The AI revolution has dramatically raised the stakes for digital transformation, and organizations are racing to implement AI-enhanced solutions at unprecedented speed and scale. With global AI spending projected to reach $632 billion by 2028 ([IDC, 2024], what was once a competitive advantage is now an existential imperative.

Yet beneath this technological gold rush lurks an uncomfortable truth: according to McKinsey, a staggering 70% of digital transformations still fail to meet their objectives, with only 16% successfully improving performance and equipping organizations for long-term success [McKinsey, 2018]. Boston Consulting Group similarly reports that 70% of digital transformations fall short of their targets– i.e. meeting or exceeding expectations on the desired results and creating sustainable changer [BCG, 2023].

Why such consistent failure? Because we’re focusing on the wrong thing.

The Elephant in the Digital Room

While organizations obsess over implementing new technologies, they’re overlooking what Gartner calls “digital friction”, This is the combination of technical, process, and organizational barriers that actually make work more difficult and time-consuming than it should be. Gartner research highlights that this friction consumes up to 30% of employees’ productive time, as they waste a sizeable chunk of their day context switching, app hoping, and even worse, searching and reviewing the wrong information [Gartner, 2020].

ZapierData’s 2021 Data Report confirms these findings, stating that a shocking 90% of knowledge workers say that they spend up to five hours a day checking messenger apps each day. Imagine what that variable would look like today.

Let’s be brutally honest: giving employees six different collaboration tools doesn’t make them more productive – it drowns them in notification hell. Implementing an enterprise-wide CRM doesn’t improve customer relationships if your teams need 15 clicks to find basic customer information.

Digital friction isn’t just an IT problem; it’s a leadership blind spot with terrible consequences.

Five Killers of Digital Transformation

Digital friction manifests in predictable patterns that silently erode productivity:

• Technology Sprawl: Organizations implement solutions in silos, creating digital labyrinths where employees waste hours jumping between disconnected systems.
• Process Fragmentation: Digital workflows break across departmental boundaries, forcing employees to become human “middleware” translating between systems.
• Interface Complexity: Systems designed for IT professionals rather than everyday users create cognitive overload and resistance.
• Data Swamps: Information is duplicated, contradictory, outdated, or buried so deep that finding what you need becomes a treasure hunt.
• Communication Overload: The very tools meant to connect us (e.g. Slack, Intranets and the like) create constant interruptions, fragmenting attention and deep work.

Leading Digital Change From Friction to Flow

Traditional change management approaches with their emphasis on communication plans, training modules, and adoption metrics completely miss the point. They focus on getting people to adapt to flawed systems rather than creating systems that adapt to people.

The path forward requires a fundamental shift in thinking. At its core, reducing digital friction is about creating environments where employees can achieve a state of flow—that highly productive mental state where work feels effortless and purposeful. This means moving beyond measuring success by implementation milestones and instead focusing on how technology enhances human experience.

The most impactful approach begins with systematically mapping your digital ecosystem through the eyes of your employees. Where do they struggle? Where do they waste time? Where does technology help rather than hinder? By elevating these friction points from individual frustrations to strategic priorities, organizations can make targeted improvements that yield exponential productivity gains.

The organizations that thrive won’t be those with the most advanced technology stacks, but those that create digital environments where employees can do their best work without fighting against the very tools meant to help them.

Time to Rethink Your Approach

Is your digital transformation creating more friction than function? Are your employees working harder just to keep up with your new systems rather than using them to work smarter?

If you’re ready to rethink your approach to technology change – to focus on reducing friction rather than just driving adoption – let’s talk.

Book a free Digital Friction Audit where we’ll identify the hidden barriers slowing down your transformation and develop a practical roadmap to eliminate them.

Because true digital transformation isn’t about changing your technology. It’s about changing how your technology changes work.