First, we have to identify friction and we have to be able to quantify its impact on the business. We must study the impact of friction carefully because if we don’t- we will not realize the impact of friction on our business and we will drop this confusing, enigmatic issue and continue to just bleed money all over the floor.
Some friction points are right in front of your face. Employees mention them a lot. Others are more subtle. We all get too used to walking around obstacles. We need some powerful tools to deal with Friction.
We must be able to evaluate risk when we are evaluating the potential value of an innovation.
We must be able to identify risk and prevent the potential ramifications as well as we can. This is critically important because like any smart pilot we know we must manage risk with smart processes- but we must always deal with the lizard brains in the room.
Dealing with Friction requires Change.
People don’t like to change from something comfortable. It, at least helps in this case that friction often inflicts real pain on the employees so changing is more like pain relief.
But you are deep into group and interpersonal dynamics here. Everybody has a lizard brain. We beat the lizard brain by anticipating questions and answering them before the lizard brain can create a chaotic image in the brain.
We study carefully. We take input from everybody. We engage. We reassure. We present the benefits to them. Pain relief will be popular.
A program of empowering employees and even letting them
- take the lead on identifying points of friction and
- contributing to the solution process, or even
- asking employees to help evaluate potential points of friction
helps insure that they buy into the process and are ready to invest their own time and energy into making innovation work. Make sure you have seen these two points. A culture of innovation describes systems for empowering employee wisdom dealing with friction. A broader context on Employee empowerment is discussed here.
Slack is critical too. Employees overworked by being busy do not have the energy or attitude most conducive to good change. Slack is good. Slack provides the means to more profit.
It really pays to make a commitment to innovation. A culture of change is a power stroke for any business.
We need to be wide eyed to discover and deal with the risk of dealing with change.
We must not overestimate the risk.
We must understand that friction creates complexity. The simple reduction of friction quickly reduces complexity.
People are working around friction. They can be covering for each other just to make things work. It can be easy to be scared about change because of this complexity but the friction is quickly reduced when innovation reduces the friction and thus, reduces the complex work around solution.
Some innovation requires new types of software, and people get used to even bad software and don’t like to change away from what they are using. The good news is that new software is simple to use vs the complex software with to many options and too many gadgets on most desktop software. Here are some great options for simple yet powerful software to reduce friction.
People under stress do not take to change as readily as if they are more relaxed and have a little slack. Consideration of slack is critical to reduce the risk of change. You want people relaxed and thinking rather than stressed out and reacting through their lizard brain.
Yes, we need a decision making process that helps us step away from gut reactions and being immobilized by uncertainty and fear.
There are always so many reasons to stand pat. We need to evaluate with a rational process that puts all critical factors in perspective. Situations involving friction points often appear complex and fraught with risk. And who isn’t busy and with plenty on their plate already.
What are typical ways to say no to Change.?What are typical ways to put off change?
- This is our busy time of year.
- We are busy catching up and preparing for our busy time of year.
- We need to generate more business right now, things have slowed down.
When is the right time to look at the impact of friction? Well, when do you want to stop wasting sums of money?
Now we are on the path to a culture of accepting change. The closer you get to a well balanced team of players who can rely on each other for help and support, the more success your company can achieve. Now you are ready to grow, add talent and take over markets as stressed out companies struggle with business change and growth.
What question or concern has not been raised here?
What would you like to add to the discussiom?
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