Friction
Lately, I've been thinking about the idea of friction —specifically, what type of friction do we want to reduce in our leadership and lives vs. what type of friction do we want to preserve in our leadership and lives?
There's even a term for this: Friction-Maxxing, which is the idea of choosing less convenient options in daily life to build tolerance for discomfort, resist technology-driven ease, and preserve what proponents describe as meaningful human experiences.
I've landed on the idea that we don't need to practice friction-maxxing for everything, but we might want to practice it for some things —specifically things that align with our values and priorities.
We can also consider how it ties to our highest and best use, which is the idea of working on the things that have the greatest impact. Can we keep the healthy friction of working at our highest and best, while reducing it in other areas?
The inquiry isn't necessarily whether friction is good or bad. It's whether friction serves a purpose, and whether it consumes energy or mind space that could be directed elsewhere.
Here are a few examples from my end.
I write my own content and believe that the struggle of wrestling with ideas (or sometimes, the lack thereof) is an important part of the process (intentional friction). I use AI to help me with more mundane tasks like creating packing lists or catching typos and ask for any edits in a list versus as a re-write, so that I can look at each one manually before incorporating (reducing friction).
I love to cook, host, and gather. The way I do this is largely analog: making recipes from paper cookbooks and setting a welcoming table that we can gather around (intentional friction). However, I sometimes use grocery delivery (reducing friction) for the ingredients, which means I can focus on my highest and best use within this process (in this case, creating the gathering experience rather than shopping for the ingredients).
I spend a lot of time manually perusing Airbnbs and hotels when preparing for a trip (intentional friction), but I have a standard packing list that I work off of, so that I don't have to remember what to pack each time (reducing friction).
I manage my own calendar (intentional friction) but love having all events that impact our family on a shared calendar or meeting invite (reducing friction).
I would love to hear your thoughts. Where in your life or your leadership do you find it important to preserve intentional friction? And, where are you working to reduce it? If I receive a number of ideas, I'll include them in a future post.
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