How to Use the Dial of Friction to Solidify Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
Friction is a dial that moves in two directions that allows leaders to build better habits and break bad ones.
Anytime you feel friction there is an opportunity to take advantage of it for the benefit of yourself and those around you. You can turn the Dial of Friction up or down depending on your goals. Mismanagement of the dial will lead to friction you don't want.
Learn how to use friction strategically and you will encourage good habits and eliminate the problem children.
What is friction?
Friction is the discomfort and resistance you feel when interacting with a person, engaging in a process, or doing tedious work.
You know the feeling when you are in it. The person you are communicating with isn't picking up what you're putting down. The process you're following feels inefficient and wastes time. The project you're working on doesn't add enough value for the work it requires.
Learn to identify the discomfort and you'll be one step closer to eliminating it.
The Dial of Friction
A dial sits on top of friction that can be manipulated—your goal is to be the operator.
Friction will arise without your conscious thought but you have the power adjust its potency. Some sources of friction should be reduced to make life easier. Others should be amplified to eliminate undesirable behavior.
As a true strategist, manipulate friction at your will to birth a better working environment.
Increase friction to eliminate bad habits
Turn the Dial of Friction up to make it difficult for undesirable behaviors to manifest.
People don't like discomfort. They don't like to put in a ton of effort for what feels like a small return on investment. Play on this fact of human nature.
If there is something you want to disappear, make it harder for people to do that thing.
At work
Bad habit: Too many incoming non-urgent requests through Slack that take focus off of true priorities.
Increase friction by: Requiring stakeholders to fill an "intake form" to limit the number of incoming items.
Benefit: Fewer requests and more time spent on priority items that provide value.
In life
Bad habit: Watching too much TV.
Increase friction by: Have one (or zero) TV(s) in the house.
Benefit: Fewer options and opportunities to watch Netflix. More time to spend with family, reading, or creating.
Make bad habits harder to do and you will open time for life enriching activities.
Decrease friction to solidify good habits
Turn the Dial of Friction down to make it easier to engage in habits that solidify your ideal identity.
Don't rely on will power to do the things you know you should be doing. Change your environment to make it easy to do habits that make you a better person, spouse, employee, leader, or parent. Identify the friction that's keeping you from your ideal state and attack it.
If something is important to you, make it easier to do.
At work
Desired habit/outcome: Increase team productivity.
Decrease friction: Create and implement operating standards for repeated work.
Benefit: The team works more effectively because they know how to approach common problems without reinventing the wheel.
In life
Desired habit/outcome: Write everyday.
Decrease friction by: Set up a simple note taking and writing system you can adhere to.
Benefit: Writing is easier as there are fewer obstacles between you and the blank page.
Don't let friction reduce your efficiency and damage your mental machine.
Carefully dial it in and find a setting that maximizes your effectiveness.