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Framework · FlowState 369
The Four Friction Types
Coined by Dr. J Fraser, Ed.D.
The Four Friction Types name the four ways work gets stuck. Process friction: can they do the thing? Decision friction: can they choose? Alignment friction: does it match what they need? Implementation friction: can they act on the decision? The four types break down into nineteen severity-weighted dimensions, and the resulting score falls into one of four named bands: Friction Emergency, Friction-Locked, Functional with Drag, and Flow State.
The four types
- Process friction
- can they do the thing?
- Decision friction
- can they choose?
- Alignment friction
- does it match what they need?
- Implementation friction
- can they act on the decision?
Where it lives on the platform
- The free friction check on the FlowState home page
- The FlowState Index, which scores an organization into the four bands from Friction Emergency to Flow State
- The Digital Friction Evaluator, which scores digital tools across the nineteen dimensions
The method behind this term is published in full on the research methodology page. To bring it into your organization, work with Dr. J Fraser.