Pointless vs. Useful Friction & Why Some Business Processes Should Be Hard

I'm generally a proponent of using technology to improve how organizations operate, which often involves transforming business processes and using systems differently to remove friction. However, there are points at which friction is helpful for organizations.

Before diving in, I'll take you on a quick journey for how I arrived at this topic. I'm traveling this afternoon and checked into the United lounge before my flight. There are two automated gates that use scanners to confirm that boarding passes are eligible for access.

After entering, the floor plan is essentially the top left corner of a backwards C, so you're making a turn to the right and following an arc to find seating, refreshments, etc. However, if you don't make it all the way around, you fail to realize there are dedicated exit gates, which are behind you when checking into the lounge.

Over less than an hour, multiple people were turned away from trying to leave the way they came in, which is an arbitrary constraint provided no one is trying to enter while people are trying to exit through those automated gates.

That sort of friction, especially when folks are attempting to get to their departure gate, is pointless.

So, let's define how friction can either be pointless or useful:

• Pointless friction is complexity that adds no value to the organization
• Useful friction intentionally slows down a process to improve outcomes

Organizations have both kinds of friction, although the goal is to have as little of the pointless kind if you're able.

Examples of pointless friction include:

• Requiring manual data entry when automation is feasible
• Multiple approval steps for low risk or low value decisions
• Unnecessary fields to capture data that does not influence outcomes

Those kinds of pointless friction are like rug burns: they hurt, don't look pretty, and are avoidable.

On the other hand, useful friction can be value additive and improve outcomes.

Examples of useful friction include:

• Requiring approval for multi-year, high ticket contracts for software or vendors
• Evaluating discount potential with a deal desk to ensure that it remains above a profitability floor
• Using governance to ensure that changes made to an organization's standards or overall strategy are intentional and reviewed for their opportunity and risk

Those kinds of useful friction are like having treads on your car or bike tires: they grip the road, throw water and sediment to the edges, and keep you on track.

If you're wondering whether friction is pointless or useful, ask yourself these questions:

• Does this step prevent errors or reduce the risk of losing value?
• Does it provide valuable information or insights that align with our strategy?
• Does it improve the quality of decisions that we're making as a team or organization?

Maybe you're still unsure after asking those questions, so here's my favorite one to ask.

If you stop doing it, would it create any problems?

TLDR: Friction can be pointless or useful. Endeavor to have as little of the pointless kind and try useful friction to improve outcomes.