What People Get Wrong About Psychological Safety

Psychological safety, which means having an environment where people feel safe to speak up, was once an obscure term in psychology and management research. Today the concept is downright popular. Countless managers, consultants, and training companies have worked hard to create psychologically safe workplaces, and thousands of articles have been devoted to the topic.

A version of this article appeared in the May–June 2025 issue of Harvard Business Review.