Hello everyone.
I’m Kenneth Matos, an organisational psychologist at HiBob who believes in creating workplaces that succeed through using technology to support human creativity and wellbeing. I’m joining the It’s Not the Work team this week to share ideas HR leaders can use to build cultures where humans (and the systems around them) actually work.
Why this now
AI spins out drafts and decisions in seconds, often faster than teams can consume, verify, or act. That’s our first taste of too little friction: overflowing queues, half-read docs, and a sense that everything is urgent but nothing is finished.
Friction = a flow regulator, not a villain
When one step speeds up and the rest don’t, work piles up. That’s the plain-English lesson from queuing basics: if more enters than you can finish, cycle time rises. Small, designed friction, such as clear gates, paced handoffs, and limits on in-progress work keeps each stage absorbable.
Humans have limits (and that’s okay)
Most of us can juggle only 3–5 things at once. Light friction including short checklists, staged steps or a brief “waiting room” before submission serve to reduce cognitive overload and error.
Hiring proves “easier” isn’t always better
One-click apply feels efficient…until you’re drowning in look-alike candidates. A touch of friction turns volume into signal and improves fairness. Consider adding a meaningful screen, a tiny work sample, a brief “why this job?”
Speed has a sweet spot
More speed helps…until it hurts. Aim for the middle range where throughput and quality move together. Pair metrics to stay honest: time-to-offer and first-year success; tickets closed and reopen rate; assets shipped and adoption.
Humans + AI need gentle “speed bumps”
AI accelerates creation; people need a beat to check, adjust, and own the result. Add tiny pauses: show confidence levels, require a one-sentence rationale, auto-route low-confidence cases to a human. You still move fast, just with a hand on the wheel.
Field guide: keep, remove, right-size
Keep friction where it protects quality/fairness: final approvals, high-impact hires, comp changes, policy exceptions.
Keep friction that smooths flow: intake caps, limits on items in progress, staged releases.
Remove friction that blocks access or equity: duplicative fields, unclear steps, legacy forms.
Right-size for AI: verify machine outputs lightly; automate true busywork.
One practice to start
Run a quarterly friction check: map steps, time them, mark the pain, then decide if you should keep, trim, or redesign that practice.
The takeaway
Friction isn’t the enemy of efficiency; it’s the pressure valve that keeps work humane and results reliable. Don’t wipe it out—tune it.
Keep just enough grit in the gears to protect focus, fairness, and flow.
