Play and psychological safety: An ethnography of innovative work

Based on ethnographic field research in a high-tech firm, we develop a process study of the complex and highly recursive relationship between play and the psychological safety that is key to innovation. Through our focus on play episodes, we identify several distinct play practices: generalized initiation of play, amplifying play, diffusion of play, and engagement in demonstrative behavior. We show how these practices generate psychological safety via two mechanisms: vulnerability and comradeship. Psychological safety is both a result and a reinforcer of play practices. Once established, psychological safety fosters several work processes on which innovation rests, namely engendering new ideas, finding collaborators, intensifying effort, and addressing difficult conversations and conflict. By articulating the mechanisms and feedback loops connecting play practices with psychological safety, our inductive model advances the understanding of the conditions that enable innovation in contemporary organizations.