Why Psychological Safety Matters
Amy C. Edmondson's research at Harvard Business School identifies psychological safety as the single biggest predictor of how teams learn, innovate, and perform together. She frames it this way:
"Psychological safety is the soil, not the seed."
— Amy C. Edmondson, Harvard Business School
It's the condition that lets people speak up, ask questions, share half-formed ideas, and admit mistakes. Without it, teams hold back. With it, performance compounds.
The Fearless Organization Scan is the gold standard for measuring psychological safety at scale, helping organizations build thriving, high-performing teams.
A Unique Opportunity for Organizations
If your company has 60+ employees, you’re invited to take part in The Fearless Report 2026 — the global benchmark of psychological safety at work.
Participation is free. Data is anonymized and contributes to the global benchmark.
This year's edition keeps the validated core items intact, so your results are directly comparable to the global dataset. In addition, this year's edition explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping psychological safety at work.
What You Receive
By participating in The Fearless Report 2026, your organization receives its own Organization Psychological Safety Index — a complete custom report including:
- The psychological safety score as perceived in participant’s primary team and the climate in the organization as a whole.
- Scores across the four domains of psychological safety: Open Conversation, Attitude to Risk & Failure, Willingness to Help, and Inclusion & Diversity.
- Breakdowns by role level, function, and tenure.
- Sentiment indicators including workplace loneliness and intent to stay.
Early access to The Fearless Report 2026
Before public release, you receive the global benchmark report with comparisons by country, industry, and organization size.
A Contributor Badge
A digital badge recognizing your organization's participation, awarded once you meet the minimum response threshold. Use it on your website, in recruiting materials, and in internal communications.
Your report is delivered within 2 weeks of your internal survey close date.
What it Involves
- A brief, validated survey — under 5 minutes per person.
- Most organizations complete data collection in 2-3 weeks.
- Minimum sample: 60 respondents. In our experience, that means inviting at least 90–100 participants.
- Survey window open until December 2026.
Who Should Sign Up?
- HR & People Leaders
- CEOs, Senior Executives & Team Leaders
- Organizational Development & Culture Experts
💡 If you care about organizational learning and performance, this is for you.
Psychological safety isn't a nice-to-have, it's essential for performance, innovation, and success
What Happens after You Register
After submitting the registration form, you'll receive a personalized participation guide with everything you need to run the survey internally - including communication templates, a suggested timeline, and answers to common questions from HR, IT, and Legal.
Here's what the process looks like:
- You receive your unique survey link - We set up a dedicated link for your organization. That link is yours to distribute internally.
- You launch internally - You decide when to open the survey and how long to keep it active. Most organizations run a two-to-three week window. We recommend inviting at least 90-100 participants to comfortably reach the 60-response minimum.
- You track aggregate participation - During your survey window, you receive regular updates on your organization's overall response rate.
- Your report becomes available - Your report is delivered within two weeks of your internal close date.
- You receive the global benchmark - Before the public release of The Fearless Report 2026, participating organizations receive early access to the global dataset - with comparisons by country, industry, and organization size.
Frequently Asked Questions
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An engagement survey and a psychological safety measurement are not the same thing — and mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes organizations make.
Engagement surveys measure outcomes: satisfaction, retention risk, motivation. They are often tied to performance cycles, which means results carry consequences. When people know their answers may affect their manager's evaluation or their team's standing, they respond accordingly. The data becomes noise.
Psychological safety is not an outcome. It is a condition — the soil in which performance, learning, and innovation either grow or don't. Measuring it works best when it is treated as a starting point for a conversation, not as a verdict.
When psychological safety questions are folded into an engagement survey, they inherit its energy: the pressure to perform, the anxiety around results, the temptation to manage perceptions. That's exactly the environment in which psychological safety cannot be measured honestly — or improved meaningfully.
Use your engagement survey to track outcomes. Use The Fearless Report to understand the conditions underneath them.
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Yes. Fully. In exchange for anonymized data that contributes to the global benchmark.
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At both levels. The survey captures how participants experience psychological safety within their primary team, as well as the broader climate across the organization as a whole.
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Under 5 minutes per person.
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Yes. Individual responses are never visible to your organization. You will only see aggregated results.
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Most organizations complete it in 2–3 weeks from launch to close.
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The participation window is open through December 2026. Once your organization registers, you set your own internal timeline. Most organizations run their survey over two to three weeks. Your report is delivered within two weeks of your internal close date.
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Yes. Once your survey is live, you will receive regular updates on your organization's overall response rate. Individual responses are never visible - only aggregate participation data.
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The survey is designed to prevent duplicate submissions. Each participant can complete the survey once.
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Below 60 responses, we cannot generate an anonymized report. Organizations that don't meet this threshold can use the anonymous Team Scan instead — independently or with support from a partner in our network.
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Your organization receives a custom report - the Organization Psychological Safety Index - that shows where psychological safety is strong and where there is room to grow. The results are yours to use: to start internal conversations, inform leadership decisions, or benchmark against your own future measurements.
Participating organizations also contribute anonymized data to the global Fearless Report 2026 dataset. -
Within 2 weeks of your internal survey close date.
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Upgrade Your Insights with Paid Options
For organizations that want more than the standard report. Pricing on request through your Fearless Organization Scan contact.
❒ Advanced Insights Report
❒ Survey logistics support
❒ Expert Debrief
Contact for Custom Solutions →
Note:
This Fearless Report 2026 is designed for organizations with at least 60 employees. If your organization is smaller, or if you're looking to measure psychological safety within a specific team, our Team Scan is the right starting point.