The Human Conditions for Quality Work

Published 19 Mar 2026

As an org designer, I tend towards structural frameworks to address challenges. The previous chapter showed how, by aligning responsibility with level and role, people are clear as to what's expected of them. But as a humanist, I know that structure is not a magic fix. There's the messy reality of people in that structure, their motivations, connections, and commitment.

Even with the right standards, clear accountability at every level, and well-defined processes, teams can still produce mediocre work. Creative problem solving is both directly and indirectly affected by the interpersonal conditions under which people engage in their work. These conditions arise from how leaders behave with their teams and how team members behave with each other. There is no straightforward organizational solve, no structure, no framework that addresses this. These conditions require intentional and persistent cultivation.

At its core, design is a creative act. It's exploratory, generative, and discursive. The best work emerges from the collision of perspectives, from trying dozens of things that don't work to find the one that does, from critique that pushes thinking further. This won't happen when people feel like they have to play it safe. These human conditions create the space and tenor for improved practice, from which people can do their best work.

Psychological safety: the foundation

Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School, spearheaded the contemporary understanding of psychological safety, which she defined as "a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas questions, concerns, or mistakes, and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking." The concept became widely known thanks to Google's Project Aristotle, which found that the single greatest contributor to team effectiveness was not the individual performance level of its members (as was hypothesized — the "best" people will do the best work), but the presence of psychological safety.