Building Risk-Taking Teams: Ben Swire

Team building often feels like a necessary evil. Leaders know it matters, but too often it feels awkward, forced, or disconnected from real work. In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast , Mina Seetharaman speaks with Ben Swire, co-founder of Make Believe Works and author of Safe Danger , about what actually builds trust, psychological safety, and creative collaboration on teams. Ben introduces the concept of “safe danger”—the emotional sweet spot between comfort and fear—where teams feel secure enough to take risks, practice vulnerability, and grow together. He explains why most team building fails, why psychological safety is not the same as comfort, and why risk-taking is a muscle that teams need to practice before the stakes are high. If you’re a leader who wants to encourage better ideas, stronger trust, and an innovation culture, this episode offers practical tools and mindset shifts you can use immediately. To go deeper, explore IDEO U’s course and

You can listen to Building Risk-Taking Teams: Ben Swire online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Building Risk-Taking Teams: Ben Swire is an episode from Creative Confidence Podcast by IDEO U.

This episode is 57:16 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2026.

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