Safe Danger
Ben Swire
(Author)
This title will be released on:
Oct 14, 2025
Description
You wouldn't think googly eyes could have a meaningful impact on productivity and relationships. You'd be wrong. In a world where safety easily becomes stagnation and risk is seen as a threat, Ben Swire's counterintuitive book, Safe Danger, offers a refreshing perspective on how playful creativity can balance those two forces to unlock personal and professional growth.
Ask people what they want from life and you'll hear: inspiring experiences, exciting work, meaningful relationships, and making a difference. But ask how they're doing on that wish list, and you'll likely find it's still just that: a wish list. That's because those things require intimidating risks like vulnerability, disappointment, and trust. As a result, we end up with a chasm between what we want and what we're willing to do to get it. To bridge that divide, we need a way to make those risks feel smaller, less dangerous, and more worthwhile. In Safe Danger, Ben Swire provides that way.
Swire has developed a suite of creative activities that combine safety and risk to spur emotional growth. Drawing on the latest research and years of experience, this entertaining book explains how and why his playful approach is so effective at helping people manage fear and make change. Swire delves into seven powerful qualities that the Safe Danger method can unlock to help people bring out the best in themselves and their teams: joy, vulnerability, curiosity, optimism, connection, trust, and creativity. Each chapter shows readers how to use a different quality to cultivate a more connected, purposeful, and joyful life in their workplaces, communities, and homes. Full of practical activities and inspiring insights, Safe Danger is for business professionals and creative types--especially those who feel stuck or dissatisfied with their company's work culture or career trajectory.
Whether you're a leader looking to engage your team, a professional seeking to infuse your career with new life, or an individual striving to get more out of your time on earth, Safe Danger offers the tools and insights you've been missing. Discover how to embrace the unexpected, fuel your creativity, and inspire those around you with the transformative power of "Safe Danger."
Product Details
| Publisher | Balance |
| Publish Date | October 14, 2025 |
| Pages | 288 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780306833823 |
| Dimensions | 9.3 X 6.3 X 1.0 inches | 0.0 pounds |
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, Swire 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. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Reviews
"Calling all reluctant heroes... Ben Swire's book, Safe Danger, is an amazing combination of fantastic storytelling, useful advice, and has an authentic practical application element for any leader who is striving to build a great team. I think it would be useful for leaders in a wide variety of fields from Fortune 100 companies, sports teams, and entrepreneurs leading creative people. It's well done and useful. Buy this. Read it. Apply it. Your future self will thank you for it."--Ryan Hawk, host of The Learning Leader Show; author of Welcome to Management, The Pursuit of Excellence, and The Score That Matters
"I didn't expect a book about risk to be so fun. But I guess that's exactly the point! Safe Danger doesn't just lay out the facts and tell you why taking small risks matters--it actually gives you an experience and makes you feel it."--Jad Abumrad, Peabody Award-winning creator of Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton's America
"If I know anything, it is that people can only do their best work when they are connected and trust each other. Safe Danger takes what we dismiss as 'just fun' and reveals it as the secret to deep, lasting connection. For those who understand the powerful role play brings to impact, Ben Swire has delivered a gift. Leaders who want to cultivate impactful, thriving teams need to get their hands on this book!"--Megan Summers, Global Head of Production, Facebook
"Safe Danger is a powerful exploration of the paradoxes that make us human--our craving for safety and our longing for aliveness. With heart, depth, and practical wisdom, this book invites us to expand our comfort zones, not by abandoning security, but by redefining it. A must-read for anyone seeking to grow beyond their fears--and looking for tools that will actually help make it happen."--Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of The Psychology Podcast and bestselling author of Transcend
"Safe Danger is a practical roadmap for navigating the emotional fundamentals that lead to workplace transformation. With a mix of playful challenges and sharp insights, Ben Swire shows how small, low-stakes risks can build real trust, unlock creativity, and help teams actually connect (not just pretend to). It's not just smart--it's very doable and refreshingly human."--Victoria Lubomski, Senior Director of HR and Global Business Services at Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
"Safe Danger is about more than team-building--it is about the invisible forces that shape our relationships, our creativity, our very sense of belonging. Swire is a brilliant guide, reminding us that risk is not just the domain of thrill-seekers or disruptors but is woven into the fabric of human connection. Through small, playful, intentional acts of courage, we can transform not just our teams, but ourselves."--Jordan Harbinger, host of The Jordan Harbinger Show
"Safe Danger shows us how to use strategic play to superpower both our professional and personal endeavors. Swire has gifted us the playbook for how to play with others to do the best work of your life."--Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal method
"The world doesn't need another book about innovation, but it does need this one. Ben's take is refreshing, logical, and eye opening."--Clayton Ruebensaal, Chief Creative Officer, Comcast
"There are no two better words to describe brilliant team cultures than Safe Danger. Ben Swire has captured the essence of what makes great teams great, effective leaders beloved, and innovative companies soar. No platitudes, and all hard and fast advice born from the front lines of creative work."--Todd Henry, host of the Daily Creative podcast and author of The Accidental Creative and Herding Tigers
Delightful and profound, Safe Danger delivers on its provocative title. Author Ben Swire offers a timeless guide to living a fuller and more innovative life while becoming a better leader. With its engaging stories and practical creative activities, this may be one of the most useful management books you will read this year.
--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.
Our story about risk is getting in the way of creating the future we need. Ben opens the door for teams to come alive, wake up and make an impact.--Seth Godin, bestselling author of This Is Strategy and This Is Marketing
Safe Danger is a blueprint for building cultures where connection and creativity become the norm--not the exception. With the insight of a designer and the heart of a humanist, Ben Swire shows how small risks can lead to big breakthroughs--in teams, in culture, and in ourselves.--Tim Brown, author of Change by Design and Chair of IDEO
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