Creating Trust Through Safe Danger at Work

Описание: Ready to build your Team Building skills? Explore IDEO U courses → https://www.ideou.com/collections/lea...

In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, host Mina Seetharaman sits down with Ben Swire, Co-founder of Make Believe Works and author of Safe Danger, to explore how leaders can build trust and vulnerability in the workplace. Together, they unpack what real team building looks like—and why creating psychological safety doesn’t mean making everyone comfortable.

Ben introduces the concept of Safe Danger: designing spaces where teams can take meaningful risks, practice vulnerability, and grow together without fear of retribution. From practical facilitation tips to everyday leadership behaviors, this conversation offers actionable insights for leaders who want stronger, more creative teams.

Key Takeaways
Team building is infrastructure, not entertainment.
Effective team building isn’t about fun alone—it’s about behavior change, trust-building, and creating the conditions for real collaboration.

Psychological safety is not comfort.
Safety doesn’t remove friction—it creates enough trust for disagreement, critique, and vulnerability to become productive forces.

Risk-taking is a muscle leaders must model.
Teams learn to take bold, creative risks when leaders demonstrate vulnerability, reward learning, and respond constructively to failure.

Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome + Global Community Check-In
02:11 Why Team Building Makes Leaders Nervous
03:02 What Is “Safe Danger”?
05:05 Safe Danger Warm-Up Activity
07:49 Storytelling as Vulnerability Practice
12:20 Why Most Team Building Fails
16:47 The 3 Team Building Traps to Avoid
19:25 Psychological Safety in Remote Teams
24:11 Safety vs. Comfort at Work
28:42 Why Leaders Must Model Risk
31:46 Risk-Taking as a Practice
37:29 Why Tools & Frameworks Fail Without Trust
39:59 Good vs. Bad Risk in Leadership
44:20 Can Introverts Be Great Facilitators?
48:15 Audience Q&A: Leading in Unsafe Cultures
55:50 Lightning Round with Ben Swire
01:00:59 Final Takeaways on Trust & Safe Danger

Helpful Links
Additional IDEO U Resources on Team Building:
https://www.ideou.com/pages/team-trai...
IDEO U Leadership Courses:
https://www.ideou.com/collections/lea...
Follow IDEO U on LinkedIn:
  / ideo-u  
IDEO U’s Creative Confidence Podcast Series:
https://www.ideou.com/pages/creative-...

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#TeamBuilding #PsychologicalSafety #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #CreativeConfidence #VulnerabilityInLeadership