A while back, I mentioned one of the best books I’ve read in 2025, The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder. Written by Stanford professors Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao, it is a well-documented exploration of how the most effective leaders are ridding their organizations of the “sand-in-the-gears” rules and practices that kill productivity and burn people out.
I spend lots of time visiting with managers and team leaders who complain of the endless time and energy drags throughout their systems. While many appear necessary at first glance, closer examination reveals them to be more of a nuisance than anything else.
Here’s an example from recent experience. I am a long-time member of a professional association. They have a policy that when members reach age 70, their annual dues are reduced by 50%. I am now that ripe-old age. (Of course, 70 is the new 50.) But the policy also states that I may not conduct any more than 13 professional engagements if I am to receive the discount. Why 13? What was the reasoning for this particular limit? Besides, how would they enforce this requirement without auditing my books, which they have not right to do?
Does your organization have policies and practices like this that a reasonable person would question? Is so, what is the mental drain caused by these unenforceable policies? The managers I talk to also know that all of this can be a major cause of employee turnover and quiet quitting. According to the Society for Human Resources Management’s 2024 State of Global Workplace Culture, stressed employees are three times more likely to leave their jobs than their engaged counterparts. Think of the cost of that alone.
But the question they all have is “Where do I begin to make the right things easier and the wrong things harder?” Admittedly, it is a tall order if you consider it all at once. Besides, who’s got the time to reorder organizational practices when you can barely keep up with what’s on your plate already?
There is a tired old joke that fits here perfectly. “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” So what does that mean in this context? Simply this – there are probably lots of rules, processes, practices, procedures and policies that can be adjusted or even eliminated within your organization. Doing so will not disrupt daily function. In fact, doing so will reduce the friction in getting things done. Less friction equals less stress, even if it’s just little bit. But if you eliminate ten of these little frictions, you’ll begin to see stress reduction in those around you.
Want to know what these sources of friction are? Ask. You probably know some of them. But those responsible for daily execution know them intimately. They may be hesitant at first to bring up practices they perceive might be sacred cows. So you will need to open the door and make it safe to mention these nuisances. It’s kind of like what I face when people are hesitant to ask questions during a presentation until the first hand goes up and breaks the ice.
I have a friend named Andre who spent 40 years running hotels. He encouraged employees to question policies and practices they thought were a drain or disruption to daily execution. The only parameter he placed on these suggestions was that the person making the suggestion had to find the current policy in the operations manual, make a copy of it and be prepared to explain how his or her idea would be better. He’s said he was amazed at some of the helpful suggestions mentioned. When you’re the manager, it is easy to become separated from the unnecessary day-to-day obstacles the front-line faces. You need their eyes and ears. When they know you’re invested in making their lives easier, some of the stress they feel will evaporate.
What do you do to eliminate or modify the sand-in-the-gears policies and practices that add stress to your work environment? We’d all like to know. Put them in the comments below. By the way, if you know of a group that needs to hear a message like this with all the practical tactics I’ve learned over 30 years, send an email to bobw@commonsenseenterprises.net. I’d love to connect.