Psychological Safety in Business Role Playing Games: The T3 Method's way

Talking about psychological safety in today’s workplace can feel a bit like explaining the theory of relativity: everyone nods, some take notes, but how many actually put it into practice? We hear about it in leadership courses, in management books, and occasionally in companies that, fortunately or by chance, apply it. But turning it into a concrete experience?

That’s another story entirely.

With the T3-Method, however, psychological safety stops being an abstract concept. You can touch it, feel it, experience it. It’s not an idea locked away in a manual; it is built together, step by step, through play, reflection, and observation of group dynamics.

In fact, the founding value of T3, borrowed from RPGs, is precisely this: creating healthy, safe environments where expression and connection are free.

Some time ago, I had a discussion on the topic with Natsuda Minder, Growth & Development Director at FBN (Family Business Network). Her question about T3-Method was clear:

“How do we ensure that no one feels judged, even when the data shows complex behaviors?”

That dialogue inspired me to write these lines, to better explain this fundamental point. So, thank you, Natsuda!

Why Psychological Safety Matters

Amy Edmondson of Harvard explains that psychological safety means being convinced that the team is a place where it is safe to take risks: to ask questions, propose ideas, admit mistakes, without fear of repercussions. Studies confirm it: psychologically safe teams learn faster, experiment more, and collaborate better.

Edmondson stated this in 1999 with all the authority of academia, but if we’re honest, those playing RPGs in the 1980s had already empirically grasped the concept, without needing charts or tables (Edmondson, 1999).

In the T3-Method, psychological safety takes concrete form. Questionnaires, in-game experiences, interviews: everything remains confidential. Debriefings never label people; they discuss dynamics, strategies, and solutions. Role-playing is the perfect Swiss Army knife: it allows participants to try new behaviors, take on different roles, and face complex scenarios, all without real-world risk.

Because when you are immersed in fiction, you can dare things you wouldn’t even attempt in real life—wine in hand or not.

My Approach to Role-Playing

Over the years, I have run RPG sessions with all kinds of groups: from six-year-olds to eighty-year-olds. Every time, the game has demonstrated one fundamental truth: it creates a neutral, safe ground where everyone can experiment freely. I have seen shy kids find their space, make real friendships, and build trust. I have seen adults collaborate in unexpected ways.

One memory I particularly cherish: timid and insecure teenagers who, through play, made decisions together, solved complex problems, and experimented with new roles. The surprising thing? They carried this sense of security and collaboration beyond the game. Try to do the same with a youth soccer team (with all due respect for the educational value of sports): it would be far more dramatic, with whistles and judgment at every misstep.

How T3 Handles the Perception of Personality Traits

Returning to the topic: Natsuda had drawn attention to the specific term selfish. In the T3-Method, such words do not serve as moral condemnation. They are tools: they observe behavior, help understand dynamics, and identify strengths and areas for development.

For example, if someone is labeled “selfish,” it doesn’t mean they are inherently bad. It is the perception of others that shapes the judgment. In T3, these traits become information, not condemnation. In fact, they are personality values, useful for better understanding relationships and interactions, without moralizing or lecturing.

Creating a psychologically safe environment is not a luxury; it is the foundation of resilient, innovative, and cohesive teams. With the T3-Method, the concept of psychological safety steps out of books and formal labels to become a real, inclusive, and transformative experience.

And, naturally, a little bit of play never hurt anyone.