MENTAL HEALTH
Transforming
Culture Through
Psychological Safety
The business
case for fostering
constructive dissent
LBy Timothy R. Clark
et’s talk about laying a strong foundation –
not physically, but culturally; not with heavy
machinery, but by nurturing psychological
safety. Early in my career, I spent five years as a plant
manager in the steel industry. In addition to producing
hot-rolled coil and plate, our plant produced steel pipe
that was sold into the heavy construction industry as deep
foundation piling. I have great affection for heavy industry,
but in all candor, the prevailing culture of heavy industry is
a growing liability to competitiveness in the 2020s.
Rather than tell a soothing story, here’s a challenge to
take inventory of your company’s culture and lead a transformation.
Here’s the crucial question: How do you know
if you have a healthy culture? It’s not a secret and it’s not
complicated. You know you have a healthy culture when
your people are both willing to challenge the status quo
and tell you when you’re wrong. Do your people do that?
Has your company created a tolerance for candor that can
accommodate that kind of intellectual friction?
FORMAT35 / 123RF
thinkbigmagazine.ca | Quarter 3 2020 | Think BIG 35
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