Our current landscape of organisations is that they are unable to change, overwhelmed by the unpredictable: COVID, regulatory oversight and significant pressures in workload and service delivery.
Toxic culture continues to feature in serious case reviews and through wider feedback.
The latest opportunity for change is the Patient Safety agenda which champions ‘Just Culture’ and the need to be a learning organisation but this requires action and a shared vision.
How do we make a difference?
I am a fan of the rule of marginal gains and believe we have to remember no change is an overnight transformation but often a series of small positive steps over time.
How can we make a difference every day?
Interestingly the ‘meaning research’ being undertaken by Dr Steve Suckling gives us a clue.
https://maslowfoundation.wordpress.com
We feel overwhelmed and driven by processes and directives which lead us to believe we need to be right and that the world is logical and rule bound.
We have not developed the skill of being actively open-minded or being able to feel confident with decision making related to uncertainty or how to fail without punishment.
We feel unsafe and this causes us to experience anxiety.
Understanding the principles of wisdom is a strong foundation.
With distributed wisdom, shared risk and psychological safety as our new core knowledge and skills, we will be able to create change in our organisational culture.
Just a reminder about how our bodies are geared to scan for danger!
As humans, we are evolved to be able to feel safe and connected to others.
An understanding of our nervous system gives us insight into why we we often feel danger, overwhelmed and anxious and have poor habits of defensiveness and conformity.
When you see a danger, our nervous system leaps into action.
If any of you have the opportunity to see Zoe Lodrick, please take the time as she will present the trauma response in a way that you will never forget.
https://www.zoelodrick.co.uk/resources
This has been called the “fight, flight, freeze or flop response,” and is managed by the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.
We may fight back (verbally or physically), or we may retreat. When we feel as though we are in danger, we may shut down and “freeze up.” Reactions can also include dissociation and behaviours such as ‘befriending compliance’ are all strategies to keep us safe.
All these responses have evolved to maximize our chances of surviving life-threatening situations but we are still using the same strategies and patterns whenever we are confronted by our modern day challenges.
Being connected to people creates a feeling of safety which is part of our evolution and a critical element to be present for our own wellbeing.
Our workplaces have become complicated systems which often create fear and therefore anxiety. We become defensive, withdrawn or compliant.
Before we can do anything different, we must create psychological safe spaces in which to thrive and this forms the basis of a ‘trauma informed culture’.
Psychological Safety First
https://www.leaderfactor.com/4-stages-of-psychological-safety
Stage 1: Inclusion Safety
Inclusion safety satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong. Inclusion safety allows us to gain membership within a social unit and interact with its members without fear of rejection, embarrassment, or punishment, boosting confidence, resilience, and independence.
Stage 2: Learner Safety
Learner safety satisfies the basic human need to learn and grow. It allows us to feel safe as we engage in all aspects of the learning process—asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and even making mistakes, not if but when we make them.
Stage 3: Contributor Safety
Contributor safety satisfies the basic human need to contribute and make a difference. When contributor safety is present, we feel safe to contribute as a full member of the team, using our skills and abilities to participate in the value-creation process.
Stage 4: Challenger Safety
Challenger safety satisfies the basic human need to make things better. It’s the support and confidence we need to ask questions such as, “Why do we do it this way?” “What if we tried this?” or “May I suggest a better way?” It allows us to feel safe to challenge the status quo without retaliation or the risk of damaging our personal standing or reputation.
Then when you feel safe – we can move forward with doing something better every day through the principles of wisdom.
Wisdom builds on our factual knowledge and procedural compliance.
We manage uncertainty through being open minded and having humility and taking the time to understand others perspectives.
This enables us to craft a collective narrative which is adaptive and flexible. It takes into account the context of the situation and welcomes risk and uncertainty.
However even where we have wise people, with collective discussions, in safe spaces – we still need the aspiration to change!
