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The Human Element: Overcoming the Resistance That Awaits New Ideas
This book offers the readers two essential insights. First, readers will discover the four Frictions that operate against their efforts to influence and innovate. They will come to understand the unexpected reasons why the ideas and initiatives they are most passionate about get rejected. Second, readers will learn how to both identify and disarm these forces of resistance. Even better, the reader will discover how to turn the forces of Friction into winds of change.
The insights this book offers are important because, as the authors will show, people have the wrong influence intuitions. The conventional approach to influence and catalyzing change is to add or highlight value - to explain the benefits or enhance the appeal. They call this the "sizzle syndrome". The conventional approach is, of course, necessary. But it's woefully insufficient. Insufficient because it misses not just half the story, but its most important part. Whenever we want to create change, we must first appreciate and respect the forces operating against us. While we might not see them, they are there, quietly undermining and inhibiting our efforts. When we wrongly attempt to overcome these forces by tacking on sizzle to heighten the appeal we inadvertently (and counterintuitively) intensify the very friction we are trying to overcome.
Instead, what is needed is to disarm the forces operating against change.
To create change, people need to understand the forces working against them. And here's the exciting thing: once you see the Friction points, you can redesign those very same forces to drive change.
The insights this book offers are important because, as the authors will show, people have the wrong influence intuitions. The conventional approach to influence and catalyzing change is to add or highlight value - to explain the benefits or enhance the appeal. They call this the "sizzle syndrome". The conventional approach is, of course, necessary. But it's woefully insufficient. Insufficient because it misses not just half the story, but its most important part. Whenever we want to create change, we must first appreciate and respect the forces operating against us. While we might not see them, they are there, quietly undermining and inhibiting our efforts. When we wrongly attempt to overcome these forces by tacking on sizzle to heighten the appeal we inadvertently (and counterintuitively) intensify the very friction we are trying to overcome.
Instead, what is needed is to disarm the forces operating against change.
To create change, people need to understand the forces working against them. And here's the exciting thing: once you see the Friction points, you can redesign those very same forces to drive change.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2021
211 people are currently reading
1442 people want to read
About the author
Loran Nordgren
3 books8 followersLoran Nordgren is a Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management. Loran is one-part behavioral scientist, one-part lecturer, and one-part practitioner. As a behavioral scientist, his research explores the psychological forces that propel and prevent the adoption of new ideas and actions. A former Fulbright scholar, his research has been published in leading journals such as Science, and is regularly discussed in prominent forums such as the Harvard Business Review. In recognition of his work, Professor Nordgren has received the Theoretical Innovation Award in experimental psychology. As a lecturer, Loran teaches Leadership in Organizations in every program offered at Kellogg. He is a six-time recipient of the Kellogg teaching impact award and has twice received Kellogg’s Management Teacher of the Year award. Loran also serves as the academic director of the executive MBA programs. As a practitioner, Loran has worked with companies throughout the world on a wide-range of behavior change problems, a process he calls Behavioral Design.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
December 15, 2021
This is a quick read on how it often works better to remove frictions when implementing new ideas than trying to convince people of their value. Some of the examples in The Human Element have been used ad nauseam, but overall it is a highly practical book, and I can imagine it being insightful and useful for many. It stands nicely between Cialdini's Pre-suasion and Klotz's Subtract.
June 9, 2023
Solid book, but hardly original. Same ideas presented by Joseph Grenny et. al. in Influencer. Honestly, Grenny does it better and packs more insight per printed line. The case studies presented in this book are many familiar ones you’ve heard before and maybe one or two others that were new. A fine book, but many superior ones exist.
August 16, 2025
Found the content of the book insightful, but in my opinion, the narration of the audiobook version was robotic and flat.
Would consider getting the book to read it again and make notes on insights.
Would consider getting the book to read it again and make notes on insights.
June 14, 2023
Fascinating research on approaches to innovation. I was particularly interested in the role ethnography played in identifying and reducing friction. I was not disappointed.
December 25, 2021
Very interesting reading
The book covers Fuel/Friction definitions and ways to address them. In many companies I have worked for, the Fuel strategy has been the norm, many times with expensive and frustrating results. The " we know better" attitude is common and problematic. The book provided evidence on why it happens and how to overcome it.
The book covers Fuel/Friction definitions and ways to address them. In many companies I have worked for, the Fuel strategy has been the norm, many times with expensive and frustrating results. The " we know better" attitude is common and problematic. The book provided evidence on why it happens and how to overcome it.
