There’s been plenty of talk about what can be learned from Amazon’s obsessive focus on removing friction from the customer experience. One-click ordering, same-day delivery, frictionless returns, the entire model is built around eliminating barriers between intent and action. But can friction ever be a good thing? We think it can.
In physics, there are two types of friction: static friction, which keeps an object at rest (preventing it from sliding), and kinetic friction, which acts between surfaces already in motion. Both serve a purpose. Without static friction, nothing stays in place. Without kinetic friction, nothing can be controlled once it’s moving. The same principles apply in business.
The best briefs aren’t written, they’re re-written. The creative tension between a client and their agency, the push-back on assumptions, the challenge to think harder, this is productive friction. It doesn’t slow things down; it deepens the thinking. The output is sharper because the process demanded more rigour. Remove that friction entirely and you end up with first-draft thinking at every stage.
Consider the cello. The instrument’s resonance comes from wood held under enormous strain, the tension between the strings, the bridge, and the body is what creates the sound. Players don’t simply stroke the strings; they squeeze the instrument, pressing the bow with precisely calibrated force. Without friction between bow and string, there is no music. The beauty is a product of resistance.
Or consider champagne. Compared to still wine, champagne requires more time, more care, and more process. The méthode champenoise demands a second fermentation in the bottle, manual riddling, and years of ageing. It is grown at higher latitudes where the climate is less forgiving. Every step adds friction, and every step adds value. The friction is what justifies the premium.
Friction forces reconsideration. Pearls are formed when a grain of sand irritates an oyster, without that friction, there is no pearl. In marketing, the same principle holds: messages that arrive too easily are forgotten just as quickly. Research suggests that 90% of marketing messages are forgotten within 48 hours. Perhaps the answer isn’t to remove all friction from the journey, but to introduce the right kind of friction, the kind that makes people stop, think, and remember.
