Reduce the Friction to Create Ease

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Hi Reader

What's your first reaction when work starts to feel harder than it should?

If you're like most, the default is to add more. More effort, more oversight, or more tools to keep things in check. It feels sensible and proactive, as if the extra weight will steady everything.

But adding more on top of friction only increases the drag. And it pulls attention away from where the real challenge sits.

Whereas the real power move is to find and subtract what’s making things harder in the first place.

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Friction starts upstream

When you look closely, the real friction is almost always upstream of where the problems show up.

So instead of adding more to overcome the friction, look for the source and remove it. The mindset here is to aim for creating ease.

Here are two common examples where upstream friction tempts you to add more drag, and how you fix it instead:

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In transformation work. When teams operate in silos, they often create a front door process to manage demand. A form to complete to get a place in the queue. It’s a way of slowing things down so they can cope with demand.

It adds structure, but also adds more friction. And it doesn't fix the real issue, which is usually that teams are working across different priorities.

But when you realign teams around a shared strategic vision, the front door stops being needed. And momentum returns because the work is all pulling in the same direction.

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For individuals. Many busy people try to manage the chaos by adding new productivity tools. They switch systems, try different methods, and read all the tips and books.

But the friction is rarely in the tools. It sits earlier in their world. Because they’re taking on too much and saying yes too often.

When they shift to fewer, more meaningful commitments, it becomes much easier to be productive.

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Regardless of your situation, remember that adding more might push through friction in the short-term. But it's subtraction that removes friction and makes things easier.

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How will you make it easy?

Ease isn't a shortcut or hack. It is the outcome of dealing with the source of the difficulty instead of adding layers around it. And the relationship between effort and output improves in a way you can feel day-to-day.

As a leader, of yourself and others, your job is to find and fix the friction so it becomes easier for everyone to create the outcomes that matter, you included.

So ask:

Stay ambitious.

Rob

From 1:1 support through to strategic partnership, you’ll find clear options for connecting a sharp vision to results that last. Explore them at sparkedambition.co.uk​

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Sparked Ambition Ltd | ​linkedin.com/in/robstubbs​