Joy in Work Curiosity Collective: how to be ‘constructively awkward’ and enable speaking up at work
Dr David Naylor joins the Joy in Work Curiosity Collective to share his research into ‘constructive awkwardness’.
On this page
About this session
Awkward is a word with a bad press in organisations. Following on from May’s session on silencing in teams and organisations, this next session with Dr David Naylor explores what happens when you put ‘constructive’ in front of ‘awkward.’ You could become the person able to disrupt and discomfort yourself and others in order to face two ethical questions: who and what are we at risk of silencing and ignoring, and do we care?
The session offers a description of how we could ‘do’ constructive awkwardness. How can we move from these private deliberations and find the courage to actually speak up? How can we use data, open questions, and the mobilisation of a form of rage, to create spaces for ourselves and others to slow down, stop and think together?
This is the second session in a series of three with Dr David Naylor – the next taking place on 15 July on speaking up in the real world.
About our speaker
Dr David Naylor is a director of a consultancy practice researching and developing practical interventions to help people resist being silenced at work and find a way of speaking to what they see and know. This builds on his work at The King’s Fund, projects in the NHS and wider public sector to understand and mitigate the effects of bullying and incivility, and his doctoral research into being ‘constructively awkward’ in organisations. He is the author of the book Speaking Up in a Culture of Silence.
You can see more of his work by connecting with him on LinkedIn, or visiting his website.
More events
Hosts
Julia is on a mission to help NHS staff reduce stress and overwhelm and be happier at work. She has supported NHS teams and organisations with quality improvement at a national, regional, and local level for over 25 years. During this time she has seen the tension between staff wanting to do a great job and the challenges of working in difficult environments with too few staff. This has made her both sad and determined that things need to change. She was a member of the first cohort to complete the IHI training on Improving Joy in Work and has been training staff in this approach, along with others, within NHS teams ever since. In 2018 she set up the Q Community Improving Joy in Work Special Interest Group which now has nearly 400 members. She also regularly presents at NHS conferences and events on the subject of happiness at work and is an avid reader of anything related to this topic. Julia is Board Member for NESCHA (North East Social Care and Health Advisors) which aims to help influence and shape the quality of NHS services by ensuring the patient voice is heard. She is also educated to MBA level.
The Joy in Work Curiosity Collective
Do you find implementing Joy in Work a challenge? Are you unsure where to start? Or, have you implemented Joy in Work for your team already and want to share your experiences? If so, the Joy in Work Curiosity Collective is for you!
Join Julia Wood and John Rouse for monthly virtual 45 minute discussions aimed at navigating the challenges of implementing and sustaining Joy in Work.
During each session we’ll leverage our collective brain power to tackle complex issues and questions surrounding Joy in Work. These discussions could make all the difference between implementing and sustaining a successful Joy in Work project and one which leaves you wondering where things went wrong.
In this session, you will guide the selection of topics which means that the content is tailored to your challenges and draws upon your experiences.
Join the Improving Joy in Work online group
The Joy in Work Curiosity Collective sessions are part of the Improving Joy in Work online group.
The purpose of this group is to provide a learning forum to bring together those interested in Joy in Work.
Experts, complete novices, and everyone in between, is welcome to join this group so we can increase joy in our working environments.
Book your place
Discover more
-
Creating a culture of continuous improvement: a system level QI network
Case study 2 September 2026 8 minute readFind out how Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, established a system-wide Quality Improvement Network which supported learning, built capability, and created a social movement for improvement. -
Joy in Work Curiosity Collective: Designing psychologically safe team playbooks
Event 4 November 2026Let’s not just discuss psychological safety, let’s build it! Learn and co-design micro-rituals you can use to normalise asking hard questions, share half-baked ideas and build psychological safety.