The Friction Project

 
　　兩位任教於史丹佛大學商管學院，專長組織行為學、組織心理學與管理科學的教授，繼前作《卓越，可以擴散》(Scaling Up Excellence)再度攜手合作，解析優秀領導者，該如何思考、行動，完善地扮演組織內「系統修復者」的角色。
 
　　「系統修復者」，負責檢視、調改組織內不友善的機制，移除拖垮效能的負面因子，減少團隊中過於繁瑣、不必要的「摩擦」(friction)，以停止內耗。協助組織和每一位成員，專注在真正重要的事情上，順利釋放量能，有效提升生產力。
 
　　書中寶貴精闢的案例分析，說明日常工作上，流程中看似無足輕重的小改變，就能產生意想不到的強大效果。例如：夏威夷太平洋衛生組織(Hawaii Pacific Health)，簡化了護理師每日幫病患換尿布的紀錄流程，排除不必要的摩擦後，每月成功省下數百小時的工作時數。更有趣的案例是，如何巧妙、適當地運用摩擦，以達到管理目的，例如：製藥大廠阿斯特捷利康(AstraZeneca)高層決策，公司內任一封收件者超過二十五人的電子郵件，在發信前必須經過額外步驟，善用摩擦，讓員工得以少瀏覽成千上萬封不必要的電郵。
 
　　本書亦提供了實用的工具，讀者可經由「幫助金字塔」(help pyramid)辨識出團隊中常見的負面摩擦因子，找出困擾的成因，進行合宜的改善修復措施，將知識轉化為行動！(文/博客來編譯)

　　The definitive guide to eliminating the forces that make it harder, more complicated, or downright impossible to get things done in organizations. Find out why Adam Grant says "If every leader took the ideas in this book seriously, the world would be a less miserable, more productive place."

　　Every organization is plagued by destructive friction. Yet some forms of friction are incredibly useful, and leaders who attempt to improve workplace efficiency often make things even worse. Drawing from seven years of hands-on research, The Friction Project by bestselling authors Robert I. Sutton and Huggy Rao teaches readers how to become “friction fixers.”

　　Sutton and Rao kick off the book by unpacking how skilled friction fixers think and act like trustees of others’ time. They provide friction forensics to help readers identify where to avert and repair bad organizational friction and where to maintain and inject good friction. Then their help pyramid shows how friction fixers do their work, from reframing friction troubles they can’t fix right now, so they feel less threatening, to designing and repairing organizations. The heart of the book digs into the causes and solutions for five of the most common and damaging friction troubles: oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast and frenzied people and teams.

　　Sound familiar? Sutton and Rao are here to help. They wrap things up with lessons for leading your own friction project, including linking little things to big things; the power of civility, caring, and love for propelling designs and repairs; and embracing the mess that is an inevitable part of the process (while still trying to clean it up).

　　Robert I. Sutton is an organizational psychologist and professor of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford Engineering School. He has given keynote speeches to more than 200 groups in 20 countries, and served on numerous scholarly editorial boards. Sutton’s work has been featured in the New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Atlantic, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and Washington Post. He is a frequent guest on various television and radio programs, and has written seven books and two edited volumes, including the bestsellers The No Asshole Rule; Good Boss, Bad Boss; and Scaling Up Excellence.

　　Huggy Rao is the Atholl McBean professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science, the Sociological Research Association, and the Academy of Management. He has written for Harvard Business Review, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Market Rebels and coauthor of the bestselling Scaling Up Excellence.