Lean Blog Audio: Practical Lean Thinking, Psychological Safety, and Continuous Improvement17 Jul

A Bending Column, a Bad Answer, and the Real Test of a Speak-Up Culture

A construction worker named Sean Dow was working on the 22nd floor of Pfizer’s former Manhattan headquarters, a massive office building now being converted into residential apartments with additional floors being added.

Dow noticed cracks in a concrete slab. When he investigated further, he found a structural column visibly bending. But when he raised the concern, the initial response from the general contractor was reportedly, “Don’t worry, you’ll work on the floor below.”

Dow kept pushing. Workers were evacuated, and investigators later found floors sagging by as much as four inches.

The story illustrates an important distinction in psychological safety. People remain silent not only because they fear punishment, but also because they believe speaking up will accomplish nothing.

A genuine speak-up culture requires concerns to feel both safe to raise and worthwhile to raise. The real test is not whether leaders say they welcome concerns. It is what they do in the first minute after someone brings one forward.

Do they dismiss the concern and offer reassurance without investigating? Or do they respond with curiosity and say, “Show me”?

An organization that depends on unusually persistent workers to overcome a dismissive first response is not operating a strong safety culture. It is operating on luck.

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