You don’t build momentum through pressure, you build it through safety
The typical mindset many organisations still carry sounds like this:
-Push harder, chase velocity, enforce deadlines
That approach might get people moving, but even chickens can flap their wings fast … it doesn’t mean they’re going to take flight! You might spike activity but not value.
When your trying to help deliver value, momentum isn't about how fast the team runs, it's about how freely they can move. And that freedom comes from psychological safety:
1. Safety to say “we don’t know”
That is essential for innovation & to also reduce risk. Think about it.
Innovation
If a team always feels like they have to have the “right answer,” they’ll stick to what’s safe, known, and incremental. But innovation? That lives in the unknown.
Saying “we don’t know” out loud gives the team permission to explore, test, and discover.
It invites curiosity, not cover-ups.
It sparks experimentation, not stagnation.
Reducing risk.
When a team feels safe enough to admit gaps in knowledge, they can challenge assumptions, play with new ideas, and approach problems with a learning mindset.
Ironically, pretending to “know” everything is where risk actually grows.
If a team can’t say “we’re unsure about this architecture” or “we’re unclear on what the user actually needs,” they’ll make decisions based on illusion, not insight. That’s how you build the wrong thing, or build it in the wrong way.
But when teams say “we don’t know,” they can:
Validate assumptions early
Ask better questions
Seek user feedback sooner
Spike on risks before they become failures
That honesty leads to tighter feedback loops, more intelligent trade-offs, and fewer surprises down the road.
Stay tuned for the 2nd part of this series: Safety to swarm on problems without having to focus on pressure to help a team deliver.
