Steve Jobs was brilliant. Few would deny that. His vision reshaped entire industries, and his insistence on excellence pushed teams to do what seemed impossible. But brilliance came at a cost. Jobs’s emotional dogma, his relentless belief that he was right, meant he burned the candle at both ends....
Respect Is Like Air — Accountability Keeps It Flowing
Imagine scrolling LinkedIn and reading just about any post on teamwork. Chances are, it’s about the need for a “respectful culture,” “psychological safety,” and “nurturing it” as an imperative. But really, who doesn’t already believe that respect and feeling psychologically safe are essential? No one, I’d say.
Micro-Aggressions Spark Micro-Conflicts (Spats) & Potentially Much More
Micro-aggressions, those subtle slights like a sarcastic or dogmatic (I am right you, are wrong) tone, an eye-roll, or a dismissive interruption, may appear trivial in isolation. But in practice, they can sting, chip away at trust, and quietly derail collaboration, leading to uncertainty and indecision.
Micro-Conflict Self-Management for Micro-Aggression, Of Course!
Australia’s new psychosocial hazard laws—alongside Safe Work Australia’s definition of bullying as “repeated, unreasonable behavior directed at a worker … that creates a risk to health and safety”—illustrate just how narrow the reporting threshold can be. Micro-aggressions, like a raised eyebrow or a passive-aggressive tone, rarely meet the “repeated and unreasonable” bar.
Feedback, Pushback & Backlash
I think I’ve worked out a key blind spot in Amy Edmondson’s thesis on psychological safety. Her definition works well in high-stakes error environments like hospitals or aviation. In those settings, people need to feel safe to admit mistakes without fear of blame. That’s essential — nobody should hide a surgical slip or a checklist error because they’re afraid of punishment. Edmondson’s framing covers that territory well.
When Ignoring Becomes Anti-Psychological Safety
Amy Edmondson is celebrated as the leading voice on psychological safety — she even picked up major business awards for it, winning the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award in 2023. But in a recent podcast in 2024, she openly recommended ignoring perceived slights or insults and simply try reframing them away:
The Psychological Safety House of Cards
In my view, Goals, Strategies and even Tactics are great, but without actions they are just empty words carried away with the wind....
Why SpatzAI Might Be the Best Supervised Fine-Tuner on the Planet
Everyone’s racing to fine-tune LLMs. But here's a thought: what if the real breakthrough isn’t just in model weights, but in the way we shape behavioral context and output formatting in real-time?
The Quicker We Can Resolve Our Minor Spats, the Stronger the Teamwork
Successful teams were found to harness these small disagreements or minor spats to reduce uncertainty, clarifying doubts and aligning understanding quickly. In contrast, less successful teams let their disagreements amplify uncertainty, causing confusion to linger and slow progress. This dynamic applies well beyond design teams, we believe.
Idea Rejected? You’re Not Alone
Emily, a senior nurse, proposed a small but potentially life-saving change to the patient handover procedure. Dr. Clarke, her supervising physician, brushed it off without giving it proper consideration.....
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