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Over the past three decades, a wealth of research has shown that psychological safetythe perception that it is safe to speak up and take risks without fear of embarrassment, rejection, or retributionis one of the most consistent and important predictors of leadership competence and team effectiveness. As one of us (Amy Edmondson) has illustrated in The Fearless Organization, when team members trust that their voice will be heard and valued, they are more willing to take the kinds of interpersonal risks that innovation requires. Unsurprisingly, this matters enormously in todays organizations. Whether the challenge is developing a new product, responding to a shifting market, or solving a stubborn customer problem, innovation rarely emerges only from top-down decree. Instead, it tends to bubble up from people on the ground, with people feeling the freedom to test ideas, share half-formed thoughts and, especially, point out problems others would prefer to ignore (just consider the impact of an employee highlighting a deficient company process to their boss, versus pretending everything is fine, just in order to avoid being reprimanded). Without psychological safety, those behaviors are stifled, and teams end up playing it safe; choosing caution over candor, and conformity over creativity. The leaders role in creating safety Decades of evidence also highlight that leaders play an outsized role in creating the conditions for psychological safety. Simply put, a managers behavior sets the tone for what is acceptable, expected, rewarded, and sanctioned in a team. Leaders who foster safety tend to do several things. First, they model curiosity and openness, asking questions, inviting ideas, and showing genuine interest in different perspectives. Second, they are also good at sanctioning bad behaviors, making it clear for everyone that dismissiveness, ridicule, or hostility have no place in the team. Third, they tend to build trust by admitting their own fallibility. That is, when leaders acknowledge that they dont have all the answers, they encourage others to contribute, which is a critical enabler of team and organizational performance in an age in which knowledge and expertise are likely shared among employees rather than concentrated in those who are in charge. Finally, these leaders encourage smart risk-taking: allowing room for small experiments, tolerating failures, and helping the team learn from them. In short, leaders create safety when they challenge themselves and others to confront reality and engage with each other in honest, respectful ways. As these behaviors imply, psychological safety is not about comfort. Rather, it is a platform for productive discomfort: the kind of discomfort that fuels innovation, learning, and growth. And leaders are the architects and engineers of this climate. Why ‘just being yourself’ threatens safety As one of us (Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic) illustrates in a forthcoming book, Dont Be Yourself: Why Authenticity is Overrated and What to Do Instead, it has become fashionable to tell leadersand othersto just be yourself or to bring your whole self to work. The idea is seductive: after all, who wouldnt want to work in a place where they can express themselves freely, without external pressures or obligation to align their behavior to a corporate norm, and perhaps even celebrated for expressing their unedited and unfiltered self? But here lies a dangerous misconception. In fact, your authentic or whole self also includes the undesirable, unprofessional, and dark side dimensions of your character. As a comprehensive review of this topic highlights, self-expressions may be experienced and perceived as authentic, and yet reduce ones influence if they irritate, anger, or overwhelm others. In that sense, you are better off bringing your best self to work; save the rest for your family, with whom we sympathize for having no escape! Psychological safety is not built through unfiltered self-expression; instead, it tends to require the opposite. Leaders who want to build safe environments for learning and innovation must resist the temptation to bring their whole self to work. Rather, they must make an effort to cultivate and express the best possible version of their professional self, namely the self that is devoted to the greater good, to developing others, and to working hard to achieve meaningful goals. In any of these cases, bringing your whole self may feel liberating for the leader, but it comes at the expense of the teams ability to contribute without fear. Psychological safety demands that leaders filter, regulate, and elevate their behavior: an aspiration that is quite distinct from unedited authenticity. Consider four ways in which whole self leadership can obstruct safety: Unfiltered emotions: A leader who vents every frustration, irritation, or passing mood risks creating a volatile climate. Teams end up tiptoeing around the leaders emotions instead of focusing on the work. Biases and prejudices: Everyone harbors biases, but airing them under the guise of authenticity is toxic. Expressing stereotypes or discriminatory views (however sincerely held) undermines trust and risks excluding essential voices. Radical candor taken too far: Brutal honesty about every thought or judgment may feel authentic, but it can humiliate others. Safety requires candor, yes, but also tact, empathy, and timing. Even Ray Dalio, one of the most famous champions of radical transparency, acknowledges there must be some limits to unfiltered honesty. He says, “if someone shows you a picture of their newborn child, you dont tell them ‘thats an ugly baby.’ Self-centeredness: Leaders who insist on prioritizing their own needs, quirks, or values above the teams mission confuse the purpose of leadership. Leadership is about enabling others, not indulging oneself. Indeed, with power comes responsibility, and with great power comes great responsibility. The only people who want absolute power without any responsibility are narcissistic or psychopathic megalomaniacs who end up being toxic or destructive leaders. Why others, too, should bring their best, not their whole, selves The same principle applies to employees who are not formal leaders. While leaders carry the heavier responsibility, every team member contributes to the climate. A workplace cannot function if being yourself means failing to consider how ones actions affect others. Imagine a software engineer who insists on interrupting colleagues because thats just how I am. Or a salesperson who justifies aggressive, competitive behavior as authentic. Or someone who loves cracking jokes that make some people laugh but are offensive or hurtful to others. At some point, the right to be fully oneself collides with the obligation to create space for others. Teams thrive not because everyone is indulging their idiosyncrasies, but because members align around a shared mission and adapt their behavior to make collective work possible. The goal is thus not to suppress individuality but to channel it productively. The healthiest teams encourage employees to bring their best selves: the part that is curious, constructive, and committed to learning. Our best selves make an effort to understand others and to collaborate effectively even with those who dont think like us. This professional version of yourself can still come across as authentic, because it is an authentic part of who you are, but it requires developing adequate social skills and an empathetic mindset to strengthen safety rather than undermine it. This is not always easy, but its important for helping to advance the mission of the organization. So, by all means, seem authenticby being a positive influence on others and harnessing a reputation for adding value to the team. Embrace the aspiration to have an authentic self that is admirable and worthy of followers. Authenticity and safety: a nuanced relationship As we have tried to illustrate, the relationship between authenticity and psychological safety is not simple. At their best, they reinforce each other: when people feel safe, they are more likely to be authentic, and when leaders model thoughtful authenticity, they reinforce safety. But without boundaries, both concepts can be distorted into their opposite. Authenticity without self-awareness becomes selfishness. Safety without accountability for impact becomes permissiveness. The real challenge for leaders is to hold the tension between the two, to create an environment where people can speak up candidly yet still regulate themselves in service of the teams goals. This requires negotiation, experimentation, and repair. Teams must talk openly about what behaviors support or undermine safety. Missteps will happen; what matters is how they are handledsuch as, with humility, apology, and renewed commitment. Karl Poppers famous paradox of tolerance is instructive here: if you want a tolerant society, you must be intolerant of intolerance. The same logic applies in organizations. If you want psychological safety, you must be unwilling to tolerate behaviors that erode it. The leadership imperative In the end, creating psychological safety is less about leaders revealing their whole selves and more about leaders taking responsibility for the selves they bring. The leaders task is not self-expression but stewardship: creating the conditions where others can do their best thinking, experimenting, and learning. That is the paradox of safety and authenticity at work. To build trust, leaders must be human, vulnerable, and real. But to sustain safety, they must also regulate, filter, and discipline their impulses. The same is true for peers. Authenticity is valuable only when it is paired with accountability to others. Leaders who grasp this nuance will build workplaces where people feel free to speak up and take risks, but not free to disregard the collective mission. That balance, between authenticity and responsibility, between freedom and accountability, is the real foundation of psychological safety.
Category:
E-Commerce
While most museums have some kind of storea place to buy a postcard or mug and help their respective institutions squeeze a few more bucks from its visitorsfew are actually outstanding places to shop. The notable exception is MoMA. The MoMA Store has become a brand in and of itself to the point where there are shoppers who know the acronym and logo but not necessarily the history behind them. And while retail has helped MoMA gain name recognition, the museum wants it to become a more effective ambassador for the flagship art institution. The recent renovation of MoMA’s SoHo design store, which recently reopened after months of renovations, exemplifies this new approach. We’ve been thinking beyond revenue and contemplating our reach and how our retail business can connect people to the larger institution and to its mission of connecting people around the world to the art of our times, says Jesse Goldstine, the general manager of MoMAs retail operations, who joined the museum in 2015. This rolls up into the biggest pivot in the business since Ive been managing retail at MoMA, which is the shift in strategy from the typical exit-through-the-store model to retail as a point of entry for the institution. [Photo: MoMA] Between online sales, brick-and-mortar shops, and licensing, MoMAs retail endeavors generate more than three million transactions annually (MoMA declined to share sales figures). To put that figure into context, the museum welcomed 2.7 visitors during between 2023 and 2024. MoMA says at least 7% of museum visitors learn about the institution through merchandise. Recently, MoMA has been ramping up its licensing partnerships with brands like Lego, New Era (for cobranded Yankees and Mets hats), and Nike (for cobranded tube socks). Additionally, more than half of MoMA Stores revenue is driven by brick-and-mortar stores. Because the shop might be the first time someone engages with MoMA, the institution saw an opportunity to strengthen a connection to the museum itself. See an Aalto vase in the shop, then head to Midtown to see an archival example. Part of his shift has to do with the nature of SoHo and how the design store, which opened in 2001, relates to the neighborhoods visitors. When people come to 53rd Street, they know what MoMA is, they understand the brand, Goldstine says. They likely are walking out of the museum and into one of our retail locations. In SoHo, not necessarily. They may have grabbed a cup of coffee and saw a cool thing in the window. They may be excited about the MoMA hoodie that they’ve seen on TikTok or Instagram and want to go purchase it, but they don’t understand who we are as a business. [Photo: MoMA] A store that channels a museum To strengthen the connection, MoMA Design Store now looks a bit more like a museum. Working closely with Peterson Rich Officethe Brooklyn-based architecture firm behind Galerie Perrotins downtown outpost and the Mets forthcoming retail and dining renovationthe shop reconfigured its layout to accommodate the strategy. First off, its much easier to see inside the store. Before, MoMA Design Store used its storefront for vitrine-like displays in each window. They looked attractive, but blocked longer interior views. Now, the windows are unobstructed and instead look into a spacious, gallery-like space in the front of the store, which will feature products from the museums collection plus exclusives and special pop-ups. (Its also a flexible area that can be emptied out for events and talks to seat 50 people.) They also installed deep, built-in cabinets along the storefront at window height, which offers a space where furniture is displayed sparingly, like sculpture. Perforated metal shelving acts as a back wall for the storefront gallery as well as a secondary threshold into the shop. [Photo: MoMA] A more controlled entry sequence into the store is another shift for the experience. Instead of two doors at the corner of Spring and Crosby, theres now one entrance on Spring. The architects shifted the door over a few feet so that its on a central axis and offers a sightline to the back wall, which is the site of a new rotating mural commission from a contemporary artist. The first is by Nina Chanel Abney and will be up for a couple of years. Overall, PRO emphasized whats necessary for function but kept its interventions minimal. Sustainability concerns (why use more material than you need to or rebuild something thats perfectly sound?) alongside architectural philosophy influenced the renovation. The stores original design by 1100 Architects was celebrated when it debuted in 2001 and involved covering p the 19th-century buildings industrial detailsthink mirrored panels over cast-iron columns and an illuminated drop ceiling over pipes and air ductsbut didnt serve the new business strategy. It was the spirit of the time, says Miriam Peterson, who founded PRO with Nathan Rich. There was almost a fight against history and old things or this attitude that in order to have a point of view about what it means to be contemporary, you have to erase or obliterate whatever it is that was there before. PRO removed most of the aughts-era interventions (the only feature they kept was the concrete stair leading to the basement, where home goods and children’s departments are). They wanted to make the shop feel spacious and heighten the feeling of being in SoHo, playing up the features that are distinct to the building. You cant squander the history of New York, Rich says. [Photo: MoMA] Refreshingly, the redesign is not intended to be an Instagrammable experience, which has influenced so many SoHo flagships as of late. Its still, at its heart, a very good place to shop. Youll still be able to find exclusive products that MoMA Stores merchandisers and buyers source from all around the world and that have all been curator approvedincluding Kermit-green expandable suitcases from the Korean brand Rawrow, painterly tumblers from the century-old European glassware company Ichendorf, and retro-style Bodum coffee makers plus perennial bestsellers like perpetual calendars, ceramic Anthora cups, and prismatic acrylic side tables. However, there are 30% fewer SKUs on the floor, a strategy that gives merchandisers more space for storytellingthis includes iPads with video demonstrations of electronics, like projectorsplus breathing room for each product. (Anyone whos braved the crowds on weekends or around the holidays will likely appreciate more space to move around.) The redesigned store and strategy behind it also speaks to shifts in how people want to shop. Consumers are interested in spending money at places that align with their values. Its easier than ever to find attractive, stylish products online and there are countless outlets now with aesthetics similar to MoMA Store. However, none of them have the same history and connection to art. In the past, it might have been that the museum lent credibility to the store’s inventory, but the relationship is more reciprocal now. On their way out of the store, visitors will notice a screen near the door that advertises the current exhibitions in the museum. The train uptown to see them is just two blocks away.
Category:
E-Commerce
Since our return from Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year, we have been dissecting the World Economic Forums Future of Jobs Report 2025. The WEF surveyed more than 1,000 companies from 22 different industries across 55 countries to attempt to predict and paint a picture of what work will look like in 2030. The encouraging news is that there are projected to be 170 million new jobs globally by 2030; however, 92 million jobs are expected to be eliminated due to AI automation. That is a net gain of 78 million jobs by 2030. To get a true understanding of why and how this shift will occur, here is a look at the story beneath the story. 4 factors reshaping the global workforce Four disruptive forces driving the next chapter of work stood out in the WEF report: AI and automation will continue to permeate the globe. By 2030, 86% of companies anticipate that artificial intelligence will have a significant impact on their operations. The scale and speed of this shift are unprecedented. Economic pressure is growing. Half of employers say rising costs are forcing them to rework their business models by looking at ways to cut costs while increasing revenue and production. How? AI and automation are the fastest and surest ways. The green transition is accelerating. As companies pursue their own climate goals, demand will surge for renewable energy engineers, sustainability consultants, and carbon auditors. Demographics are shifting. Developed countries are aging at an accelerated rate, while developing nations are sending their younger populations into the workforce. This shift is creating opportunities in several regions worldwide. AI creates new business models, opportunities, and industries Every technological revolutionfrom electricity to the internetsparked fears of obsolescence. But each wave created more jobs than it destroyed. Take the internet: In the 1990s, critics predicted a massive increase in unemployment and economic destruction. Today? The commercial internet alone supports 28.4 million jobs and drives 18% of the United States GDP. It created new career paths that didnt exist before, like social media managers and DevOps engineers. Whole industries were created: software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, cloud computing, e-commerce platforms, and the creator economy. Every technological advancement in history has led to a net increase in employment. AI is following the same pattern, and were at the edge of the job creation phase. Consider the rise of ChatGPT. Behind every AI tool is a multidisciplinary team of humans. Machine learning engineers designed and implemented the algorithms. Data scientists and data engineers cleaned, curated, and labeled massive datasets. AI ethics experts are working to ensure responsible and fair AI use. Infrastructure architects built the cloud systems that scale these models globally. Every AI tool you use required dozens of specialists to make it work. The more AI gets deployed, the more humans we need to build, maintain, and improve these systems. Its continuous work that requires human expertise. Jobs that are growing versus those disappearing As organizations navigate these times of change, there are multiple areas in which they should focus. To best prepare for the future and set a company up for growth, they must start building a deep team that relies heavily on big data specialists, AI and machine learning engineers, fintech developers, software engineers, and environmental and renewable energy specialists. Conversely, some roles will decrease significantly in number or disappear altogether. If there are people at a company who hold these roles, they need to be reskilled or upskilled if there is a desire to save on recruiting and training costs. Administrative assistants can be almost completely replaced via AI for handling scheduling and initial call response. Accountants and auditors at the entry to mid-managerial level can be replaced by software and AI. Additionally, graphic designers who create emails, internal and external company documentation, and presentations will also be phased out. Upskilling or reskilling is crucial for individuals currently in those roles. Irreplaceable skills In the World Economic Forum report, employers anticipate that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030. Essentially, the tasks you were hired to do, and the skills you possess that qualified you for and secured your job, may become obsolete in five years. So what skills are rising in demand? Think of technical skills like proficiency in AI and big data, as well as cybersecurity. No matter the industry, the future will favor those who can think critically, collaborate effectively, and learn continuously to solve problems. AI will continue to automate repetitive and mundane tasks, so AI and automation will almost exclusively handle frontline traditional grunt work. In these times of generational workforce shifts, the talent and skills of resilience and adaptability will become increasingly necessary to maintain relevance and demand for your services. The jobs of tomorrow To envision what new jobs will be created, you need to think about the problems and challenges that will be created by increased reliance on AI. AI will create more than it replaces, albeit in different roles and skill sets. As digital transformation continues to accelerate, companies will begin to staff up in roles such as software developers and UX designers, focusing on individuals who possess the skills to bridge the gap between technology and the businesses’ needs. As medical science advances, the life expectancy of the population continues to increase, which is expected to drive demand for careers in healthcare, particularly in eldercare. As the population ages, the demand for doctors, nurses, and in-home caregivers will increase. This is the way of things. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance; experience design; and supply chain resilience were not recognized as distinct job categories 10 years ago. What new jobs will exist and be in high demand over the next five to 10 years? The age of endless preparation and flexibility Unless you plan to retire within the next 18 months, you cannot rest on your current skills. AI and automation will likey displace some jobs, possibly including yours. But massive opportunities will open for people who are willing to adapt. Be a student of your industry and develop an understanding of how it is evolving. That will put you in a position to increase your skills and remain a vital part of your field. Individuals’ futures are in their own hands. We all have to ask ourselves: Will I let the future happen to meor will I create it?
Category:
E-Commerce
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