Report: Why Innovative Software Delivery Starts with Trust and Psychological Safety

A new report titled "Release assurance: Why innovative software delivery starts with trust and psychological safety" reveals that an overemphasis on minimizing deployment errors can lead to high employee turnover, negatively impacting a company's ability to innovate. The study conducted by Wakefield Research surveyed 500 developers across various industries and found that 67% of them either left or know someone who left their job due to excessive focus on minimizing errors. Developers who feel encouraged and supported by leadership to take risks often feel more confident in their work, leading to larger organizational success. The majority of development teams surveyed say their organization is actively trying to make things better for developers, with 92% reporting high overall job satisfaction. Trust improves productivity, as developers who feel supported by their companies are more likely to release updates faster and more frequently. Adopting smaller, more frequent deployments can lead to less consequential rollbacks and provide the space needed to try new things. Psychological safety in a team's culture encourages innovation and experimentation, with 86% of developers prioritizing trying new ways of working through experimentation for their careers.