The Surprising Benefits of Friction in Developing a High-Performing Team.

In the world of team dynamics, friction is often seen as a negative force that can cause dysfunction and hinder progress.

However, research and real-life examples have shown that some level of friction is necessary for teams to reach their highest potential.

In this post, we'll explore why teams need to have friction for healthy high-performance culture, and provide actionable tips, common mistakes, and statistics to back up our main points.

Before we dive into the benefits of friction in teams, let's define what we mean by "friction."

In this context, friction refers to the disagreements, conflicts, and differences of opinion that naturally arise when people with diverse backgrounds and experiences work together towards a common goal.

While some may view friction as detrimental to team performance, we believe that it is essential for high-performance teams to develop a healthy culture.

When managed properly, friction can encourage diverse perspectives, promote accountability, and spark innovation.

Friction Encourages Diverse Perspectives

To foster healthy levels of friction, it’s important to avoid suppressing dissenting opinions, which can stifle creativity and hinder problem-solving. Instead, we should be striving for encourage open communication and constructive feedback.

A study by McKinsey found that companies with diverse teams outperformed their peers by 35% in profitability.

Apple's design team is known for their innovative and elegant product designs. According to Jony Ive, Apple's former chief design officer, the team's success is partly due to healthy conflicts and debates.

He once said, "We all have very strong opinions, and I think what that creates, inevitably, is a level of conflict."

By encouraging diverse perspectives, Apple's design team was able to come up with game-changing products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Friction Promotes Accountability

Healthy high-performance leaders encourage team members to hold each other accountable for their actions and responsibilities.

This is done by agreeing expectations, clarity of decision making boundaries, and keeping open channels of communication to navigate emerging blockers or politics.

A survey by Leadership IQ found that 46% of employees surveyed identified "not holding people accountable" as the top reason for poor team performance.

And this is true in our experiences supporting Olympic environments and corporate teams as well. It’s often not the case that employees lack motivation or drive.

It’s because the leaders are not holding people account to performance, or expected behaviours.

Google's Project Aristotle was a research project aimed at understanding what makes teams successful. One of their key findings was that high-performing teams have a strong sense of accountability.

When team members hold themselves and each other accountable for their actions, they are more likely to work harder and achieve better results.

And using a sporting example, the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls are widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA teams of all time.

Their success was attributed to the environment being highly challenging, supportive, and 100% clear of everyone’s roles and responsibilities.

Coach Phil Jackson emphasised the importance of teamwork and responsibility, and would not tolerate players who did not put in the effort to help the team win.

Friction Sparks Innovation

Many people mistake psychological safety for workplace cultures being about ''comfort'“ and “safety”. This is a gross misunderstanding.

Psychologically safe team encourage high levels of support and high level of challenge.

Leaders must role these principles and encourage team members to challenge assumptions and experiment with new ideas.

Create a culture that values innovation and rewards risk-taking.

A study by Accenture found that companies that prioritise innovation have a 2.6 times higher revenue growth rate than their peers.

If you like Toy Story and Finding Nemo like us, you’ll love this Pixar example. Their success is largely due to their culture of innovation and experimentation.

Employees are encouraged to pitch new ideas, even if they seem unconventional or risky.

By embracing friction and taking creative risks, Pixar has been able to create groundbreaking films that resonate with audiences around the world.

In conclusion, friction is necessary for high-performance teams to develop a healthy culture. It might feel uncomfortable and unusual when building friction into your team. But at the heart of friction is helping people to grow into better human beings.

Friction can encourage diverse perspectives, promote accountability, and spark innovation. By embracing healthy conflicts and disagreements, teams can achieve greater success and reach their full potential.

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