Reduce Friction - The Law of Least Effort"

I found myself repeating this topic multiple times in different contexts recently, and indeed it is a great topic and a great tool to adopt in both life and work. I don't recall when the first time I heard the term "Reduce Friction", I found that there is a chapter related to this Atomic Habits[1], 12 The Law of Least Effort.

The spread of agriculture provides an example of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change on a global scale. Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you'd actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one.

Energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of List Effort, which states that when deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.

... We're motivated to do what is easy.1 P151

Every action requires a certain amount of energy. The more energy required, the less likely it is to occur.

Certainly, you are capable of doing very hard things. The problem is that some days you feel like doing the hard work and some days you feel like giving in. On the tough days, it's crucial to have as many things working in your favor as possible so that you can overcome the challenge life naturally throws your way. The less friction you face, the easier it is for your stronger self to emerge. The idea behind make it easy is not to only do easy things. The idea is to make it as easy as possible in the moment to do things that payoff in the long run. P152

Encourage a behavior by reducing friction. At work, some concrete examples are

  • if you want people to check out something, it's better to provide the link to reduce the friction that people need to go find it
  • if you want to inspire people to do something, 1) write some inspirational words or explain the problems, some actionable items first or 2) make it visible, and accessible, e.g. screenshot, or video, it will trigger the curiosity. (You might now know why Tiktok video always starts with sound immediately and always have sound)

Reduce friction by building the infrastructure. If the team has the right tool available, the team will be more likely to try to use it for something. Otherwise, the team needs to build the tools first, if it needs too much effort, the team won't explore or try to build. This is especially true when exploring things. Because the gain is not guaranteed, if it takes too much effort, people won't try. You can also say "Increase the team's creativity by building the infrastructure".

If you are a manager, there are always some very tiny things that you can do to reduce friction for the team and inspire the team, like the butterfly effect. It's hard to quantify measurement and result, but only really understand the reasoning behind it or simply believe it first.

Chapter Summary [1]Chapter 12, The Law of Least Effort

  • Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
  • Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
  • Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
  • Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
  • Prime your environment to make future actions easier.

Readings

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. Atomic Habits, Chapter 12, The Law of Least Effort ↩