“The problem is that the creation of psychological safety is usually very difficult, especially when you’re pushing for greater workforce productivity at the same time.” – Dr. Edgar Shein, foundational researcher in the discipline of organizational behavior
In order to learn, people have to TRY something new. To various degrees, all organizations and their employees are caught in the vice of needing to perform in the conditions of today AND needing to prepare to perform in the conditions of tomorrow.
Performing today is about executing based on what you already know how to do. Performing tomorrow starts with exploring what you don’t know YET so you can learn enough about it to make use of it when the time is ripe.
The processes, mindsets and even physiological states associated with execution versus exploration are very different, and it can be very difficult to move back and forth between them. When the pressure is on, we tend to go back to what we know. Even admitting that we don’t know can be terrifying, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we often get stuck in execution mode when we should be shifting into exploration mode.
Execution and exploration both entail anxiety, but since the former is more immediate and familiar, we are constantly tempted and nudged to avoid the anxiety of exploration by living in the relatively familiar anxiety of execution.
To build a resilient organization, you need to help your people work with both kinds of anxiety, so they can make space for exploration – while of course continuing to execute.
How safe do your people feel devoting time, energy and other resources to exploring what they’ll need to learn in order to be successful in the future? How do you help them balance the short-term demands for execution with the long-term imperative of exploration?
How safe do YOU feel devoting time, energy and other resources to exploring what you’ll need to learn in order to be successful in the future? How do YOU balance the short-term demands for execution with the long-term imperative of exploration?
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Explore・Define・Iterate・Transform
Context ・ Intention ・ Action ・ Outcome
Agency (主体性) + Purpose (志) + Growth (成長) + Connection (繋がり) + Contribution (貢献) = Meaning (意義)
© Dana Cogan, 2026, all rights reserved.