Early this year, an article in The Cut caught fire on the internet. The author of the viral essay, Kathryn Jezer-Morton, made a compelling argument that this is the year we should focus on Friction-Maxxing. Friction-Maxxing, a wordplay offshoot of the term looksmaxxing (which was a cultural phenomenon making the online rounds beginning in the early 2010s), borrows the idea of ‘maxxing’ in an all-in, full court press of activities to achieve extreme results. The cheeky 2026 adjustment? We should add as much friction into our daily lives as possible to build resilience, character, and focus.
The idea of friction inside organizations isn’t as fresh as Friction-Maxxing, but deserves a moment in the sun while we’re considering where and why we might intentionally add difficulty to our lives. While we spend an inordinate amount of time creating efficiencies, operating procedures and strategies, we don’t always consider the benefits of intentional friction. It’s rare for a client to come to us and say, we just want this process to take more time and be more difficult.
Creating friction isn’t a trend; it’s a critical aspect for consideration when creating or auditing different parts of an organization. There is a benefit in moving quickly, making mistakes and failing fast - all of which we see in commonplace workplace nomenclature. There is also a benefit to advocating for quality, whether that is building a product correctly, auditing and adjusting a tech stack, or going to market with a new offering. The rigor and discipline of a proper, well-designed project plan and its careful and deliberate execution may feel a little boring against moving fast and breaking things, but in this case the fundamentals of proper execution ring true.
If Friction-Maxxing is suggesting that we slow down to ensure quality of life, we could argue that a slowing down to ensure quality of a work product or deliverable could likely benefit organizations as well. This Forbes article on workplace friction in 2026 states that the more we optimize for speed, the more we stop noticing mistakes. This can be a costly miscalculation for organizations. Additionally, when we add undue pressure to a process that requires previously aforementioned organizational discipline and care, we undermine the outcome of the process. We might be moving fast and breaking things, but I’ve often wondered: who is cleaning up the mess once things are broken?
In the same way intentional friction can be a win for organizations, unintentional friction can clog workflows, add unnecessary bureaucracy, and create endless frustration for employees and stakeholders. Ask anyone who has failed to fill in a complex online form, struggled to spot all the bicycles in a RECAPTCHA series of photos, or stayed on the phone for hours waiting to talk to a human. Unnoticed or unadjusted friction could look like a long series of approvals are required for a simple request, or a lack of flexibility for smaller decision making and iterating without long term organizational consequences. Examining these processes is the beginning of finding the sweet spot of organizational friction.
Finding proper friction is like the Goldilocks of organizational processes. Not too much, not too little, just the right amount. Contemplate the benefit of slow, deliberate movements. Identify the scourge of unnecessary steps. Reviewing a business process, a tech stack, a customer journey, anything that could be intentionally broken down into smaller steps to consider where the chafing is taking place, and if it’s truly useful or not.
Strategic Friction-Maxxing could benefit organizations for those courageous enough to take stock of the friction in their business. While individually we may stand to gain focus, build character and resiliency, there is an opportunity for organizations to gain clarity on where friction lives and if it truly benefits them or not the source and the benefits of friction. We’re always thinking about how to help organizations become more competitive and move forward from a position of strength. Finding precise friction is one of the ways we move forward deliberately. Building character and resiliency in the process? That’s just gravy.
Holly is a seasoned marketing, digital and business strategist with 20 years of experience. With strong roots in the sports industry and business, she has helped many organizations increase their ability to leverage digital strategies and technology to greatly improve customer/fan experience and operational efficiency.
She has worked with notable clients such as the Tour de France, IRONMAN, lululemon, Backroads, and United Way, as well as with national and international sports federations.Holly also has deep roots and experience helping founders with their go-to-market plans and preparing to scale. She has worked with startups in the Cannabis, Psilocybin, CPG and tech industries working on growth, customer experience and business planning.
Holly sits on the board of Biathlon Alberta as the PR and Marketing lead. She also holds a BPE from the University of Alberta in Sport Management.
Sign-up here and we'll send you our latest news, insights and blogs as they are published.