January 9, 2023
Invert, always invert.
The book reminded me of this bit of wisdom from German mathematician Carl Jacobi.
Often, when we want to influence other people and create change within an organization, we believe that heightening the appeal of the idea is the most effective way to go about doing this. For example, if we’re trying to persuade someone to quit smoking, we might attempt to do this by providing them with more evidence that this habit will eventually lead to lung cancer. Clearly that won’t work, just like how providing more evidence seldom convinced people to wear masks during COVID.
The book’s main point is that although fuel is important to initiate change, more often that not, it is actually the “friction” that is stopping people from taking action. So for the COVID example, it’s not that people don’t believe that masks work (although some don’t); it was that they felt like their freedom was being taken away from them. So the more that the media told them that they were stupid or inconsiderate for not wearing masks, the more obstinate they were to changing their behavior.
The book goes over 4 key sources of friction and how to overcome them. At the end, the author gives some case studies to show how solving for these friction points motivated change.
Overall, the book was concise and I learned a few things from it. Would recommend
The book reminded me of this bit of wisdom from German mathematician Carl Jacobi.
Often, when we want to influence other people and create change within an organization, we believe that heightening the appeal of the idea is the most effective way to go about doing this. For example, if we’re trying to persuade someone to quit smoking, we might attempt to do this by providing them with more evidence that this habit will eventually lead to lung cancer. Clearly that won’t work, just like how providing more evidence seldom convinced people to wear masks during COVID.
The book’s main point is that although fuel is important to initiate change, more often that not, it is actually the “friction” that is stopping people from taking action. So for the COVID example, it’s not that people don’t believe that masks work (although some don’t); it was that they felt like their freedom was being taken away from them. So the more that the media told them that they were stupid or inconsiderate for not wearing masks, the more obstinate they were to changing their behavior.
The book goes over 4 key sources of friction and how to overcome them. At the end, the author gives some case studies to show how solving for these friction points motivated change.
Overall, the book was concise and I learned a few things from it. Would recommend
November 19, 2021
Good book pointing out that more than adding fuel to our efforts to induce change, e.g. by adding more arguments, we should be removing frictions instead, and then explaining how to do it. Applies not just to business life but also personal life, e.g. I found out that when I was trying to persuade some anti-vaxx in-laws to vaccinate, I basically went about it all wrong and probably made them even more entrenched in their views. That was one area where I would have liked more guidance or stories on how to do it right, but it felt pretty hard to extrapolate from their examples there.
November 23, 2021
An insightful look at why it is often more important to overcome resistance to a new idea than it is to try to convince someone that the idea is worthy. The authors call this emphasizing overcoming friction instead of focusing on fuel.
The final two chapters are my favorite. The last one is three case studies that show how to apply what they reveal in the book. The penultimate chapter is about how to help others to persuade themselves on the merit of your offering. This idea alone is worth the cost of the book!
The final two chapters are my favorite. The last one is three case studies that show how to apply what they reveal in the book. The penultimate chapter is about how to help others to persuade themselves on the merit of your offering. This idea alone is worth the cost of the book!
July 9, 2022
One of the striking features of this book is that the authors provide illustrations of examples how consumers in the very recent past(for instance during Covid) have reacted to new innovation of products in marketplace. This is very relatable to some of the products in IT field I have personally worked on in the software industry. There is a entire psychology of consumer that plays in customers mind that the authors have brilliantly touched upon and talks of innovative ways to mitigate any sort of reactance towards it.
January 3, 2025
My favorite book so far! It tackles different frameworks and real-life examples of how innovation happens and why it sometimes doesn’t. It's about identifying frictions when executing something.
I also love that this book was recently published (2021), providing examples that are very current. It includes some of the most niche laboratory examples, but they make sense. I still return to this book whenever I feel like executing an idea; it’s like a pre-execution guide for me, helping me navigate how to bring an idea to life by exploring the Whys, Hows, and Whats of it.
I also love that this book was recently published (2021), providing examples that are very current. It includes some of the most niche laboratory examples, but they make sense. I still return to this book whenever I feel like executing an idea; it’s like a pre-execution guide for me, helping me navigate how to bring an idea to life by exploring the Whys, Hows, and Whats of it.
November 15, 2021
There are some really interesting and well thought out ideas here, and having heard the author on some podcasts, that's what I expected. Business books are a tough genre to score highly on writing, and it's a rare few that can include sufficient drama or novelty to really nail it. This book has well communicated and interesting ideas, but loses points for lacking drama, and for recycling too many well known anecdotes, studies and tropes from other books in the behavioral economics domain.
