Safety in teams isn’t about removing all risk — it’s about tuning. Joe uses the metaphor of a guitar string: too much safety and it’s strung too tight, out of tune; not enough and it’s too loose. The inherent unsafety of the challenge must remain — you can’t promise a Mount Everest team they won’t die — but everything else should be safe.
The “everything else” includes feeling safe to express opinions, say “this isn’t working,” ask for help, and bring your full self including fears and anxieties. Professional sports illustrate this: the profession is inherently unsafe (you can be cut), but players feel secure because criteria are clear — perform at this level or leave. That clarity directs anxiety productively.
Joe also warns that people weaponize safety as control: “I don’t feel safe” becomes a demand that others change their behavior. Trust is harder to manipulate this way, which is why Joe prefers it as the organizing principle.
Related Concepts
- Trust is the universal ingredient of functional teams
- Resisted stress harms, unresisted stress enlivens