Linking Psychological Safety and Thoughtful Disagreement — from Ray Dalio and Principles

After learning more and more about workplace psychological [health and] safety, I came across Amy Edmondson. Amy said a unique phrase in which when I heard it, the Northern Lights began shining.

“Psychological safety is radical candor. It is the presence of interpersonal trust.”

At the same time, I’ve read that psychological safety (and workplace well-being for that matter) must be the process, not the outcome. I think what this means is our focus for change and initiatives must be on the small things, done daily, which are what can make the difference (i.e. behaviour change). Tiny hinges swing big doors as they say.

These small things, done daily, could be like compound interest. As Albert Einstein said,

The question: how to establish interpersonal trust through the efficiency of small actions done daily? Try this: Thoughtful Disagreement.

Thoughtful Disagreement, put into fame by Ray Dalio and his book, Principles, is an example of what you can teach your team. Remember, the small actions of Thoughtful Disagreement done daily could be like compound interest.

In Principles, Ray gives Thoughtful Disagreement an equation:

Thoughtful Disagreement = Open-Minded + Assertive

In Principles, Ray teaches us that Thoughtful Disagreement means having humility so you can get what you need from others. Ray emphasizes that we must realize we don’t know much relative to what we need to know. Closed-minded people will always tell you what they know, even if they know hardly anything (check out the Dunning-Kruger Effect!).

Here are some practical points Ray highlights to achieve open-mindedness:

• don’t hold opinions about things you don’t know anything about
• you don’t have to make judgements about everything
• if someone asks you a question, think first whether you’re the right person to answer it. All individuals have the right to have their own opinions, but they do not have the right to render verdicts
• acknowledging your weaknesses is not the same as surrendering to them
• avoid being a ‘logic bully’ who doesn’t let the employee find their own solutions

Why Thoughtful Disagreement is important is because as Ray mentions, we all experience reality in different ways. Some employees see forests (the big picture), while others see trees (the details). As common wisdom tells us, perception is reality. Keep in mind that an employee may not be intentionally acting in a way that seems counterproductive, they may be just living out things as they see them.

At the end of the day, if you know you are blind [ego] you can figure out a way to see, whereas if you don’t know you are blind, you will continue to bump into your problems or interpersonal conflicts.

Two sub-points to help with establishing Thoughtful Disagreement with your team:

1) You and each employee must look for the best answer, not simply the best answer you can come up with yourself. To be effective you must not let your need to be right be more important than your need to find out what’s true. Open-minded employees assess their relative believability to determine whether their primary role should be as a student, a teacher, or a peer. Do more of taking in (learning), instead of putting out (conveying thinking and producing). Be clear on whether you are arguing or seeking to understand. There is a difference between constructive questions/suggestions versus accusations/criticizing.

- Instead of asking yourself, “I know I’m right”, instead ask yourself “How do I know I’m right?”

Don’t pay as much attention to peoples conclusions as to the reasoning that led them to those conclusions. To be effective, you need to be able to tell which dots are important and which dots are not. There is difference between a flaw in design versus a flaw in the way people are handling their responsibilities. When responding to an employee, think about what you want to achieve, not how you feel. Do not become a victim of an amygdala hijacking!

- If the outcome is bad, ask “Is the Responsible Party incapable, and/or is it the design that’s bad?” ->“if X (design) attribute is done well next time will the bad outcome still occur?”

It is the hope of this article that having employees keep Thoughtful Disagreement top of mind will result on increased levels of interpersonal trust in your workplace, and thus, psychological safety. As NIOSH’s Total Worker Health (TWH) approach mentions, this is relevant for how employees are supervised, directed, and evaluated in their daily work. In doing so, it is this ‘small thing’ of supporting employees that can maintain engagement and advance employee well-being.

Reference: Principles, Ray Dalio, Simon & Schuster, 2017

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Nathan Kolar, www.reachworldwide.ca