Let's Talk About Bruno: Building Psychological Safety Through Understanding Stress Responses in Teams

If you don't know it, Encanto is a Disney movie about a Colombian family who are blessed with special powers. One of the family, Bruno, is never spoken about, because his power was having visions of the future, and it caused him to be banished from the family unit. There is an incredibly catchy song about how they don't talk about Bruno!

This movie inspired my take on explaining Dr Dan Siegel's Hand Brain model, sometimes referred to as our fight, flight, freeze or fawn responses.

Understanding Workplace Stress Responses and Team Psychological Safety

These models are about how we react when our systems are under certain pressures. They speak to behaviours that many humans, family systems and certainly workplaces just don't discuss - how these response behaviours ripple through people, leading to undercurrents of frustration, raised eyebrows, backchat and exclusion.

The reason, I feel, is that we don't have a safe way to talk about and explore these behaviours and reactions. That's where Bruno comes in.

While the Encanto movie suggests we shouldn't speak about Bruno, in the end of course, Bruno is reunited with his family and they all understand him - in true fairytale style. Although that doesn't happen without their lives almost falling apart at the seams.

But it inspires a really powerful message in me: let's talk about our Brunos.

What Triggers Stress Responses in High-Performing Teams?

What is it that is going on for us when we have a stress response that isn't our choice, or how we would act at our best, where we can 'think clearly'?

When I work with teams on building psychological safety in the workplace, I often introduce this concept, because it often relates directly to what is going on in a group.

I ask people to think of a time where they can recognise a threat response in them, where they did something they wouldn't normally do. Perhaps they could relate to 'fight, flight, freeze or fawn' as a concept, or perhaps they can relate to Dr Dan Siegel's 'flipped lid'.

Whatever comes to them, I ask them to draw it. What is that like for them.

I introduce this to them as their 'Bruno'.

I ask them to consider what that Bruno needs in those moments to bring them back to a clear and calm state.

Then I invite them to share this with some other people in their team or group.

Here is an example of different people's needs within a team setting:

I'll go into this in more detail in a future blog (sign up to my emails to make sure you get it straight to your mailbox). You can do this here.

A Real Example: Understanding Individual Stress Responses at Work

Here's an example of mine:

My Bruno is small, tiny. Backed into a corner, with arms outstretched along the walls. Bruno then shoots lightning bolts at people nearby. (I'm not a very nice person in this state).

The last thing anyone would want to do when my Bruno is around is come over to me and have a conversation. But here's the thing - that's exactly what I need when I'm like that. I need someone to acknowledge it, take my hand and bring me out of the corner - and make me feel big again.

When people know that about me, everything changes. I had a colleague just the other day tell me they saw my Bruno. But this time, they knew exactly what was happening - and having someone understand you when you are at your most vulnerable is actually really liberating.

The Impact on Team Culture and Collaboration

The impact of this simple exercise on a group is profound. Suddenly people have a common vocabulary to talk about what's going on in the moments where they aren't at their best - creating genuine psychological safety at work.

Once they have that, we can deepen their curiosity and understanding of each other by exploring how Bruno changes depending on the situation. What's important to each person that makes a Bruno response happen? What does each of those Brunos need?

I can identify many Bruno responses in myself, from a giant who tramples over everything in their path, to a fly on the wall, to a flower that starts to wilt. They are all related to different parts of my value system being challenged.

Building Trust and Reducing Workplace Stress

Understanding and acceptance of each other builds - they have a vocabulary to talk about what is happening - crucially WHEN these responses are ACTUALLY happening - so they turn into a group of people who can do something about it, there and then. The frustrations start to fade, the group becomes more inclusive and attentive to each other.

That's what I strive to achieve in my work with team development. I have seen groups transform from a frustrated, exhausted group full of resentment to a team who understand what each other needs, using their differences for good instead of allowing them to hold back their progress.

Creating Thriving Teams Through Psychological Safety

These teams absolutely THRIVE in the workplace, supporting each other on a deep level, getting better outcomes for their organisation and transforming their organisational culture in the process to something agile, nimble and 'anti-fragile' (Nassim Nicholas Taleb): able to deal with anything in the VUCA world in which we all operate.

So we should talk about Bruno. We absolutely should meet Bruno, understand it, learn to love it and use it to make us all stronger.

Want to know more? This exercise and more are in my e-guide about helping teams evolve from surviving to thriving. Sign up to be the first to know when it launches here.

Or are you ready to transform your team culture? If you're a leader struggling with team dynamics, stress responses, or building psychological safety in your workplace, let's talk. Drop me a contact form to explore how we can work together as I guide you and your team team move from surviving to thriving.