Weathering the Storm or Rocking the Boat, that is the Question?

For eons, society has conditioned us to avoid conflict, urging us to “not rock the boat” or “upset the apple cart.” This mindset is deeply ingrained, reflected in numerous phrases that encourage silence and endurance rather than confrontation and resolution.

Stoicism has long been revered as a virtue, teaching us to “roll with the punches” and maintain composure no matter the circumstance. Even the psychological safety experts of today, believe it or not, still maintain that that we should endure verbal insults & hardships with a “stiff upper lip” and letting troubles roll off us like “water off a duck’s back.” We are advised to “take it on the chin” and “weather the storm,” embodying the idea of being “steady as a rock” with an “iron will.”

Below is an example of Amy Edmondson encouraging us to reframe any insults we might receive. This might explain why “psychological safety” still struggles to get a foothold in organizations.

“Someone says something in a meeting that you instantly interpret
as an insult to you or as a threat to you in some way. Another moment; that’s another opportunity where you pause, breath, and think, “wait a minute my interpreted…I took that to mean XYZ. Is there another possible interpretation to that remark?”
The answer is almost surely yes, especially if you are creative, you can come up with something else and usually that something else is more benign than your first instinct. I could choose…I could go check, but I also could just choose to think that they weren’t actually out to get you, they were thinking about something else or frustrated about something, ‘It was about you, not me’.“

Amy Edmondson – Part transcript from the Chas Jarvis podcast (32Min 40s into podcast)
“Why we need to talk about failure with Amy Edmondson”

Such stoic and reframing attitudes encouraged by the experts, while promoting resilience, I believe discourages us from speaking up (the purpose of psychological safety is to encourage us to speak up) and address issues head-on. The advice to “keep a low profile,” “bite your tongue,” and “hold your peace” reinforces the notion that it is better to stay silent and avoid “making waves”. We are told to “let sleeping dogs lie” and “stay under the radar,” implying that addressing problems might create more trouble than it’s worth.

In the workplace and social settings, these ingrained habits manifest in a tendency to “sweep it under the rug” or “turn a blind eye” to issues. The directive to “keep your head down” and “keep mum” perpetuates a culture where issues are ignored rather than resolved.

Avoiding what we might consider micro-conflicts, might seem beneficial in the short term, but it can lead to unresolved issues festering beneath the surface, creating a toxic environment. The SpatzAI approach challenges this myth by encouraging open dialogue and constructive micro-conflict resolution. By addressing and objecting to behavior-slipups early, teams can prevent these micro-conflicts from escalating into significant and toxic conflicts.

Embracing the SpatzAI philosophy means valuing psychological safety and agreeing to create an environment where team members feel empowered to speak up knowing that they are protected from any retribution or unfair response. This approach aligns with the belief that peace is not the absence of conflict but the ability to address it effectively. Through a structured intervention and a culture of transparency, SpatzAI aims to transforms how teams handle the friction caused by disagreements, promoting healthier, more collaborative environments, spat by resolved spat.