Delightful and profound, Safe Danger may be one of the most useful management books you will read this year." - Amy C. Edmonson (whose work defined the concept of Psychological Safety.)
Delightful and profound, Safe Danger may be one of the most useful management books you will read this year." - Amy C. Edmonson (whose work defined the concept of Psychological Safety.)
Safe Danger: Ben Swire’s New Book on Trust, Risk, and Real Connection.
★ Now the Monthly Selection for Amazon’s Business & Growth Book Club! ★
We all crave inspiring experiences, meaningful work, and deeper relationships. But getting there can mean too much risk—of vulnerability, discomfort, even failure. So instead we stay safe… and stuck.
Safe Danger offers a different path. Drawing from psychology, design, and real-world facilitation, Ben Swire introduces a set of playful, low-stakes activities that unlock the human qualities we need most at work and home: trust, curiosity, joy, and connection.
Whether you need to inspire your team, reignite your creativity, or just get more out of your time on earth, Safe Danger offers the tools and insights you’ve been missing.
ORDER NOW!
ORDER NOW!
Praise for Ben Swire’s Safe Danger.
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"A blueprint for building cultures where connection and creativity become the norm."
Tim Brown
Author of Change by Design and
Chair of IDEO -
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"Ben opens the door for teams to come alive, wake up and make an impact."
Seth Godin
Author of This Is Strategy and
This Is Marketing -
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"Delightful and profound, Safe Danger may be one of the most useful management books you will read this year. "
Amy Edmondson
Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School; author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, and the person whose work brought the term “psychological safety” into everyday life. -
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"A research-backed roadmap to building more effective teams."
Laurie Santos
Professor of Psychology at Yale, and host of The Happiness Lab Podcast -
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"Doesn’t just explain the value of risk — it makes you feel it."
Jad Abumrad
Creator of Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton’s America -
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"Swire is a brilliant guide to the invisible forces that shape our relationships, our creativity, our very sense of belonging."
Jordan Harbinger
Host of The Jordan Harbinger Show
About the Book
Safe Danger is about how small creative risks can be used to unlock our authentic and unique voices and share them with the world.
Readers will walk away seeing risk—and safety—differently. Safe Danger doesn’t just talk about trust or creativity as abstract ideals. It gives people a visceral sense of how those things actually work—how they’re built, how they break, and what they need to grow.
The book carefully explains how to design experiences that are emotionally honest without being overwhelming, how to foster creativity without sacrificing security, and how to build teams where people want to take bold ideas seriously. But most importantly, Safe Danger will help readers to start noticing the subtle moments in daily life—the jokes left unsaid, the feedback never given, the instincts edited out—and realize that those moments are opportunities to gently start growing into the person they want to be.
Book Club Selections & Industry Recognition
Selected as Amazon’s Business & Growth Book Club Pick of the Month.
”A rare gem for anyone interested in growth.
While Safe Danger is written primarily for teams, I found it equally powerful for personal growth. The seven qualities Ben Swire explores—joy, vulnerability, curiosity, optimism, connection, trust, and creativity—are the very ones I’ve been wanting to cultivate in my own life, and his approach makes them feel within reach.
What struck me most is how different these exercises are from the usual team-building cringe. They’re creative, engaging, and genuinely fun — and just as effective to do on your own as they are with a group. Swire’s ideas come from years of running real-world workshops and events, so there’s an authenticity behind every page. I tried several of the exercises myself and found them surprisingly insightful for deepening self-awareness and growth.
The book itself is a delight to read: smart, professional, and well-crafted, yet easy to follow and refreshingly human. Safe Danger invites you to step just far enough outside your comfort zone to rediscover joy and connection in work, in life, and in yourself.
I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to grow, lead, and live with more purpose and play.”
- Kathryn Aragon, Curator of Amazon’s Business & Growth Book Club
A “Must-Read” Selection by The Next Big Idea Club.
Curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink. “Selections for The Next Big Idea Club range from psychology to creativity, from business to happiness, with the goal of highlighting books that are science-based, groundbreaking, and truly life-changing."
The Featured Book of the Month by The Association for Talent Development.
Picked as Linkedin’s “Bite-Sized Business Books” Book of the Month.
”I really enjoyed this book and its dozens of activities that you can apply to a variety of gatherings (personal or professional) to break through to the next level!”
- Victoria Taylor, Linkedin Community Manager
About the Author
Ben Swire is one of today’s most innovative thought leaders on company culture and workplace belonging.
An award-winning designer, writer, and former Design Lead at the iconic innovation firm, IDEO, Ben co-founded Make Believe Works, a team-building company that uses creative activities to accelerate connection, deepen trust, and fuel collaboration.
His methods have helped organizations from Fortune 500 companies to public school districts build healthy and productive workplace cultures, one playful risk at a time.
