The Frictions That Leader May Face When Trying To Innovate

Innovation is one thing that must be done inside the business environment. We can survive on every level of threats, because we ever stop innovating. Many leaders and entrepreneurs are just focused on their “fuel” – how to make their idea more appealing and magnetic. Sometimes, they lose the focus to design the strategy to minimize the force against their ideas. If the leaders can predict what these frictions are, it is easier for them to minimize them and make their ideas executed successfully. Here are some frictions that a leader has to point out to overcome with.

The first friction is inertia. We better ask ourselves how this idea represents a significant change and compare it with our status quo. The scale of that change defines the amount of inertia in ideas. Most people will stick with something they know and tend to avoid adopting something new. The second, is the friction of effort. When it comes to the implementation of an idea, how will it cost? It’s not only about economic cost, but furthermore it requires the physical aspect to adopt new things. Another thing is, the leader must identify the amount of cognitive effort to figure out how to work with their ideas. 

The third friction is emotion. This is about a negative feeling of the idea that causes it to others. Sometimes in order to help the employee, the situation causes them anxiety or some kind of intimidation. So, the question is, how much our idea causes fear and intimidation? This is something the leader must have to take care about. Finally, the fourth friction is reactance. It means people’s resistance to being charged by others. The leader has to ensure how the employees feel about pressure on ideas exerted and how they feel about the changes that will occur as a result of their ideas.

We are having the reactance moment right now. For example, this is about the people who are resistant to wearing masks or get vaccinated. Sometimes, their resistance isn’t because of a lack of data. It’s because they feel like they’re losing control to make decisions for themselves. So, how do the leaders overcome the reactance? Now, the leaders have to take their employees into the personal and engaging conversations, involving them in designing the company's strategy of innovation. This is the way that leaders can persuade their employees by inviting them to persuade themselves. But, worry not, contact Telkomsel IoT Experts to start a new collaboration to face these friction, ensuring your innovation works well.