Our current landscape of organisations appear unable to change, are overwhelmed by the unpredictable and struggle with the current regulatory oversight. There are significant pressures in workload and workforce with toxic culture continuing to feature in serious case reviews and in wider national reports.
The Patient Safety agenda which champions ‘Just Culture’ and ‘Being Fair’ ensuring that we are learning organisations bult on continuous improvement.
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?
Understanding the principles of wisdom is a strong foundation to doing something different everyday.
With distributed wisdom, shared risk and psychological safety as our new core knowledge and skills, we are able to create change in our organisational culture and do things differently.
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, flop and befriend 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 maximise 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 We become defensive, withdrawn and compliant.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!
Taking a thought for a walk 