January 2, 2022
Great concept - rather than talk about the features and benefits of a product or new process, we need to overcome the 4 categories of friction that make adoption more difficult.
The case studies at the end give some good examples, but I wish they would have used this (and the scorecard they first introduce in the last chapter!) throughout the book. They lay out the theory well, but the connections to practice could have been more clear.
The case studies at the end give some good examples, but I wish they would have used this (and the scorecard they first introduce in the last chapter!) throughout the book. They lay out the theory well, but the connections to practice could have been more clear.
January 26, 2024
Solid read! This book offers a refreshing perspective on the importance of addressing friction, as much as fueling motivation to get an idea from concept to launch. As a product manager working for a large company, the book's concise explanations, practical strategies and case studies have helped me navigate the complexities of human behavior, and getting to a "yes" from a "no". A recommended addition to any product leader's library.
June 12, 2025
Really worthwhile read for anyone in leadership. This book talks about how selling an idea often doesn't require more fuel (for instance, reiterating the idea's positive attributes), but rather dealing with the friction. There are four types of frictions, and they are all explained with excellent examples. I learned a lot reading this and will definitely use what I learned in both my professional and personal life.
March 12, 2023
I really enjoyed this one, from the opening bullet analogy straight through the case studies at the end. I love books that have wisdom that is counter-intuitive, and this book is one of them. Plus, it's told in a conversational, sometimes even humorous way. Taking lots of valuable insight from this one.
March 5, 2024
Friction. The idea of eliminating friction to smooth things out is such an interesting idea. This book was really thought provoking and provided so many practical examples of when friction has been eliminated in ways that were truly innovative. I listend to this book rather quickly, so I may need to re-read/listen to better absorb the concepts. But overall, I really enjoyed this!
October 21, 2025
The easiest recommendation ever: read this to think completely different about how to solve any problem you’re facing in business or otherwise. Once you read it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t see it this way before. That’s the power of this well-written, story rich book — it spells out the common sense no one has but everyone could use to ask better questions and solve problems faster
December 26, 2021
Good framework for thinking about leading change. Lots of nice examples, less systematic evidence -- as a nerdy academic reader, I would have loved to see far more footnotes. But well-written, insightful, and enjoyable
April 14, 2022
Quick, insightful, and informative. My only complaint is about the examples in the Overcoming Reactance chapter. I understand why the examples which are used were chosen, but more industry-focused examples would facilitate stronger reader connection.
April 17, 2023
Very interesting read I got some good pointers from it to use in my work now that I'm doing more marketing promotion. But I also found the psychology interesting just to understand people a little bit better
June 15, 2023
This book regurgitates a lot of writing in behavioural economics with examples that are also old.
Why 4 stars you ask:
It brings everything in one book replete with examples and 3 case studies
Good primer
Why 4 stars you ask:
It brings everything in one book replete with examples and 3 case studies
Good primer
February 3, 2024
A must read for people wanting to influence change, innovation, or growth. It looks at why great ideas are resisted and why people resist better options. Much of the advise is the opposite of common leadership advise like assuming everything is just a vision problem or a motivation problem.
December 18, 2024
After attending lectures from the co-author (Loran), I had to read this book. I am thoroughly enjoying the material. It is extremely well thought out. The lessons within these chapters are worth every hour spent reading.
July 28, 2025
ამ პერიოდის განმავლობაში ყველაზე მნიშვნელოვანი წიგნია, რაც წამიკითხავს. სწორი და მარტივი მაგალითებია მოყვანილი, სადაც კარგად ჩანს დიზაინის კომუნიკაციის ძალა. მნიშვნელოვანი ნამუშევარია, რომელიც ყოველდღიურობაში დასანერგია. კარგი მაგალითია დიზაინის ფიქრის მიმართულებით ცოდნის გაღრმავებაში.
October 25, 2021
Wonderful book about how to enact change. Provides practical steps about how to deal with the friction against new ideas.
February 16, 2022
Watch a detailed review along with my favorite ideas and takeaways at:
https://youtu.be/tryyU5nw08c
https://youtu.be/tryyU5nw08c
May 5, 2022
The best business book I’ve read
January 11, 2023
I was going to rate this a 4 but then asked myself “why not a 5?” 😉… I couldn’t answer so I decided a 5 it is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews