Positive Friction in Business

Friction as a concept is always associated with negative connotations. Even in science it almost always slows down and eventually stops an object. The first time I understood the concept of how a wheel moves forward I was quite excited with this side of friction. In the case of wheel & the road its the force of friction which helps them move forward. Of course like most other concepts I forgot this one as well & moved on to newer fancier theories like 4Ps etc. (Pun intended)

After I started working in organisations i found there were certain functions who are always at logger heads with each other like finance and sales, legal and marketing & in some cases even marketing & sales (especially in my last role with Coca-Cola where we have a bottling system). Most of these heated discussions end up with bickering at individuals in the water cooler or the tea stall with colleagues. Almost everyone in feedbacks mentions that organisations should align priorities of all functions so that there no time wasted in such debates. This has been a constant theme across my 10 years career in 3 different companies. 

After we started our own company I wanted to make sure I implement all these feedbacks that I had been giving for so many years. Reality was far from it, I found myself setting metrics of different departments which while aligned with organisations overall goal were bound to cause friction amongst departments. For the first time I sat back & started thinking about why was I doing this, why give the sales guy a sales target but ask the finance guys to keep discounting and credit extension under check. My 9’th grade hit me like a brick, “Positive Friction” was the answer. For the Vehicle called Organisation to move forward this positive friction between departments is essential. There is cost associated with every decision of the company. Sales would want higher than required level of inventory for all SKUs to ensure they don’t miss a single SKU sale but cost of carrying inventory and expired stocks might end up wiping much more than the profits generated due to the said sale. Hence the positive friction between sales and supply chain keeps a sustainable balance which moves organisation forward. 

So next time you are in such a debate and creating a negative perspective about the individual across the table remember its rubber hitting the road, this conversation is going to move things forward, its all positive friction.