Negotiate with friction

Pre-s: I missed you all yesterday. It’s been a busy week and I was traveling to record lectures for a new course I’m teaching. Excited to be back.

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Why you should care about friction

It starts with removing friction.

Surfers wax their boards.

Swimmers wax their legs.

Climbers and weightlifters coat their hands with chalk.

Sprinters wear spikes on their shoes.

Why?

They want optimal performance and so they negotiate heavily with friction.

In some cases, they want to increase friction and grip. Spikes. Chalk.

Other times they want smooth and as minimal friction as possible.

When millimeters and milliseconds matter the highest performing athletes become masters of friction.

Or for a more everyday example - Imagine driving your car on rough gravel vs a fresh interstate highway. The gravel road is slower, the bumps are jarring for the riders, and the rough ride puts excessive wear and tear on the vehicle.

“Highway miles” on an odometer are much different than “dirt road” miles.

Removing friction - even the smallest amount - improves speed, comfort, and longevity.

Friction, large and small, adds up. Compounds. And charges a heavy price.

Why should data teams care about friction?

Every time your business users and leadership interact with data they experience friction. How many clicks do they take. How confused they are by the chart. How much doubt enters their mind about the accuracy of the numbers?

Friction is the primary barrier between data teams and the business. A focus on removing friction requires collaboration between data and business teams and builds trust between them. It requires that you understand what their experience is like.

That you empathize, understand, and care.

The result? Trust. And trust is the fastest way to deliver value and get noticed by leadership.

I’m here,

Sawyer