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Friction: The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage

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NAMED A BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2019 by strategy+business

Annually, $4.6 trillion of merchandise is left in abandoned e-commerce shopping carts.


Every year, the U.S. economy loses $3 trillion dollars in productivity due to excess bureaucracy.


Red tape and over-complicated licenses have contributed to China's GDP exceeding India's by $82 trillion over the span of just three decades.


If you're a business leader, these statistics should give you nightmares. According to science-based marketing and business expert Roger Dooley, they illustrate the real and growing threat of "friction," which he defines as the unnecessary expenditure of time, effort, or money in performing a task.


In today's high-speed, customer-empowered world, the levels of swiftness and efficiency of business transactions will determine ultimate success or failure. In this groundbreaking guide, Dooley helps you spot the inevitable points of friction in your organization, and he provides the tools and insight you need to eliminate them. By truly understanding the impact friction can have, you'll be able to establish positive habits and eliminate negative ones--all with the end result of building a company that's the envy of your industry. Friction takes you step-by-step through the process of:


- Empowering frank conversations
- Guiding individual and team behaviors
- Getting ahead of friction
- Optimizing the customer experience
- Building a frictionless corporate culture


Combining scientific research with real-life examples of leaders who have conquered business friction, Dooley teaches you how to identify roadblocks, alter them for the benefit of both business and customer, and create positive, lasting change.


If you're in a leadership position, now is the time to declare war on friction--before your competitors do. Stamp out ridiculous rules, pointless procedures, and meaningless meetings. Become a relentless advocate for the customer and for minimizing customer effort. Lubricate every point of friction and make your company run like a well-oiled machine.


Friction provides the know-how you need to lead your company to industry dominance.





320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 9, 2019

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About the author

Roger Dooley

11 books24 followers

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5 stars
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32 (34%)
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Stephen.
514 reviews152 followers
November 20, 2021
Listened to this on audiobook which is why it’s taken longer than normal to read (wife doesn’t like my self help books and says that everything I learn is stuff that she’s been telling me for years but which I only listen to when I read it in a book so I can only listen on solo journeys 😀).

It has made me look forward to every drive and it was a real revelation in learning why it is so difficult to stop buying from Amazon as they are featured a lot. Once you’ve read this, you see Friction everywhere!
September 9, 2022
It’s a great concept , it could be written in much fewer pages, though. It eventually becomes quite monotonous.
Profile Image for Theodore Kinni.
Author 12 books31 followers
August 18, 2019
Roger Dooley makes a strong case that you could have a very successful business career just by focusing your attention on reducing friction for your employer and its customers and employees. A terrific, story-driven read, albeit a bit light on the how-to.
Profile Image for Daniel Sepúlveda.
570 reviews72 followers
September 13, 2022
Puntaje: 4.4 Estrellas.

Usualmente, cuando leo cosas relacionadas a mi carrera, acudo a artículos científicos o de revistas especializadas y publicaciones que llaman mi atención. Sin embargo, hay libros que resuenan en mi cabeza después de leer su título y sinopsis. Fricción es uno de ellos.

En este libro, Roger Dooley (Quien además es experto en Neuromarketing y marketing conductual) nos habla acerca de la fricción y las formas que toma en diferentes aspectos de nuestra vida diaria.

El aspecto que tiene más protagonismo en el libro es el empresarial, pues la fricción se presenta en cientos de formas dentro de las organizaciones, afectando los procesos, las personas y los resultados. Con ejemplos, Dooley nos explica como algunas empresas han trabajado por reducir la fricción y han tenido resultados ejemplares que motivan a que se repliquen actividades similares en todo el mundo.

Entre estos ejemplos se encuentran Amazon, Uber y Sears, quienes identificaron momentos y catalizadores de fricción en el mercado y decidieron atacarlos en sus propuestas de valor. Es curioso que uno de estos ejemplos (Sears) haya dejado de operar por su falta de visión e innovación en sus procesos, pero bueno, ese es otro tema. El ejemplo de Sears está más relacionado con sus inicios y de como se consolidó como una empresa a nivel nacional e internacional gracias a que logró disminuir la fricción que identificó oportunamente.

