Psychological Safety
Blameless Retrospective
After any project or incident, the team reflects on what happened, what helped, what hindered and what they'll change — without blame.
Milestone45–60 minutesSmall team (2–10)
Theme
Psychological Safety
Everything on Rituals of Work about psychological safety, in one place.
Rituals
See all →Research-backedPsychological Safety
Friday Two-Question Pulse
Every Friday, ask the team two questions — how was your week, and what would make next week better — then act on something by Monday.
Weekly2 minutesSmall team (2–10)
Seen at PixarPsychological Safety
Notes Day
Pause normal work for a day so employees can raise problems and propose fixes, without managers in the room.
Annually1 dayOrganisation-wide
Seen at GoogleLeadership
Open Q&A All-Hands
A regular all-hands where leaders take unscreened questions from anyone — including the uncomfortable ones.
Monthly45 minutesOrganisation-wide
Change & Transformation
Project Funeral
When a project is stopped, hold a short, good-humoured “funeral” to honour the effort, capture lessons and let the team move on.
Milestone45 minutesSmall team (2–10)
Seen at ToyotaPsychological Safety
The Andon Pull
Give anyone the right to “stop the line” when they see a problem — and thank them every time they use it.
DailyAs neededAny
Articles
See all →Psychological Safety
The “CC everyone” epidemic
Copying the boss “just in case” looks like transparency. It’s really a symptom of fear — and leaders can cure it one reply at a time.
8 Oct 2026
Nudges
See all →Learning & Performance
The Feedback Intervention Paradox
Feedback makes performance worse surprisingly often. Whether it was positive or negative barely matters — what matters is whether it points attention at the work or at the person.
2-minute read10 Oct 2026
Leadership
The Benjamin Franklin Effect
People tend to like you more after they’ve done you a favour — but only when you asked them yourself.
2-minute read1 Oct 2026
Psychological Safety
The 19-Word Note
One sentence attached to critical feedback dramatically increased how many people acted on it — especially those who trusted the giver least.
2-minute read27 Aug 2026
Learning & Performance
The Two-Question Pulse
Annual surveys measure memory, not experience. Two questions asked weekly reveal far more than sixty asked once a year.
2-minute read9 Jul 2026
Psychological Safety
The Anonymity Cost
Anonymous feedback protects people in low-trust environments — but it can’t be followed up, so it rarely gets acted on. How much anonymity you need is a measure of trust.
2-minute read4 Jul 2026
Leadership
The 1:1 Agenda Flip
One-to-ones run on the manager’s agenda feel productive but rarely surface real problems. When the report owns the agenda, different issues come up.
2-minute read2 Jul 2026
Videos
See all →Psychological Safety
The “CC everyone” epidemic
A one-minute comedy sketch about the email CC line — and what it reveals about trust in your organisation.
1 min8 Oct 2026