To Succeed, Innovative Ideas Must Overcome These ‘4 Frictions’

The answer may seem easy: gunpowder. But there’s more to it than that. The gunpowder fuels the explosion that propels the bullet forward. But, in order to hit its target, the bullet needs to be aerodynamic to reduce the friction generated by wind resistance. Kellogg professors Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal, see this as the perfect analogy for how innovations do, or do not, hit their targets. There’s the fuel of the new product or idea—the compelling features meant to draw people in—but there are also frictions to be considered—the sticking points that make people less likely to adopt something new. Yet, they say, most innovators think only about fuel and ignore friction.