How can you recognize a lack of Psychological Safety in your team? One of the signals will be Dismissing Diversity. Here’s what that means.
We knew why we hired her.
But we almost wasted her potential by forgetting who we hired.
Once upon a time, there was a team of experts. We were a tight-knit team of Dutch native speakers, moving fast, delivering value, and joking around in our shared language. One day, we needed a new expertise. We didn’t have it in the team yet, but it was time to invest in testing. We wanted to hire a tester. And we found the best one. We found her.
A brilliant tester. Deep knowledge of Test Driven Development. Calm confidence. The one we’d been looking for.
There was just one thing: she didn’t speak Dutch.
So, we switched to English. Mostly.
Daily Scrum, refinements, retrospectives and other meetings were often in English. But not always.
Slack messages still flowed in Dutch. Quick hallway syncs too.
At first, nobody noticed the cracks.
Then came the bugs. The missed opportunities. The confusion.
She couldn’t test what she didn’t know was built.
We had invited her in, but never fully included her.
So we faced the hard question:
Did we want to be a team that leveraged all our potential? Or one that stayed comfortable and pretended nothing had changed?
We chose growth. We chose inclusion. We chose to honor the value she brought. Not despite her differences, but because of them.
The signal
Why it is essential to signal this early
When teams dismiss diversity, by language, background or experience, they end up mirroring one another.
It feels harmonious. But it’s not.
It’s safe for the group, but unsafe for the individual.
The best parts of people stay hidden.
Potential is wasted.
And worst of all?
Everyone starts pretending they agree.
The antidote? Appreciating differences.
Psychological Safety means making space for unique voices. For disagreement. For growth through variety.
What can you do?
🚨 If you recognize this… seek help.
A truly inclusive team isn’t one where everyone fits the mold.
It’s one where the mold breaks—on purpose.
Don’t let sameness rob your team of its superpowers.