‘If every leader took the ideas in this book seriously, the world would be a less miserable, more productive place.’ Adam Grant, author of Think Again


Every organisation is plagued by destructive friction. Lengthy and convoluted emails, inefficient processes, and antiquated procedures can all be obstacles to excellence at work.

Yet some forms of friction are incredibly useful. Often teams need to slow down, struggle and develop some bad ideas to find that rare good one. And leaders who attempt to improve workplace efficiency often make things even worse.

Drawing from seven years of hands-on research, The Friction Project by bestselling authors Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao teaches readers how to become “friction fixers.”

Sutton and Rao will help you to:







identify where to avert and repair bad organisational friction




acknowledge where to maintain and inject good friction


reframe friction troubles that can’t be immediately fixed, so they feel less threatening


repair failing organisations






The Friction Project is the ultimate guide to making the right things easier and the wrong things harder.


‘Hard to put down and easy to like, this is a business book to savour.’ Tim Harford, author of The Data Detective