Managing Friction-Fixing Fatigue

Pushkala Subramanian is something of a superstar in the friction-fixing world. Her story of leading a profoundly successful simplification initiative at AstraZeneca is a major anecdote in Huggy Rao and Bob Sutton’s book The Friction Project. Rao and Sutton note how Pushkala’s Center for Simplification Excellence “launched the ‘million-hour challenge’ to give back thirty minutes a week to each employee -- to free up time for clinical trials and serving patients. By mid-2017, the center calculated that AstraZeneca’s sixty thousand employees had saved over two million hours in less than two years.” (pg. 141).

It’s easy to hear of such success and wonder if Pushkala is not just a superstar, but a superhero, powered by some endless supply of energy. Anyone who has tried friction-fixing, especially in a large organization, knows that even the smallest change often takes tremendous amounts of effort. While friction-fixing can be invigorating and exciting, it can also just be plain exhausting. In a recent conversation with the Friction Fixers team, Pushkala didn’t reveal a magic recipe for unlimited energy, but rather emphasized the very human fatigue that came along with her success in fixing friction. In her words, the work “took a toll on me and my team.” Pushkala demonstrated that while fatigue is a normal and expected part of friction-fixing, it can be effectively managed with careful planning and thoughtful awareness. 

Ignite a mindset. 

When the leadership of AstraZeneca made the decision to disband the Center for Simplification Excellence after two years, Pushkala and her team were exhausted. The closure of the center did not mean failure, though, but success: they had done a good job and could pass the torch to the rest of the company. Pushkala observed that “friction fixing is a mindset. . . at some point it has to be in the fabric of the organization.” Pushkala knew she needed an exceptional team to get the ball rolling, but if they had continued to provide all the impetus for friction fixing at AstraZeneca, friction fixing would not have become a company-wide mindset and the responsibility of every employee. Pushkala and her team put forth an intense effort that took a lot out of them, but their capacity building meant they did not have to maintain that effort indefinitely.

Plan for your team’s future.  

As the Center for Simplification Excellence was not a permanent fixture of AstraZeneca, Pushkala considered it her responsibility to make sure the members of her team had an “even better place to go in the organization” after the transformation was over. She could see how her team had grown and “developed new muscles” through their transformation roles, but she needed to share that story with other people at the company. “I went that extra mile, talked to the managers who gave me the fixers in the first place and really marketed what these guys have done,” she said. Pushkala noted how being a friction-fixer can make you really popular with some and less popular with others, yet she protected and advocated for her people. This care and planning undoubtedly gave her team a feeling of security and strength even in the midst of fatigue.

Track your own energy.

Following her intensely productive years at AstraZeneca, Pushkala has found ways to care for herself and her future as well. Most recently, she has shifted into the entrepreneurial space, starting her own company called Hellowiz. Hellowiz connects highly experienced, recently retired professionals with companies and individuals who can benefit most from their wisdom. Although, in Pushkala’s words, “AstraZeneca is a fun and amazing place,” she needed the change of pace that Hellowiz has provided. “[Friction fixing at Hellowiz] takes a lot of energy, but I don’t feel exhausted,” she noted. “After giving so much energy to solving a problem, I am more energized to see what’s next.” Throughout the conversation with the Friction Fixers team, it was clear that Pushkala is guided by a strong awareness of her own energy, mindfully shifting gears in her career so that she can continue as a friction fixer for years to come.

As friction-fixers, we often can’t ignore or avoid the exhaustion that comes with countering organizational inertia, yet we can still make changes that are sustainable and healthy for us and our organizations. How have you managed you and your team’s energy in friction fixing? Please share your stories with us!

About Pushkala: Pushkala Subramanian is a passionate founder leveraging decades of experience across diverse corporate senior leadership roles in healthcare and technology to advance age-tech solutions for healthy and purposeful aging. Launched an innovative digital business to form a community of highly experienced professionals in retirement transition who offer their expertise to elevate businesses.  She is founder of HelloWiz and is a mentor at Alchemist Accelerator. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pushkala-s/