Writings from the cellular to the whole
The Big Waves Journal
There’s No Psychological Safety Without Equity 1125 750 Brook Thorndycraft

There’s No Psychological Safety Without Equity

You can either have a “psychologically safe” team that feels safe enough for interpersonal risk taking because people more or less agree with each other and share very similar identities and experiences, or you can strive for an equitable psychological safety in which everyone generally feels safe enough, most of the time, to really express the ways they are different.

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How to Be A Workplace Where People Learn and Grow 1200 800 Brook Thorndycraft

How to Be A Workplace Where People Learn and Grow

When an organization creates enough psychological safety to encourage learning, people are more likely to experiment, take risks, make mistakes they can learn from, and as a result, come up with innovative and unexpected solutions to complex problems. 

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Nine Tips for Giving Good Feedback in the Workplace 1800 1200 Brook Thorndycraft

Nine Tips for Giving Good Feedback in the Workplace

Feedback is very important. It is the way we learn, grow and become the people we want to be. Regular and supportive feedback helps people shift out of fear and experience it as an opportunity. You can create a workplace culture where feedback is welcomed, expected and part of the norm.

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When Anger Comes to Work With Us 900 600 Brook Thorndycraft

When Anger Comes to Work With Us

A psychologically safe and conflict capable workplace is one in which people are supported to express and receive anger (and other emotions) in ways that deepen understanding and help everyone make better and more equitable decisions, without creating an environment of fear and distrust.

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On Polarity: The Complexity of No Right Answer 1200 800 Brook Thorndycraft

On Polarity: The Complexity of No Right Answer

A polarity in conflict is a disagreement that is fundamentally unsolvable, because there is no clear right or wrong answer. A polarity becomes a conflict because people care deeply about the outcome, and their underlying ideas, values and beliefs pull them strongly to one side or the other. 

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How To Be A More Trauma Informed Workplace 1800 1200 Brook Thorndycraft

How To Be A More Trauma Informed Workplace

Trauma is very common in the workplace, and many workplace cultures make it worse or even create it. Learn tangible steps for building a trauma informed workplace culture that supports people’s safety, belonging and dignity.

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Why We Avoid Conflict in the Workplace 1200 800 Brook Thorndycraft

Why We Avoid Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict is unavoidable. It is a natural part of human interaction. When we try to avoid it, we usually make it worse. The best thing you can do to improve your team dynamic is develop your own capacity to engage in conflict, and support others to do the same. 

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What to do if “No One Wants to Work Anymore” 1800 1200 Brook Thorndycraft

What to do if “No One Wants to Work Anymore”

People are pushing back against the narrative about work that it is normal and expected to go above and beyond, stay late, commute an hour each way, and demonstrate excellence in everything. Many parents are no longer willing to miss a birthday or the school play because of a deadline. Leaders are having to catch up with this change to support engagement and healthy workplaces.

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How a Workplace Came Back Stronger from a Crisis 1800 1200 Brook Thorndycraft

How a Workplace Came Back Stronger from a Crisis

Andrew, Enviro’s Director of Operations, knew that something major needed to be done to support healing after a formal complaint of bullying and harassment led to an investigation. They needed a solution to the immediate crisis, but he had a bigger vision than that. He wanted to build a healthy workplace culture where people could collaborate respectfully, disagree constructively, and feel safe enough to learn from feedback. 

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We Are Nature Not Machines 1000 667 Brook Thorndycraft

We Are Nature Not Machines

When we place urgency and deadlines before human wellbeing, we end up with major problems of burnout, turnover, conflict and toxicity … the list goes on. We need to do the personal and interpersonal work that is  necessary to really change how we relate, what we value, how we act, and how we lead.

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How to Know When We’re Leading from Reactivity 1000 667 Brook Thorndycraft

How to Know When We’re Leading from Reactivity

There is no one right way to engage in conflict, but it is possible to have less reactivity and more choice in our responses.  With choice, we can have more fluidity, a sense of capacity, and feel in alignment with our dignity. Leaders have a greater responsibility to develop a range of ways to respond in conflict because of the power attached to their role.

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What is Somatic Coaching? 1800 1200 Brook Thorndycraft

What is Somatic Coaching?

Your body knows how to heal and resource itself. Big Waves uses a range of somatic approaches to help you listen to your body’s wisdom to find your path to greater alignment.

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