Over the past few weeks, we have been playing ReSet (for more information about the game, visit our website www.nexusconsultation.com and, in particular, the ReSet page) with many teams from different companies in a truly intensive manner, and each time we are surprised by the results and feedback we receive after people have played.

Over the same period, we have been training the entire management level of a large multinational company on the topic of psychological safety. During our work with the last cohort, it was inevitable to draw a parallel between the training focused on the topic and our experience of what happens in groups when they play ReSet, because often in the closing feedback we hear people mention the fact that they felt safe during the game.

The link between play and psychological safety in teams

Psychological safety is one of the most decisive factors for the success of work teams.

Amy Edmondson, a Harvard researcher who has contributed greatly to research on the subject, defines psychological safety as ‘the shared belief within a team that each member can freely express ideas, questions, concerns and even make mistakes without fear of punishment or humiliation. This climate of trust fosters continuous learning, innovation, motivation and effectiveness in work groups.”

In recent years, numerous studies have demonstrated the positive relationship between safety, well-being, engagement and performance. In addition to Edmondson’s, (from 1999 onwards), below are a few of them:

• Frazier (2017), who in a meta-analysis highlights psychological safety as a fundamental condition for learning;
• Gallup (2017), which links it to a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% drop in workplace accidents and a 12% increase in productivity;
• BCG (2024), which highlights the link between engagement and feelings of safety;
• Google, which, with its Aristotle project, recognised psychological safety as a predictor of innovation, even more so than expertise or seniority.

How can we spread the culture of psychological safety?

Training remains the classical approach: providing clear definitions (health, mental health, well-being, psychological safety), illustrating research data, working on concrete cases, providing tools for observation and early recognition of signs of distress, and referring to psychological services. For this approach, we do offer interactive workshops both online and in person.

Another possible route is play. Play, understood as a recreational and interactive activity, plays a crucial role in creating a safe and trusting space. A very interesting study by the University of Verona, based on the famous “Marshmallow Challenge” game administered to a sample of 100 people employed in a hospital in South Africa, showed that playing games has a positive impact on many critical relational areas for producing results as a team.

The research demonstrated impacts on:

• Collective learning: The game stimulated collaborative dynamics, improving the team’s ability to tackle problems creatively and collectively.
• Psychological safety: Participants perceived a safer environment in which to express ideas and make mistakes without fear of judgement, encouraging open communication.
• Cohesion and trust: The game facilitated the building of mutual trust, an essential element for effective collaboration in high-pressure environments such as hospitals.
• Reflection and awareness: Post-game discussions encouraged reflection on group dynamics, helping participants to recognise and address any obstacles to collaboration.
• Positive impact on performance: Although the study did not directly measure clinical performance, improvements in group dynamics suggest potential indirect benefits on the quality of care.

In recent months of intensive gaming with various clients, we have realised that the results of this research are also applicable to our ReSet game.

ReSet: Game structure and dynamics

We created the game three years ago and have gone through learning cycles of testing, feedback and improvement (which are still ongoing!). More and more often, we find that it is precisely through playing the game that we discover aspects that we had not taken into account at the beginning. The effect of ReSet in improving the psychological safety of the team is one such surprise.

ReSet is a board game in which players roll dice and move pieces across a board with many different squares, with the aim of reaching the final square, “Regeneration”, and avoiding ending up in the other final square, “Degeneration”. The path to regeneration is easier the more the teams are able, through the questions in the game, to engage in deep dialogue about their work, its impact on people, the rest of the organisation, and the socio- and eco-systems around them.

The first moments of the game are played out amid somewhat doubtful looks, but after the first round, the conversations become heated and passionate, and people are able to engage in deep exchanges, stimulated by the questions, in an atmosphere that is increasingly relaxed, constructive, productive and laid-back at the same time. When the game ends, everyone has usually been able to express their opinions, give feedback, talk about themselves, their individual and group experiences, analyse the different impacts and look for areas for improvement. This kind of magic happens every time, even with groups where the potential for conflict is higher and trust has not yet been fully established.

As highlighted in the research cited above, the game becomes a container for experimenting with elements of vulnerability, collaboration and creativity, joy in results, negotiation of expectations, autonomy and a sense of contribution to the purpose, aspects that are fundamental to the construction of psychological safety. In this sense, the game is not only a recreational moment, but becomes a strategic and powerful tool for strengthening cohesion and trust within teams. To paraphrase the eminent psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (Playing and Reality, 1971), ReSet becomes a transitional space in which organizational members can safely explore what they feels works well in their company, but also what they feel should be done differently – without judging, nor feeling that they’ll be judged in return for raising their concerns.

Play practices facilitate the creation of a climate in which each individual feels included and valued, a fundamental element for psychological safety according to the model developed by Amy Edmondson. These experiences of playful sharing promote a culture where people can talk freely about mistakes, propose innovative ideas and support each other without fear, with positive repercussions on problem-solving and collective learning skills.

At the end, once the game is over, we invite the groups to reflect on the meaning of the experience: during these discussions, people seem aware of what the game has done for the team, evoking greater intimacy, discoveries, renewed energy, and a feeling of having had important and transformative exchanges.

Psychological safety is the “collateral benefit”, the unexpected surprise. It is both a necessary condition for ReSet to work – which the structure of the game itself generates – and an actual output of the experience. Even more than a training course, which remains important for nurturing the cognitive component (but also for being able to practise and discuss the topic explicitly with colleagues), during the Reset game, the topic arises spontaneously in the groups, which, together with their managers, create a safe environment in a natural and spontaneous way. Of course, these results come from qualitative observation and feedback from some ReSet workshops and would require further research.

In the future, it might be interesting, for example, to administer a short questionnaire at the beginning and at the end (such as Amy Edmondson’s simple questionnaire or another type of diagnostic tool), but also to research the workplace: once the “honeymoon” period of the game is over, do teams continue to feel safe when implementing the ideas that have emerged, but also in their daily interactions?