychological safety where you work. The big insight for me was that psychological safety deals with interpersonal fear and is an emergent property of a group. I had the basic concepts, but now I have deeper insights and language to express them.

This is a good, helpful package of important ideas. But they may not seem new to you. You probably know that it’s not a good idea to shoot messengers who bring bad news. You may understand your job as creating an environment where both productivity and morale are high. Don’t pass up this book on that account.

First, no matter how much you know, you can learn something here about psychological safety., Just knowing isn’t enough. As my friend Rod Santomassimo likes to say, “Don’t KID yourself, knowing isn’t doing.” This book can be a powerful tool to improve the work and morale of any team. But that won’t happen if all you do is read about psychological safety.

In a Nutshell

The Fearless Organization demonstrates what psychological safety is, why it’s important, and how to make it happen where you work. If you’re responsible for the performance of the group, put this book on your must-read list.
27 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
JR
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Resource for New Managers
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
Edmondson’s The Fearless Organization provides a useful framework for managers who are interested in promoting psychological safety in their work environments. For more seasoned managers or those with high emotional intelligence, the concepts presented in the book are either elementary or mere common sense. The book includes numerous case studies that depict problems resulting from work environments that are not psychologically safe; several cases even led to death. Fostering collaboration and sharing opinions in the workplace, therefore, are imperative. While these cases generally illustrate the principles well, it would have been helpful to read more examples of psychological safety from traditional industries where creativity is less crucial. Case studies aside, much of the chapters’ content is repetitive and one might simply skip to the end of each chapter and read the useful “takeaways” to get the gist of it.

One refreshing aspect of Edmondson’s framework is that it is backed by 20 years of research in multiple industries. This research shows the importance of psychological safety in the workplace: when employees do not feel enabled or encouraged to speak up with their questions or concerns, it can breed a culture of silence which may go beyond business failure and affect people’s physical and mental health. The book does a good job of highlighting the fact that a lack of psychological safety is not just attributed to poorly performing companies with overly assertive and intimidating managers, but can affect well performing businesses with proven track records and family-oriented cultures. In my own experience, which is paralleled in the book, this lack of psychological safety is derived from a false belief system that management is so good at what they do that employees don't challenge them, resulting in a dangerous silence.

Edmondson offers several useful tools in this book. The first is a survey managers can administer to gauge how psychologically safe their teams feel. Edmondson also includes all of her research references at the end of each chapter, which are helpful for those wanting to learn more about psychological safety and related concepts. The leader’s toolkit and self-assessment can be applied by managers to any interaction with their employees.

If Edmondson’s goal, as she states, is to provide readers with “new ideas and practices to make knowledge-intensive organizations work better,” this book is best poised for the new manager as an introduction to the concepts of psychological safety. One can take away a sense of their own psychological environments and have the tools to ensure a safer workplace. It is probably not enough, however, for someone to merely apply the leader’s toolkit in working with their teams. Managers must build rapport and trust, which takes time, effort and practice. My overall advice to new managers when it comes to psychological safety: read this book as an introduction, use the leadership self-assessment and tool-kit often, and design creative “braintrust-like” activities suitable for team feedback and collaboration. My advice to Edmondson: pull the meat from this book to create an abbreviated handbook that includes the psychological safety survey, leader’s toolkit, and leadership self-assessment, and you’ll have a best-seller.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Benjamin Ehrlich
5.0 out of 5 stars Culture: Substance Matters!
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
Not your book if you like culture/leadership books that are:
Easy, obvious, fluff

Your book if you like culture/leadership books that:
Have substance, will challenge you, actually can help you create a great culture

