The Drag We Never Knew We Needed

Have you ever tried to walk across a freshly waxed floor in socks? That’s not just your lack of grace and coordination (yes, or mine). 🙂 That’s physics. Specifically, friction is taking a coffee break.

Friction is one of those everyday miracles we love to hate. Like alarm clocks. Or deadlines. Or the corner piece of your favourite dessert that is still a bit hard, but is somehow worth it. Without friction, we’d all be slipping, sliding, skidding, and losing every game of Jenga ever played. And yes, your business might be doing the same thing, too.

So, this week on Physics Friday, let’s celebrate friction, the ultimate buzzkill of motion, the unsung hero of control, and the secret sauce behind traction, both literally and metaphorically.

The Science Bit (Don't Worry, I'll Keep It Brief)

In physics class, we learned that friction is the force resisting relative motion between two surfaces. Blah blah blah.

What they should have said was: Friction is that gritty force keeping your world from turning into an ice rink. It’s the thing that lets your tires grip the road, your shoes grip the floor, and your plans grip reality when the world gets bumpy.

There are different types of friction:

• Static friction: what keeps you from sliding before you even move

• Kinetic friction: the one yelling “whoa there!” once you do move

• Rolling friction: the chill cousin, like when a watermelon rolls out of your grocery cart and you just let it go

But we’re not here for the textbook. We’re here to ask the fundamental questions:

Why does friction matter in life and in business? And how come it feels like we’re always either fighting it or causing it?

Friction at Work (And I Don’t Mean Greg from Accounting)

In business, friction manifests in various forms. Unclear communication? Friction. Clunky processes? Friction. That one system that still runs only on Internet Explorer? You guessed it.

And while it’s tempting to think of friction as the enemy, sometimes it’s exactly what keeps everything from flying apart.

A bit of resistance can slow you down just enough to allow you to think things through. To plan. To iterate. To stop before driving off a cliff with enthusiasm and no seatbelt.

On the other hand, too much friction - the kind that shows up in layers of approval, outdated tools, and policies that make grown adults cry - well, that’s the kind that kills momentum faster than an all-staff meeting on a Friday at 4:30.

My Dog Understands Friction Better Than Most Humans

My Golden Retriever once bolted across the hardwood floor chasing a tennis ball, only to slide directly into a wall. She got up, shook it off, and gave me that look like, "Ummm, what happened?"

That’s friction in action. You don’t appreciate it until it’s gone - or until your face meets drywall.

And honestly, how many businesses do the same thing? They chase shiny objects, forget about operational grip, and then spin out, wondering what went wrong.

Friction isn’t always bad. It’s just misunderstood.

Speed Without Grip = Chaos

I love fast-moving teams. Strategy sessions that go from whiteboard to execution in days or weeks, not months. Leaders who get to the point. Projects that sprint, not stroll.

But if there’s no traction underneath that speed, things fall apart. Execution without friction is just sliding. It looks fun until you hit the wall.

Every high-performing system needs a slight drag. A little resistance to shape decisions. To hold alignment. To create grip.

Think of friction as feedback. It's the gentle “maybe not that fast” when you try to skip a step. It’s the sticky point in a meeting where someone says, “I’m not sure this makes sense.” That tension? That pause? That’s healthy friction, and it keeps the wheels from falling off.

Friction and Culture - The Invisible Kind

Here’s where it gets sneakier. Not all friction is mechanical. Some of it is cultural.

That sigh you hear every time a new process is rolled out? Friction.

That awkward pause when someone asks a hard question? Friction.

That one person who always “likes the idea, but...” Big friction energy.

But here's the thing - that kind of friction might be the most important of all. Because it’s where real conversations happen. Where assumptions get challenged. Where improvement lives.

As long as it’s respectful, friction in your culture is a sign that people care. They’re pulling on the rope with you. They’re not just nodding. They’re thinking.

Patrick Lencioni described it very well in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, as the "fear of conflict", and in his video below.  Healthy conflict (or cultural friction) is that point between artificial harmony and being mean-spirited.

The Conflict Continuum by Patrick Lencioni

A Little Gravel in the Parking Lot

Metaphor time.

Your business is like a shopping cart. The wheels don’t always turn the same way. One is usually twisted. The lot is uneven. You’ve got bottled water, a watermelon, and some rogue peaches balancing precariously on top.

And yet... the cart moves forward. Bumpy, unpredictable, noisy, but forward.

That’s friction. It slows you down just enough to keep things upright. To keep things real.

So next time your team hits a bump, resist the urge to go full blame mode. Instead, ask - is this bad friction or good friction? Is this slowing us down, or keeping us steady?

Because the goal isn’t zero resistance. The goal is the right kind of resistance. Enough to keep us grounded. Not so much that we stall.

In the End, Friction = Feedback

Friction isn’t a bug in the system. It is a key component of the system. It tells you what’s working and what’s not. It’s how you know when you’re going too fast or trying to move in the wrong direction.

In physics, without friction, nothing stops. Nothing stabilizes. Nothing lands.

In business, it’s the same. Without friction, there’s no learning. No traction. No depth.

So the next time you feel resistance, thank it. Learn from it. Adjust your grip. And keep moving.

Even if it feels like your cart’s got one wheel stuck in the gravel and a watermelon about to jump ship.

Final Thought: Embrace the Skid

Sometimes progress looks like skidding a little before you find your balance. That’s not failure. That’s physics.

That’s life.

That’s business.

So, embrace the skid. Laugh at the bumps. And keep pushing the cart - one twisted wheel at a time.