Safe to Speak

The Right to Make Mistakes is a short role-play game on psychological safety in teams. Participants experience situations where they must dare to report an error, a disagreement, a question, or an idea. The manager for the round reacts with the cards in hand, and the team observes the effect on trust. The game is for managers, project teams, HR, and groups that want to discuss sensitive topics better.

Walkthrough

1. 1

   Game frame

   5 min

   Welcome participants at tables of 4 to 8. Present the theme: what the team dares to say depends on the reactions it receives. Specify that the situations are fictional and that no one should replay a real scene. “We will play roles to observe mechanisms, not to evaluate the people around the table.”

   Tip — If real managers are present, name the risk of confusion from the outset.

2. 2

   Set-up

   7 min

   Set trust to 5. Give everyone a courage token. The first manager draws 5 Reaction cards. Shuffle the Situations and Events. Show where to place hidden problems and where to record the 12 rounds. “Your courage token lets you speak up once even if the trust level is not high enough.”

   Tip — Ask participants to restate the speaking condition: trust greater than or equal to the threshold.

3. 3

   Situations 1 to 4

   12 min

   In turn, a team member draws a Situation. They read it if trust meets the threshold, or hide it. If they speak, the manager plays a Reaction, applies the effect, and draws again. Record each round on the track. “Decide quickly: is it said, hidden, or said thanks to the courage token?”

   Tip — Do not let people debate the best reaction: the game also shows reflexes.

4. 4

   Event and handover

   3 min

   After the 4th situation, draw an Event and apply its effect. The manager passes the role to another person, who receives 5 Reaction cards. The former manager becomes a team member again. “The context is changing: observe how it influences what the team dares to say.”

   Tip — Keep event effects visible to avoid forgetting them.

5. 5

   Situations 5 to 8

   12 min

   Resume the same pace for 4 new situations. Encourage players to use their courage token if they wish. Continue recording spoken or hidden, reaction, and trust afterwards. “One isolated reaction matters; a series of reactions creates a norm.”

   Tip — Regularly announce the trust level aloud.

6. 6

   New event

   3 min

   After the 8th situation, draw a new Event and apply it. Change manager. If the group is small, a former manager may take the role again only if everyone has already held it. “Final sequence: what are we protecting, apparent speed or real learning?”

   Tip — If an event creates ambiguity, make a simple ruling and continue.

7. 7

   Situations 9 to 12

   8 min

   Play the last 4 situations at a more direct pace. After the 12th, stop immediately. Turn over the hidden cards, add up their costs, and calculate the team score. “Now we look at what silence has cost the team.”

   Tip — Do not moralise the score: use it as a support for conversation.

8. 8

   Debrief and commitments

   10 min

   Facilitate the debrief in three stages: feel, understand, transfer. Then complete the Our Commitments template with 2 to 4 concrete reaction rules, written as observable behaviours. “What do we want to do differently next time someone dares to raise a difficult topic?”

   Tip — Have participants write action verbs: thank, clarify, ask, plan.

Variants

• Remote version : Use a shared board with the track, cards in hidden columns, and a virtual die to draw cards. Courage tokens become a personal icon that each person deletes after use.
• Large group : Play at parallel tables of 4 to 8. Keep the final 8 minutes to compare scores, the most striking reactions, and one shared commitment.
• Managers as observers : Managers may observe without playing the first round, then join the debrief. Ask them to speak in “I” statements about their own reflexes, not about others’.