I work in a combination of school and sports settings as a mental performance coach. I find a lot of schools and coaches are drawn to what's easy when it comes to culture. As a result, they reach for the fluff on bookshelves- makes them feel good but doesn't really do anything. This book is not that. It's well researched and well explained. With some effort, you can draw some really great concepts and tangible ideas to help create and work to maintain a great culture wherever you may work. The stories are well told and connect well with the points made. If I had to pick one negative, the book mentions education several times without providing any specific stories from the education world. That said, the lessons learned can clearly be applied to education. It's one of my favorite books I've read on culture/leadership, and I plan on recommending it to whoever will listen. We need more books like this!
44 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Derrick
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST read for all school leaders
Reviewed in Canada on August 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
One of the most insightul books I have read. Edmondsun makes a strong case for the need of psychologically safety in ALL organizations.
Report
Pete W
5.0 out of 5 stars Fearless truth
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2024
Verified Purchase
Essential reading for any organisation serious about building diverse teams in order to innovate for a wonderfully diverse world.
Report
Mehmet Kocaali
5.0 out of 5 stars great read with many real cases
Reviewed in Sweden on January 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
great read with many real cases from different industries, companies, organizations; enjoyed every page and learned many practical ideas.
Customer image
Mehmet Kocaali
5.0 out of 5 stars great read with many real cases
Reviewed in Sweden on January 4, 2024
great read with many real cases from different industries, companies, organizations; enjoyed every page and learned many practical ideas.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
Report
Frank Calberg
5.0 out of 5 stars The fearless organization
Reviewed in Germany on March 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Takeaways from reading the book:

Strengthen psychological safety by respecting yourself and others:
- Location 350: Psychological safety is a climate in which people are comfortable being and expressing themselves.
- Location 2700: At the company Bridgewater, it is not allowed to talk about a person who is not there.
- Location 4100: Make it clear where boundaries are.
- Location 4300: To experience psychological safety, act if you have it already.
- Location 4300: Respect everyone.
- Location 4500: Apologize when you are sorry about something.

Strengthen psychological safety by asking questions and listening:
- Location 3900: Ask questions.
- Location 2200, 2400 and 4300: Listen.
- Location 2250: Causes of the Fukushima disaster are to be found in the Japanese culture: Obedience. Reluctance to question authority. Devotion to "sticking with the program." Groupism. Insularity.
- Location 4600: Workplace psychological safety is lower in high power distance cultures.
- Location 900: Psychological safety is directly tied to the bottom line because people's questions, ideas and observations provide important information about what is going on.

Strengthen psychological safety by talking and increasing transparency:
- Location 2400: Speak up.
- Location 1100: Nurses in Belgian hospitals encouraged each other to talk about errors. This helped them feel psychologically safe. The outcome: The number of errors were reduced.
- Location 350: When there is psychological safety, people do not feel fear or embarrassment sharing mistakes.
- Location 1000: People remain silent because they they feel fear of being labeled negatively, i.e. feel fear of being seen in a bad light.
- Location 1000: People remain silent because they feel fear of damaging relationships, i.e. feel fear of embarrassing or upsetting people.
- Location 1100: People feel safe when they are silent.
- Location 350: In a psychologically safe environment, people feel they can speak openly about anything without being ignored, blamed and/or humiliated.
- Location 2700: At the company Bridgewater, there is a transparency library which contains videos of all executive meetings.
- Location 3450: Communicate calmly and openly.

Strengthen psychological safety by inviting people:
- Location 3400 and 3700: Invite people to participate. Let people make their own decisions about whether to participate or not.
- Location 3900: Invite inputs.

Strengthen psychological safety by learning:
- Location 4300: Show interest in and respect for contributions people make.
- Location 3950: Questions to broaden understanding: What might we be missing? What other ideas could we generate? Who has a different perspective?
- Location 3950: Questions to deepen understanding: What leads you to think so? Can you give me an example?
- Location 700: Psychological safety is about the willingness to engage in productive conflict and learn from different points of view.
- Location 2600 and 3450: Think of making mistakes as being a natural part of a learning process.
- Location 3900: Say "I don't know" when you don't know the answer to a question. People gain confidence in you, when you admit you don't know.

Strengthen psychological safety by thanking and praising people:
- Location 4000: Express appreciation. Example: Thank you for bringing that up.
- Location 4000: Praise people for efforts - regardless of the outcome.

Strengthen psychological safety by helping people:
Location 4100: Offer help when someone comes with bad news.
Report
Sajid
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in India on August 28, 2022
Verified Purchase
Psychological safety is one of the most important science for developing employee engagement and performance
Report