Collaborative learning aimed at ensuring psychological safety in high reliability teams

High reliability teams learn from failures. Although research exists on collaborative learning and high reliability teams, minimal research exists specifically addressing both concepts in one study. This grounded theory study examined collaborative experiences of high reliability team members in an intelligence agency. The intelligence community environment underscores the importance of a risk-free atmosphere where questioning and problem solving are pervasive. By the use of grounded theory methodology, participants' experiences generated a starting point to understand how collaborative learning ensures psychological safety in high reliability teams. Analysis discovered five catalysts that facilitate a psychologically safe environment where the ability to learn from failures is paramount to continued success. Through a closer examination of the participants' experiences, dimensional constructs emerged further defining the catalysts. The findings indicated that by weaving the capacity to negotiate differences throughout the entire team process team members were able to incorporate multiple viewpoints to develop one product. The holistic approach to collaborative learning ensures a psychologically safe environment for high reliability teams.