Leadership
From theory to practice
Aerocept is a behavioral design agency founded and led by Loran Nordgren, a Professor at the Kellogg School of Management and one of the architects of Friction Theory. He works with a small team of behavioral designers trained in the methodology of mapping and removing the frictions that oppose breakthrough ideas.
What is Friction Theory?
Friction Theory is a framework to help companies bring new ideas into the world.
Principle 1: People Think in Fuel
Most people assume that the best way to convince people to embrace change is to heighten the appeal of the idea itself. We instinctively believe that if we add enough value, people will say “yes.” We refer to this habit of the mind as a “Fuel-based mindset.” Fuel is what ignites our desire to change. By focusing on Fuel to enhance attraction, innovators neglect the other half of the equation – the psychological Frictions that oppose change.
Principle 2: The Four Frictions
There are four principal frictions that operate against change:
Intertia
The powerful desire to stick with what we know, despite the limitations.
Effort
The energy needed to make change happen.
Emotion
The unintended negative emotions produced by new ideas.
Reactance
The impulse to push back against the pressure to change.
Principle 3: Frictions are difficult to Detect
Despite their power and influence, frictions are difficult to spot and are therefore easily overlooked. This is the tricky thing about the four frictions. They exert considerable drag on our ideas, but they often go unseen.
Principle 4: Friction is an Untapped Resource
There are two ways to lead people to embrace change. You can add fuel to the idea or you can remove the frictions that obstruct progress. Both create value. But people naturally fixate on fuel, which means Fuel quickly becomes an over-exploited resource. Friction can be just as powerful. But people don’t think in terms of friction, so it tends to be an untapped resource. Therefore, there is often greater opportunity to create value by removing friction than by adding fuel.
Learn more about Friction Theory
The WSJ best-selling book, The Human Element: Overcoming the resistance that awaits new ideas provides a deep dive into Friction Theory.
Book Website
Our Approach
Friction Mapping
Aerocept is a company born out of Friction Theory (Nordgren & Schonthal, 2021). Like gravity and wind resistance, the frictions that oppose innovation are powerful but unseen forces. Finding friction requires empathy. It requires understanding your audience and seeing the world from their perspective.
The heart of our approach is Friction Mapping. Friction Mapping is the process our team uses to uncover the hidden psychological forces operating against innovative ideas. We use a variety of ethnographic methods – from interviews to observing people in the wild – to map the frictions that reside within the heart of all breakthrough ideas.
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Our Mission
Helping Ideas Take Flight
Aerocept helps companies succeed by identifying and removing the friction that resides within all breakthrough ideas. Removing friction makes ideas aerodynamic, and aerodynamic ideas take flight. Is your idea Aerodynamic?
