When organisations consider psychosocial risk, workload is often the first factor that comes to mind. 

However, organisational psychology research shows that how work gets done can be just as stressful as the amount of work. 

One of the most overlooked contributors to psychosocial risk is persistent cognitive friction – the strain that builds when thinking styles clash. 

The friction no one names 

Think about everyday workplace tensions: 

• Speed versus certainty 

• Action versus reflection 

• Big-picture vision versus detail and risk 

These differences are normal, and when leveraged effectively, can drive performance. The issue arises when they go unrecognised. 

When people repeatedly experience that their way of thinking is dismissed or undervalued, they begin to self-censor. We know from psychological safety research that people don’t stop contributing because they don’t care, they stop because it feels unsafe or pointless to try. 

Dominant thinking cultures create invisible exclusion 

Most organisations unintentionally reward certain ways of thinking: 

• Confidence over caution 

• Speed over depth 

• Action over analysis 

Over time, this creates a dominant thinking culture. 

Those who align with it thrive. Those who don’t adapt, withdraw or disengage. 

This isn’t a resilience problem. It’s a design problem. 

From mismatch to psychosocial risk 

Sustained cognitive mismatch increases emotional labour. People spend more time self-monitoring, translating their ideas, or second-guessing whether it’s safe to speak. 

Left unaddressed, this type of prolonged psychological strain begins to contribute to disengagement, stress, and burnout. 

Which is why psychological safety must be understood as a risk-management issue, not just a cultural aspiration. 

Designing safer ways of working 

Whole Brain® Thinking & the HBDI® helps leaders and teams make invisible friction visible: 

• Where are we over-relying on one way of thinking? 

• Who is doing most of the adapting? 

• What perspectives are missing from our decisions? 

At Steople, we use this insight to help organisations proactively reduce psychosocial risk by redesigning how decisions are made, how meetings run, and how challenge is encouraged. 

Understand how cognitive friction is affecting your teams and where intervention will have the greatest impact.

Reach out to your local Steople representative if you are interested in using Whole Brain® Thinking & the HBDI® as part of your psychosocial risk approach

Next week: what inclusive leadership really looks like through a cognitive lens.