logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
36m 11s

Friction 101: How to make the right thin...

TED
About this episode
Do you feel like you’re hitting a wall at work? This week, Anne and Frances are joined by Master Fixers Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao. Bob and Huggy are professors at Stanford University and authors of “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder”. Together, the four discuss how anyone can eliminate the obstacles to doing their best work—and create constraints that make work even better.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jul 7
The AI revolution is underhyped | from TED Talks Daily
The arrival of non-human intelligence is a very big deal, says former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt. In a wide-ranging interview with technologist Bilawal Sidhu, Schmidt makes the case that AI is wildly underhyped, as near-constant breakthroughs give rise to systems capabl ... Show More
27m 24s
Jun 30
How to change careers and reinvent yourself (w/ Dawn Burrell) | from How to Be a Better Human
Dawn Burrell is a celebrated long jumper, an Olympic athlete, and a chef’s whose cooking made her a semifinalist for a James Beard Award — and these are just a sampling of her many accolades. In this episode, Dawn talks about how she navigated the career shift from athlete to che ... Show More
40m 31s
Jun 23
Unsolicited Advice: How to get your mojo back at work
Are you feeling overwhelmed, uninspired, or burned out at work? In this special Unsolicited Advice episode, Anne and Frances are getting ready for summer by tackling the importance of rest and the power of intention. They offer unexpected tips and tricks for recovering from const ... Show More
35m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
How to Reduce the Friction that Hurts You — and Harness the Friction that Helps
Organizations too often subject their employees and customers to unnecessary friction that creates inefficiency and causes frustration. But, in some situations, friction can be a positive force, spurring more innovation and better decision-making. So how do you reduce the bad kin ... Show More
29m 28s
Apr 2024
Ep440 - Bob Sutton & Huggy Rao | The Friction Project
Professors Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao visit Google to discuss their book “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder.” This book is a useful guide to eliminating the forces that make it harder, more complicated, or downright imp ... Show More
32m 38s
Feb 2024
131. Friction Fixing: How to Use Obstacles to Your Advantage
Friction — that’s Professor Huggy Rao’s metaphor for the forces that hamper workplace efficiency. But as he says, some friction can be helpful — if you know how to use it.In his book, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder ... Show More
24m 16s
Apr 2024
385. Defeating Workplace Friction w/ Huggy Rao
In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Huggy Rao, a distinguished professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, shares profound insights on the concept of workplace friction and its impact on organizational dynamics. Huggy's extensive research and expertise in o ... Show More
51m 47s
Mar 2024
#166: Michael Bungay Stanier—Practical Tools for Handling Workplace Conflicts
When we ignore conflicts in the workplace, it can actually make things worse. It can make people less interested in their jobs, cause good employees to leave, and ultimately impact the bottom line of your business. Sweeping conflicts under the rug doesn’t make them disappear. It ... Show More
40m 18s
Jul 2020
14. Be Better At Work: How to Communicate Better With Coworkers and Employees
Most of the work we do requires coordinating and collaborating with others. But how can we ensure the benefits of working with others, while avoiding conflict that’s inherent to communicating within groups?In this episode, Matt Abrahams speaks with Bob Sutton, Professor of Manage ... Show More
23m 54s
Oct 2019
Heavy Workloads
Do you or your team have way too much to do? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Amy Jen Su, an executive coach and the author of The Leader You Want to Be. They talk through what to do when you’re struggling to get things done at a new job, a coworker is stress ... Show More
34m 16s
Mar 2020
Subversive Employees
Do you have an employee working against you? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Adrian Gostick, an executive coach and the coauthor of Leading with Gratitude. They talk through what to do when your direct report is creating problems only to fix them, one team m ... Show More
32m 38s
Jan 2024
How To Use Friction To Draw People In or Push Them Away | Bob Sutton
In today’s episode, we tackle friction with Bob Sutton. Bob is an organizational psychologist and professor at Stanford, a New York Times bestselling author, and is here with us to discuss his upcoming book, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and ... Show More
53m 58s
Jul 2020
Frustrated Engineers
As an engineer, do you feel you carry a bigger burden at work? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Richard Sheridan, an engineer, CEO, and the author of Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love. They talk through what to do when you want to influence deci ... Show More
31m 47s