Entre otros aspectos de fricción que se tocan en este libro se encuentran la burocracia en la administración pública, la fricción en la tecnología, la fricción en la declaración de renta y pago de los impuestos, y la fricción en nuestras vidas personales.

Creo que este es un libro muy valioso que puede aportar a que el lector pueda ver con nuevos ojos los procesos que desarrolla en su vida diaria y profesional, motivándolo a identificar momentos de fricción que puedan ser gestionados para obtener mejores resultados. Definitivamente, este libro está dirigido a un público interesado en temas de administración. No lo recomiendo a quien quiera leer sobre la fricción en la vida personal y los hábitos, pues existen títulos que se enfocan únicamente a este aspecto y que son más completos en el tema.

De hecho, el único, pero que le tengo al libro es que los últimos capítulos se sentían como un poco de relleno, pues ya no estaba aportando mucho conocimiento ni valor al respecto, sino mencionando ejemplos de fricción en varias situaciones. Esto lo confirma el autor más adelante cuando menciona que, por obligación contractual, el libro debe tener mínimo 75,000 palabras, por lo que es probable que Roger Dooley se haya terminado en el 90% y tuvo que completar el 10% restante con un par de capítulos extra.

Aun así disfruté mucho de esta lectura, hice muchas anotaciones que pronto compartiré en mis redes sociales.
Profile Image for Ed Barton.
1,300 reviews
February 24, 2020
Well written and well researched, Roger Dooley wrote a masterpiece of insights into consumer behavior in "Friction". One of the better business books I've read in the last few years, Dooley provides a window into the sources of intentional and unintentional friction in transactions, relationships and consumer behavior that drive our behaviors. His insights provide a collage of elements that paint a picture of friction as a liability and as an asset in designing interactions. A great read, and one that anybody will benefit from.
Profile Image for Elan Kol.
72 reviews2 followers
July 17, 2022
I devoured this book in a couple of days! It is well formatted into sections that are easy to read, provide excellent real-life examples and applications while provoke thought and discovery. As mentioned in the book, once you start to see FRICTION, you won’t be able to stop. I really enjoyed the read and would definitely recommend it. I will need pick up the autor's "Brainfluence" book in the near future as well.
7 reviews
December 21, 2020
Definitely worth the time

A very nice read for those who are interested in marketing and behavioral aspects in business. Easy to read. However, contrary to the main idea of the book, I think the author kept it a bit long by providing too many examples. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read and would definitely recommend it.
5 reviews
February 15, 2023
Es un excelente libro; puede sonar que es muy facil hablar de fricción pero la verdad los seres humanos somos de costumbres y eso hace que hagamos lo mismo una y otra vez. Este libro hace que pienses diferente.
Mi conclusión general es que la fricción puede ser utilizada a favor y en contra de acuerdo con el contexto
Profile Image for Daniel Dent.
69 reviews3 followers
June 7, 2020
I have incorporated Friction into my vocabulary as a great way to convey when something is a little harder than it should be. This happens in all areas of software development and SAAS businesses so I might even overuse the idea/word. Great book!
Profile Image for Arnaldo Neto.
278 reviews6 followers
June 10, 2020
Um manifesto espetacular que nos inspira a eliminar burocracias da nossa vida e trabalho em busca dos nossos objetivos. Obrigatório!
Profile Image for Christian Oltra.
191 reviews2 followers
June 16, 2022
Un buen libro sobre el poder de la fricción (esfuerzo innecesario) en el ámbito del consumo, las organizaciones y los estados.
Profile Image for Undercover.
6 reviews
Want to read
January 8, 2020
I never received it in the post...so I can’t review it. I’ve been waiting for a few months and now I’m not sure I’ll ever get it. :/
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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