Ed Schein talking about cultures, psychological safety, and humble inquiry.

Ed Schein talking about cultures, psychological safety, and humble inquiry (link at end of post)

Extracts:

· “culture [is] multidimensional– we have many cultures. We don’t just have a culture”

· “if we don’t become aware of how much our thinking is culturally determined, culturally at the level of nation– you all come from different countries and different ethnicities; that’s a big layer– culture at the level of an organization, and then inside the organization”

· “Culture” is the accumulated learning you’ve had in your group experience”

· “we saw what the anthropologists would call the artifacts or the creations of culture– the buildings, the way people dress, the structures”

· “All that stuff is the visible, feelable, smellable, hearable part of culture, which is real but is just the surface manifestation”

· “Humility is acknowledging that there are some things I don’t know how to do. Or there is some bit of knowledge that I don’t have”

· “ you have to let your curiosity and your humility surface and become dominant. “Humble inquiry” is the acknowledgment that sometimes the other person– whether it’s a subordinate or a boss or a peer– knows something that you need to know in order to accomplish your next task”

· “So it’s probably the most practical suggestion we can have in a complex world is to get curious and ask questions. Don’t think you already know because chances are, if it’s complex, you probably got the wrong answer”

· “One is to become more personal, which is paradoxical. I think society trains us to be mostly transactional, particularly in business. You’re supposed to have professional relationships. And professional distance is [seen as] good”

· “So we have this huge managerial overlay that stayed transactional. And again, in a simple world, that’s probably OK. But the minute things get complex and interpersonally diffuse, transactions no longer work”

· “I’m very critical of .. rampant individualism brought inside an organization. That may be great for capitalism in large. But I think it’s a disaster when you bring it inside an organization”

· “I think the managerial culture is a male-originated dominant culture. And I think a lot of women feel that, unless they give up their feminine skills and adapt to the masculine competitive environment, they’re not going to make it”

· “if you’re the leader of the group, to go heavily into creating an environment where people will feel safe. To me, that’s one of the biggest pathologies in the US system– is that managers have the notion that, if you’re a responsible subordinate, you will tell me what’s going on, instead of realizing that, unless I deliberately create psychological safety for you, there is no particular incentive for you to tell me what’s really going on”

· “as a boss, you have to really create that environment. You can’t assume it”