Useful metaphors: static and dynamic friction

When two surfaces are touching and you move one of them while holding the other steady, there’s resistance. That’s friction.

When you start doing this from both touching surfaces being at rest, there’s more resistance at first. That’s static friction, or stiction.

Once you’ve started the motion, there’s still some resistance, but it’s lesser. That’s dynamic friction.

You can try this yourself: slide a book across a smooth surface, and feel how the resistance falls once it starts moving—or start an “experiment” of requiring a written agenda for every meeting your team has, and feel how the resistance falls after it’s in motion.

I’m describing Newtonian physics here—and I’m also describing human behavior. New rituals, new habits, changes in communications and leadership styles—all these things take way more effort to get moving at first than they do to sustain. Knowing this in advance can let you make smarter decisions, like not trying to make too many of these changes at once.