Tessa West
NYU Psychology Professor | Workplace Communication & Culture Expert
About
Tessa West is a leading expert in interpersonal communication, drawing on two decades of research into workplace dynamics. As a Psychology Professor at New York University, her work focuses on topics like honest feedback, cultural differences in workplace communication, and strategies for building interpersonal understanding.
West is the acclaimed author of 'Jerks at Work' and 'Job Therapy', and her TED talk on 'anxious niceness' was one of the year's most popular. Audiences gain science-backed insights to create more effective, psychologically healthy workplace cultures.
Talks1
The Surprisingly Simple Reason Teams Fail
In 1999, a NASA mission to Mars failed ... not from a technical glitch, but because people weren't talking to each other. Psychology professor Tessa West explores how assumptions, overlooked details and "hidden languages" can quietly sabotage even the smartest teams — and explores the small shifts in communication that can make a big difference in how information lands. (Recorded at TEDxCatawba on June 14, 2025) Join us in person at a TED conference: https://tedtalks.social/events Become a TED Member to support our mission: https://ted.com/membership Subscribe to a TED newsletter: https://ted.com/newsletters Follow TED! X: https://www.twitter.com/TEDTalks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ted Facebook: https://facebook.com/TED LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world's leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit https://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Watch more: https://go.ted.com/tessawest25 https://youtu.be/7IYKojMhBy4 TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com #TED #TEDTalks #Business
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