The Trust Transformation Requires

I’ve been thinking about the relationship between psychological safety and adaptability. I'm a musician and a folk singer. There’s an old song in my folk repertoire, “Lead, Kindly Light,” with a line I’ve always loved:

“Keep thou my feet;

I do not ask to see

The distant scene;

one step enough, for me.”

I think there’s something in that idea for anyone leading people through change. We rarely get to see the distant scene. Innovation means trying things before we know exactly how they’ll work. Priorities change. New information emerges. Sometimes the best we can do is take the next reasonable step into the unknown and learn from it.

But taking that next step requires trust.

Psychological safety gives people room to engage with uncertainty. They can ask questions when the path isn’t clearly laid out, surface concerns, admit what they don’t know, and try something without being certain it will work.

Google’s Project Aristotle famously identified psychological safety as the most important of five dynamics associated with effective teams. I keep coming back to what that means for organizations and teams asking people to become more adaptable.

Maybe adaptability isn’t about making everyone comfortable with uncertainty. Maybe it’s about building enough trust that people are willing to take the next step without seeing the whole path.

📸: By me, Oregon Coast, June 2026

#PsychologicalSafety #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalChange #Leadership #Adaptability 

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