Constructive Friction for Leaders
The illusion of agreement produces disappointing action.
Fitting-in congeals complacency. Conformity doesn’t keep the peace; it puts people to sleep.
Constructive friction is a spark.
Destructive Discontent
Be dissatisfied without being a jerk-hole.
Jerk-holes rage against a dissatisfying world. It looks like courage, but it’s bluster. It’s not vision, it’s venting.
Chronic complaining is helplessness crying for attention.
There’s no wisdom in habitual discontent.
Productive challenge isn’t…
- Anger enflamed by “don’t want.”
- Bitterness ruminating on past pain.
- Insults directed at those who built the present. Fools cast vision by insulting the people who built the present.
- Pessimism driven by disappointment.
Two Ways to Practice Constructive Friction
Constructive friction is a sail.
#1. Imagine Failure
Do a pre-mortem. Before you launch a project, ask: “Imagine we are three months in the future. This project is a spectacular failure…
- What went wrong?
- What didn’t we do that should have been done?
- What will future-us wish we had done?
- Where did we underestimate challenges?
#2. Explore Maybe
- Ask, “What if?”
- Ask the team to devise a different way to approach this opportunity.
- Test ideas without attacking people.
- Focus on forward movement, not arrival.
- Build on what works.
- Withhold criticism. Practice curiosity.
10 Advantages of Constructive Friction:
- Joy.
- Trust.
- Intellectual humility.
- Reflection and learning.
- Flexibility that leads to adaptability.
- Tested assumptions.
- Effective decisions.
- Fewer blind spots.
- Ownership.
- Growth.
Habitual discontent is an anchor. Constructive friction is a sail.
What’s one complaint you could transform into a possibility today?
How to Create Dissatisfaction that Energizes
How Constructive Dissent Can Unlock Your Team’s Innovation HBR
