Serious workplace conflicts rarely, if every appear out of nowhere. The shouting match in the boardroom, the feud between departments, the HR complaints about “toxic culture”, they didn’t just happen. They all began as something much smaller: a raised eyebrow, an offhand remark, a piece of feedback delivered poorly, or a single unfair or minor disrespectful infringement. In other words, a minor spat.
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.
Objective Reality vs Objectionable Behavior
Philosophers have chased the holy grail of objective reality for centuries. Some treat it as the ultimate goal truth independent of any mind, pure and eternal. Others dismiss it as a mirage, forever out of reach. And a third way sees its value not in capturing “the truth” outright, but in continually reducing what is objectionable, the claims, dogmas, and illusions that collapse under scrutiny.
Real-Time Team Communication: A Behavioral Psychology Review of SpatzAI’s Innovation
After analyzing the SpatzAI Team Playbook from a behavioral psychology perspective, I'm genuinely impressed by the elegance of this workplace intervention system. SpatzAI has identified something crucial that most conflict resolution approaches miss: the power of real-time intervention during team discussions.
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.
I Don’t Work For You
A colleague once said to Meg De Keukelaere: “I don’t work for you.” It stopped her in her tracks. Not only was it jarring, it also sparked reflection on rules of engagement, belonging, and the role of core values in shaping culture....
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....
“He Started it!”
We all know that futile line kids use when they’re caught fighting: “He started it!” One person pokes, the other reacts, and suddenly both are equal participants in the mess. Both end up getting punished, even though one just took the bait.
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