Engineering culture conversations have a distinct vocabulary. Practice the collocations for discussing psychological safety, taking ownership, demonstrating candor, and building a craftsmanship culture in professional English.
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The engineering manager emphasized the importance of creating an environment where people feel safe to ___ mistakes.
Admit mistakes is the most natural collocation in psychological safety and team culture discussions. 'Acknowledge' is close but sounds more formal and indirect; 'report' is bureaucratic; 'share' is too vague. 'Admit mistakes' is the direct collocation that reflects genuine vulnerability and psychological safety.
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We want engineers who ___ ownership of their features from design through deployment to production.
Take ownership is the canonical collocation in engineering culture and values discussions. 'Show ownership' implies display; 'have ownership' is about possession; 'demonstrate ownership' is more formal. 'Take ownership' is the standard phrase for proactive accountability in software teams.
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The team's commitment to code craftsmanship was ___ in their rigorous review culture and clean code standards.
Reflected in their standards is the most precise collocation linking values to behaviors. 'Evident' is close but more observational; 'visible' is too literal; 'shown' is too simple. 'Reflected in' is the idiomatic phrase for values that manifest in observable practices.
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During the all-hands, the VP asked engineers to ___ courage by challenging design decisions they disagreed with.
Demonstrate courage is the professional collocation in values-based engineering leadership language. 'Show courage' is slightly more informal but also natural; 'display' sounds theatrical; 'exhibit' is overly formal. 'Demonstrate' links a value to concrete, observable behavior — the preferred framing in team culture discussions.
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Building a culture of ___ means engineers flag issues early, even when the news is uncomfortable.
Culture of candor is the precise collocation in engineering leadership and psychological safety literature. 'Culture of transparency' is also very common; 'culture of honesty' is more general; 'openness' is broader. 'Candor' specifically refers to direct, honest feedback in professional relationships — the term popularized in engineering culture (e.g., Netflix, Amazon leadership principles).