Bill Gates and Psychological Safety

Pretend for a moment that you work at Microsoft and are called to a meeting by founder Bill Gates. He’s looking for specific information to facilitate a decision he must make in the future. Gates wants to hear your thoughts, opinions and insights as he collects data before making a final choice. It has to be one of the most intimidating meetings of your life. Your initial thoughts are: how could you provide anything valuable to one of the richest and smartest people on the planet? Gates can process information at a record pace and has read more books in a month than most read in five years. How could you provide anything that might help? Are you prepared? Will you tell him what you think or rather what you think he wants to hear? 

That mentality was one of the hardest challenges facing Gates in his career at Microsoft. He knows his intelligence scares people, intimidates them, knows no one wants to look stupid in front of him, so choosing silence is often a better option than speaking. Gates is aware of this beforehand, so he spends time before any meeting explaining the importance of psychological safety. 

What is psychological safety at work in particular? It’s a shared belief held by team members that others on the team will not embarrass, reject or punish you for speaking up.

According to Dr. Timothy Clark, author of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation, employees have to progress through the following 4 stages before they feel free to make valuable contributions and challenge the status quo.

Stage 1: Inclusion Safety

Inclusion safety satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong. In this stage, you feel safe to be yourself and are accepted for who you are, including your unique attributes and defining characteristics.

Stage 2: Learner Safety

Learner safety satisfies the need to learn and grow. In this stage, you feel safe to exchange in the learning process by asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting and making mistakes.

Stage 3: Contributor Safety

Contributor safety satisfies the need to make a difference. You feel safe to use your skills and abilities to make a meaningful contribution.

Stage 4: Challenger Safety

Challenger safety satisfies the need to make things better. You feel safe speaking up and challenging the status quo when you think there’s an opportunity to change or improve.

You might not be Bill Gates, but the position you hold comes with some of the same problems he faced. When we create psychological safety in our workplace, we will have better meetings, more honest discussions, and ultimately make better decisions.