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Friction: Roadblocks, Speedbumps, & Guardrails

Become a Friction Fixer

Short url: https://pjc.ai/bb044

 

TL;DR (Friction-Free Zone)

Definition: Friction is the force that slows progress or sharpens focus—sometimes a barrier, sometimes a guardrail. The Friction Project explored eight types, equipping you to spot and balance them for efficiency and clarity.

 

Friction Types and Key Indicators: Identifying the type of friction—too much or too little—unlocks fast fixes. Here’s the lineup of what we've looked at already:

• Bureaucratic:
  • Too much: Endless approvals, red tape delays.
  • Too little: No rules, compliance risks.
• Decision-Making:
  • Too much: Choice overload, paralysis.
  • Too little: Snap judgments, reckless moves.
• Communication:
  • Too much: Overloaded inboxes, unclear messages.
  • Too little: Silence, misaligned teams.
• Cognitive:
  • Too much: Task clutter, mental overwhelm.
  • Too little: No tasks, aimless drift.
• Social:
  • Too much: Team conflicts, trust erosion.
  • Too little: No feedback, weak collaboration.
• Strategic:
  • Too much: Overthinking, stagnation.
  • Too little: Rushing, costly errors.
• Environmental:
  • Too much: Cluttered spaces, broken tools. Too little:
  • No structure, chaotic workflows.

Impact:

• Bad friction kills efficiency, morale, and progress.
• Good friction—like clear processes or thoughtful pauses—acknowledges risks, prevents errors, and boosts outcomes.

 

Conclusion -- A Mindset:

• Friction isn’t fixed by role but by action—spot it, balance it, thrive.
• Ask the question: Do we need a guardrail, a speedbump, or a roadblock for best outcomes?

 

PRESS Framework for Fixing Friction

Use these five actions to right-size friction:

• Prune: Cut unnecessary steps (e.g., eliminate redundant approvals).
• Reduce: Lower complexity (e.g., limit decision options).
• Ease: Smooth bottlenecks (e.g., clarify vague instructions).
• Simplify: Streamline systems (e.g., organize cluttered tools).
• Shift: Adjust habits (e.g., add a weekly review pause).

 

 

How to Fix It:

• When There’s Too Much: Apply PRESS (Prune, Reduce, Ease, Simplify, Shift)—cut excess steps, clarify messages, declutter spaces.
• When There’s Too Little: Add guardrails, speedbumps, or roadblocks—set key checks, schedule pauses, create routines, or policies.

 

Mindset:

• Embrace the "friction fixer" approach—anyone can spot and tweak friction for better results.

 

Key Takeaways:

• Friction is a tool, not a trap. Use the indicators above to name the friction type, then balance it to work for you.

 

Challenge: The next time you see something that isn't quite right ("This shouldn't take so long", "We shouldn't have this many errors", "Customers aren't using this") see if it's a friction issue! Identify what's missing or what there is too much of and take steps to fix it! Make friction your ally!

 

Full-Text (Friction in Action)

Friction is the invisible force that can grind progress to a halt or steer it toward success—think roadblocks that stop you cold, speedbumps that slow you just enough, or guardrails that keep you on track. Over the past eight posts, my take on the The Friction Project. we have explored seven types of friction—bureaucratic, decision-making, communication, cognitive, social, strategic, and environmental.

 

Each type taught us that friction isn’t inherently good or bad; it’s about balance. Too much friction, like endless approvals or mental clutter, stalls us. Too little, like no rules or rushed decisions, invites chaos.

 

Looking back, I regret not introducing a clear framework earlier to tackle these challenges systematically. That’s where the PRESS framework—Prune, Reduce, Ease, Simplify, Shift—comes in. It’s a tool I wish we’d leaned into from the start, as it offers a structured way to right-size friction, and its value is clear for leaders, group members, and individuals alike.

 

The series traced a deliberate arc:

• Bureaucratic friction showed how leaders can prune red tape while group members flag bottlenecks.
• Decision-making friction revealed the need for leaders to narrow choices and group members to avoid snap judgments. Group members must eliminate and accentuate options quickly, too.
• Communication friction called for leaders to model clarity and team members to ask early questions.
• Cognitive friction demanded leaders prioritize tasks and group members manage mental load.
• Social friction required leaders to build trust and group members to resolve conflicts directly.
• Strategic friction highlighted leaders scheduling thoughtful pauses and group members respecting them.  All must understand, articulate, and proceed with actions that align with the strategic direction. Unaligned or misaligned actions risk being a futile or counterproductive effort.
• Environmental friction needed leaders to optimize tools and spaces, with group members maintaining functional areas. Balancing friction is a shared effort, and PRESS provides the roadmap to make it happen when the balance is off.

 

Leaders play a pivotal role in right-sizing friction by setting priorities and modeling the "friction fixer" mindset. Productive and engaged team members seek right-leveled friction; therefore, wise leaders empower team members to become friction-fixers. Disenaged team-members may simply have resigned themselves to chaos or taxing friction. Take a workplace example: A marketing team was bogged down by multiple sign-offs and review sessions for every campaign, missing deadlines and tanking morale. Using PRESS, the leader pruned approvals to one decision-maker, reduced process complexity, and eased bottlenecks, restoring flow. Group members sparked the fix by flagging the issue, showing how their input drives change. PRESS empowers leaders to act at scale—redesigning workflows or clarifying roles—while group members apply it locally, streamlining tasks or suggesting better tools. The framework’s clarity would have sharpened earlier discussions, making fixes more actionable from the outset.

 

The how-tos of PRESS are straightforward yet powerful. When friction’s too high—like an overloaded inbox—leaders can prune redundant meetings, reduce email volume with clear templates, ease confusion with norms (e.g., “no emails after 6 PM”), simplify tools, and shift to batch replies. Group members can mirror this by pruning their tasks or easing team missteps with quick clarifications. When friction’s too low—like a team rushing without checks—leaders can shift to mandate a review step, while members ease risks by pausing for alignment. In our personal life example, a friend’s impulsive vacation booking without a budget led to financial chaos. Using PRESS, he could have shifted to a five-minute budget check (a guardrail), pruning reckless spending to avoid stress. Hopefully, with PRESS in mind, the series’ lessons would have felt even more actionable.

 

The impact of right-sizing friction is undeniable. Bad friction—think bureaucratic delays or team conflicts—drains time, energy, and morale. Good friction—like a strategic speedbump or a clear policy—prevents errors and drives focus. Leaders set the structure, group members sustain it, and PRESS ties it together. For instance, pruning and easing in the marketing team example could save weeks of delays, while shifting to a budget check in the personal example restores control. By naming the friction type (using TL;DR indicators) and applying PRESS, anyone can turn roadblocks into guardrails.

 

I was inspired by The Friction Project to start this journey through types of friction and I’m struck by how PRESS could have unified our approach from the start, making every fix feel like part of a cohesive strategy. Its value lies in its simplicity—five actions that work for any friction type, role, or context. The challenge now is yours: The next time something feels off, use the TL;DR lists to spot the friction type and apply a PRESS action. Make friction your ally with PRESS as your guide.

 

My Takeaway

The "friction fixer" mindset, a term coined in The Friction Project, powered by PRESS developed as we've explored Friction, is my key takeaway. Friction is a signal to act, and PRESS—Prune, Reduce, Ease, Simplify, Shift—provides me with a clear playbook to respond. As I scan for indicators of too much or too little friction using our TL;DR "indicators", then apply PRESS actions—like pruning a redundant task or shifting to a decision pause. Proactive and efficient, this will assure that friction is a tool for progress...and I can truly enjoy a well-deserved coffee break!