I’ve been recently enjoying several episodes from IDEO’s Creative Confidence Podcast, including an interview with Bob Sutton regarding this research and book “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder”. Some highlights from that episode:

• Bob Sutton explains that too much efficiency can stifle creativity and innovation. He suggests that the value of friction depends on the craft.
• Take ownership, as an employee or leader, to become a “Friction Fixer”, by taking agency to remove obstacles where needed and slow down processes intentionally
• Recognize that everyone has the ability to make things harder or easier for others
• You should consider yourself a good keeper, or steward, of the people who are affected by your work
• Leaders should avoid ‘addition sickness’ by not always adding more to solve problems — invest time in efficiency/simplicity, not always adding more
• Bob Sutton mentions Jay Richard Hackman’s research, which emphasizes that the beginning is crucial for team effectiveness — invest energy in team expectations/culture/governance, such as vision, roles, culture, resource allocation, etc.
• Endings are important because people need to believe that something is over, whether it’s a relationship, project, or organization
• Daniel Kahneman’s ‘peak end rule’ shows that people judge experiences based on their peak moments and how they end (e.g., recency bias)