Like drag on a bullet, The Four Frictions push back against the ideas and initiatives we want to bring into the world. This is a big reason why so many indisputably good ideas never materialize.

Rather than focus on Friction, we tend to focus on Fuel - the big idea or change we want to bring into the world.

The four Frictions are:

1. Inertia The powerful desire to stick with what we know, despite the limitations. Inertia explains why, when attempting to change behavior, you should always give people multiple options.

2. Effort The energy (real and perceived) needed to make change happen.

3. Emotion The unintended negative emotions created by the very change we seek to make.

4. Reactance The impulse to resist being changed. Reactance reveals why Americans waged war against seatbelts in the 1980s, for example.

Despite their power and influence, Frictions are difficult to spot and are therefore easily overlooked. This is the tricky thing about Frictions. They exert considerable drag on our ideas, but they often go unseen.

References:

1. https://ideas.ted.com/friction-theory-new-ideas/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ted_talks_daily_newsletter&utm_campaign=daily&user_email_address=7c5d211a8ad4d877eab0b77a42e7d138

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