The Fearless Organization

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Fearless Organization offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent - but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule, or intimidate. 

Not every idea is good, and yes, there are stupid questions, and yes, dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing.   

This audiobook explores this culture of psychological safety and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.

©2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (P)2019 Gildan Media, LLC

The Foundation for Organizational Transformation

I have read several transformation books from Radical Candor to Humble Inquiry including several books by the Heath brothers and I have found all of these to be invaluable to transformation. That said, 'The Fearless Organization' is 'Mindset' (Carol Dweck) for the team/enterprise-at-large. I truly feel as though this is the definitive'must-read' for any executive officer and/or team engaged in organizational transformation. Amy Edmondson marries data with vulnerability in a way rarely achieved. She arms you with a panoply of techniques to give voice to the voiceless masses while gently dismissing the notion that transformation is either'mushy' and/or too slow and unrealistic. The example of the transformation in the South African mine was a really strong example of a commitment to transform an entire organization in a a very 'fixed mindset' industry. I cannot recommend this book enough to any transformation evangelist. Regards, DG

A Must Listen!!

I am extremely happy that I chose this book. My job is predicated on great leadership and this book is a great tool to have in my kit moving forward!

Good story with clear handles and examples

Clear and sensible theory on creating a work environment where people feel safe enough to learn and grow, both individually and at the overarching company level. For anyone who’s worked in teams of any size, there will be clear handles allowing you to enhance or at least reflect on past, current and hopefully future situations. Narration was clear, lively and a nice 1.0x pace for me personally.

Great book!

love how it provides a review of important points in conclusion of each chapter. Also hits on diversity and inclusion.

Good one, worth listening

However, there were too much emphasis on psychological safety benefits and why it matters.

hard to follow in audio

and if I hear psychological safety one more time I'm going to lose it.... I must of heard it over 300 times in the first two chapters

My Take Away For The Fearless Organization

The message was very clear about unbridled, transparent feedback. I didn’t like hearing the phrase repeatedly to nauseam “Organizational Safety”. I

Good book for interested professionals

This book is a smooth read to get a bit more insight into the research and case studies around psychological safety. However, you can see the tension between a well researched scholastic book and an easy how to guide for business people. Unfortunately It ends up falling short in both categories. Some of Amy edmosons articles and blogs give you the same info with no narrative behind but accomplish the same goal perfectly.

Excellent book and very informative and relevant.

Relevant for all types of organizations. Concrete, good examples and told in an interesting way.

It can be delivered in a simple language

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” said Einstein (maybe), yet I think this book is the other way around.

Every leaders new handbook

If you are fan of giants like Leaders eat Last or Drive then this book is for you and rightly sits on the digital shelf alongside them. Takes you though organisations that have psychological safety, those that don’t and more gives a great handbook of steps to start taking to get on that journey.

Slightly difficult to follow in audio form

Whilst there's some really useful concepts here, it's sometimes difficult to follow the outlined frameworks when listening (as opposed to reading)

Building a high performance team

Excellent content and memorable case studies of how creating an open culture contributes to a high performance team.