Outspoken speaker and award-winning author Soon Yu's new book, 'Friction' releases today
/In a world where we attempt to automate, simplify, and streamline our lives—what would happen if we tried to add a little more friction, instead? In his latest book co-authored with Dave Birss, Friction: Adding Value by Making People Work for It, Soon proposes just that —let’s think about adding some friction back into our lives.
Soon Yu is an international speaker, award-winning author, and expert on innovation, branding, design, and entrepreneurship who has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine and New York Times. In his talks, Soon shares with audiences the often overlooked benefit of friction, pointing out that good friction is essential to induce the much-needed happy chemicals like Adrenaline, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins (A DOSE). Good friction leads to creating Exclusivity, Meaning, Belonging, Rapport, Assurance, Competence, and Engagement (EMBRACE). Soon shares how successful companies are developing new insights into the role of good friction in the design of meaningful brand experiences.
Friction explains the physical, mental and emotional benefits that a little bit of extra work can offer us and how businesses can add friction to benefit both them, their customers, and even their team members.
“Friction requires effort. Effort creates meaning.” —Soon Yu
New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and podcast host Adam Grant said Friction has the power to make us reevaluate the way we see difficulty and effort: “This engrossing book shattered my assumption that the hallmark of a great product or service is making things as easy as possible. If you think eliminating effort is the key to good design, get ready to think again.”
Expanding on this concept and tapping into the true power of working through challenges, in a recent Forbes article, Soon writes: “We agree that most obstructions, glitches, redundancies, and irritants should be removed from a process. These are the things that lead to bad customer experience and lost business. But not all friction is harmful. Some of it can make the experience better. Some of it will lead to more repeat business. Some of it will make your products more desirable.”
Drawing from his expertise and key themes in Friction, in his talks Soon outlines not only the benefits of friction— including creating much needed happy chemicals like Adrenaline, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins (A DOSE), but also:
How and when to use friction to your advantage personally and in the workplace
The seven virtues of good friction: Exclusivity, Meaning, Belonging, Rapport, Assurance, Competence, and Engagement (EMBRACE)
The dangers of frictionless: Why we’ve gone too far with creating frictionless experiences
Not all friction is created equal: The difference between bad friction (which should be eliminated) and good friction (which should be nurtured and enhanced)
How, when businesses EMBRACE A DOSE of “good” friction that requires added effort from their customers and employees, they can create more meaningful experiences and relationships that lead to more loyal customers and happier employees
Good friction as a remedy for The Great Resignation: How good friction, which adds more work or additional responsibilities, can create a greater sense of engagement for employees
Real-life examples of the businesses and brands doing friction right— and the ones getting it wrong.
Happy release day to Friction! This essential guide to elevating your brand and your team is available everywhere books are sold. You can get your copy and read more about Soon’s latest release here.
READ: “Adding Value by Making Your Customers, Patients, and Staff Work for It,” CEO World
LISTEN: “Adding friction can heighten customer value,” Audible Podcasts
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Soon Yu is available to book as a speaker or panelist for live and virtual events now. For more information, click here.
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