At PeopleNotTech we make software that measures and improves Psychological Safety in teams. If you care about it- talk to us about a demo at contact@peoplenottech.com
———————————————————————————
This week’s articles on the Chasing Psychological Safety newsletter are all about the mental health and wellbeing of our superheroes.
I talk a lot about Superheroes. And I do think there are quite a few of those. Thankfully. Every time I write about what they go through, I get some pushback “Stop it with the personality cult, no one needs the black turtleneck and assholish behaviour” and I can see where that comes from but it’s not at all what I am talking about or who I see. The Superheroes I sing the praises of are almost the antithesis of that and largely unsung. I’ve been writing about them for ages and they still astound me every day. They could so easily spend their corporate lives doing what everyone else does – coasting, not caring- but they don’t, they invest heart and they fight for what they think is right for their teams and the company. It’s a collection of constant miniature heroic acts.
When this compounds with having to keep the heart of Agile in the face of opposition, the enormity of the awesomeness is even clearer.
What I thankfully see, is more of these amazing humans after the pandemic than before it had hit us. As if the limit-situation we have been in, has further emboldened some borderline superheroes that weren’t perhaps quite ready to go to battle before it. Which is amazing.
I think it is not only fascinating but the only way to change organisations from the inside – have enough critical mass of these Superheroes. And unfortunately, perhaps because said change isn’t wanted deeply, organisations are not the ones that will sign their praises and elevate their profile enough to make role models out of them so it will have to be each and every one of us doing so instead. After all, if they knew they need to do that and had comprehended the urgency of having these people on their team they wouldn’t really need them in the first place.
Here are a few of the examples of where I lyricised in their defence or in admiration before and you’ll see what I mean.
The Human Work Needs Broken Record Superheroes
3 Tips for the People-Work Superheroes
An Open Letter to the Leaders of Newly Remote Teams
Brief Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming an Agile Superhero
Agile Is Not for the Weak Snowflakes
Get Yourself an “Awww” Superhero CTO
Learning from DevOps Superheroes
What 100,000 Superheroes Have Taught Us
POCs, Superheroes and Great Times Ahead
Instant-Teaming with DevOps Superheroes
When the Agile Cape is on the Line
But if you check out only one of them maybe look at Agile and Passion and the links in it. I think it may say it all about why we need them to lower our HumanDebt™
Chances are if you’re reading this, you’re either a Superhero already or on your way to becoming one or else you wouldn’t have subscribed to hear me say on repeat “The only things that matter, are sustainable and give us a chance of success are Agile and Psychologically Safe teams, all else is noise” so thank you. All of the above articles are about you. I hope you’re proud. Of your courage. Your resilience. Your vision. Your determination.
Maybe one day the organisation will thank you. Or your team. Or at least history. But meanwhile – thank you for your tens of acts of openness a week, your unrecognised moments of bravery, how you count breaths when frustration gets the best of you, how you rage quietly when you see the craziness around, how you mentor and inspire other superheroes, how you avoid impression managing despite how scary it may feel, how you’re not willing to pretend, to close your eyes, to shrug, to check out and give up.
And above all, thank you for how you care.
—————————————————————————
The 3 “commandments of Psychological Safety” to build high performing teams are: Understand, Measure and Improve
Read more about our Team Dashboard that measures and improves Psychological Safety at www.peoplenottech.com or reach out at contact@peoplenottech.com and let’s help your teams become Psychologically Safe, healthy, happy and highly performant.
To order the “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age” book go to this Amazon link