How can we create environments where people feel safe enough to try, fail, and improve?
I went to San Francisco for a screening of a short film written, directed, and produced by a majority-disabled cast and crew a few weeks ago. I loved the film, and I recognize my bias because my husband was really involved in it. But what I also loved was the audience Q&A afterward, when everyone involved in the production, cast and crew, took the stage to answer audience questions. People spoke at their own pace. They paused to find their words. They shared things that were provocative, funny, thoughtful, and unfinished, without seeming worried about whether they were saying the “right” thing.
There was something powerful about watching disabled people occupy the position of power in the room. They weren't being welcomed into someone else's space, but shaping the space themselves. I thought about how much the environments around us influence our willingness to participate. When we feel judged, we learn to protect ourselves. When we feel trusted, we become more willing to experiment, take risks, and learn out loud.
So this week's challenge is: How can we create environments where people feel safe enough to try, fail, and improve?
Honest Story
Danhiko Industrial Training College in Zimbabwe and UNESCO's O3 PLUS Program includes a 37-year-old fashion student, Fortunate Chikonera, who acquired a disability at 15 years old. She faced harmful assumptions, physical barriers, and uncertainty, which pushed her to nearly give up. But the encouragement of another student helped her to stay in the program, where she is now completing her studies and training as a teacher. Challenging assumptions and less barriers led to greater confidence and transformative outcomes for Fortune.
We often underestimate the impact of moments of encouragement. A teacher, colleague, friend, or manager can make it easier for someone to keep going, or make them feel that they don't belong. We have a choice in how we respond when someone is struggling. We can point out what's wrong, or we can help them see what's possible. Building someone up doesn't mean pretending everything is fine. It means believing that a person is capable of growth and giving them enough support to find that capability in themselves. One person's encouragement can change the trajectory of another person's life.
Rigorous Learning
In two randomized experiments, researchers compared strength-based and deficit-based approaches to professional development. People who focused on developing their strengths (rather than developing their deficits) reported greater feelings of competence, motivation, and willingness to put effort into their development. The lesson isn't that we should ignore what needs to improve, but instead that we don't have to begin with what's wrong (Heimstra & Van Yperen, 2015).
This is important when trying to create environments where people can experiment. If every mistake is evidence that you don't belong, taking a risk becomes difficult. If mistakes are treated as information, something we can learn from and build on, there's more room to try again. And this is also a question of power; the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that characters with disabilities made up just 2.4% of speaking characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2024, alongside continued disparities behind the camera. Representation isn't only about who we see. It's about who gets to create, decide, and shape the story.
Maybe psychological safety isn't just about making people feel comfortable enough to speak, but about creating conditions where people can contribute before they have everything figured out, and making sure they have enough power to shape what comes next.
Work of Art
Susan Te Kahurangi King is a New Zealand artist whose intricate, surreal drawings began when she was a child. King is non-speaking and does not read or write. For much of her life, the art world had little idea what she was making. She drew prolifically for decades, stopped for a period, and began again in 2008. Her work is now held in major museum collections.
So often, we instinctively notice what someone can't do, rather than paying attention to what they can. It's easy to mistake a different way of communicating for a limitation in what someone can think, imagine, or contribute. Susan Te Kahurangi King's drawings tell a different story. She didn't need to become more like the people around her to make remarkable work. She needed the space, and the people, to recognize what she was already capable of. What might we notice if, instead of asking people to adapt to our expectations, we made more room for different ways of expressing, creating, and contributing?
Practical Experiment
This week, try changing what you reward in one environment you influence. Instead of asking, “Who got it right?”, ask, “What did I learn because someone was willing to try?” Invite people to share something unfinished. When someone offers an imperfect idea, resist the urge to evaluate it immediately. Ask what it makes possible, what could be tested, or what it helps everyone notice. And if it feels like there isn't time for this, pause and ask why. Is the urgency truly necessary, or have we created a pace that leaves little room for reflection, creativity, or different ways of contributing?
Then notice who takes the risk. Who speaks first? Who waits? Who gets interrupted? Who feels comfortable changing their mind? Whose mistakes become learning opportunities, and whose mistakes become evidence that they shouldn't have been there? Most importantly, look for an opportunity to build someone up. Tell them specifically what you see them doing well, or what you see them capable of becoming. It may feel like a small gesture, but being encouraged by someone who sees your potential can change what you believe is possible for yourself.
Reflection
What might change if we stopped thinking of experimentation as something people either feel able to do or don't, and started asking what conditions we can create to make it possible?
Next Week's Challenge
How can we move from good intentions to meaningful impact?