Contributor Safety in Practice

The Leader Factor

During this episode of Culture by Design, we're continuing our four­-part series on the change management principle, Behave Until You Believe. These episodes are focused on the practical application of each of the four stages of psychological safety and, this week, Tim and Junior tackle Stage Three: Contributor Safety. During the episode, they'll discuss our innate need to make a difference, the relationship between autonomy and accountability, and relevant examples and behaviors that will help you put contributor safety into actual practice.

What is contributor safety? (04:04) In this third stage of psychological safety we give others autonomy with guidance in exchange for effort and results. This stage is all about the human hunger for meaning. While it’s great to be included, to learn, grow, and develop, that’s not enough for most people. Deep in our hearts we have a need to make a difference.

The balance of autonomy (12:35) Tim and Junior discuss the delicate balance between autonomy and accountability. If your teams want autonomy, they have to learn to love accountability. Ask yourself this diagnostic question: Do I gravitate towards transparency or do I gravitate towards ambiguity?

Behavior #1: Communicate Tradeoffs (18:33) Everything in life is a trade­off. Effective execution and consistent innovation depends on our ability to effectively choose to do some things instead of other things. Tim and Junior explain the power that comes from deliberately saying no to good things to make room for better things. Do we celebrate and encourage that choice?

Behavior #2: Give People the Why (28:07) Urgency may get you started on an endeavor, but the deep "why" keeps you going long after that initial excitement has worn off. And this doesn't always have to be institutional! Your "why" can live at the individual or team level and be just as effective.

Behavior #3: Let Them Do it Their Way (33:51) When we increase autonomy in an organization, we increase risk. Many organizations believe that micromanaging will mitigate that risk, but that's not the case. If you give autonomy to employees who want to do their best work, you'll get their best work as long as they have equal amounts of autonomy and accountability.

Important Links
The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety Behavioral Guide