In his classic text On War, first published in 1832, the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz explores the complexities of large-scale military engagements. The book spends a whole chapter on the concept of “friction”—the accumulated difficulties of the battlefield that, as Clausewitz puts it, “distinguish real War from War on paper.” In other words, friction is the difference between a clear, well-conceived battle plan and the bloody, confusing reality of battle.

Though On War appeared nearly two decades ago, any modern leader, especially a CEO, intuitively understands what Clausewitz means by friction—all those unseen factors that derail our careful plans and brilliant strategies. Today, we often sum up the idea in a quote attributed to Clausewitz: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

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Two Types of Friction

CEOs will recognize the two chief types of friction that form part of the daily task of managing an organization: internal friction and external friction.

As Stephen Bungay explains in The Art of Action, internal friction describes the gap between planned actions and actual actions. It’s what happens when your product team plans to launch two new features but fails to do so—whether due to poor information transfer, tasks taking longer than expected, employees not understanding their part in the larger plan, or any of many other issues.

The other type—external friction—describes the gap between actions and outcomes. Here, the organization does do what it planned, but those actions don’t result in the projected outcome. So maybe the product team does launch those two new features, but users don’t adopt them at nearly the expected rate.

Overcoming Friction

So how do you overcome these ever-present forms of friction in your organization? How do you ensure that your strategies and plans hold up when they encounter harsh, unpredictable reality?

The answer is not to create more detailed plans that try to account for every contingency. No human plan can anticipate every internal and external source of friction. Instead, the answer lies in two specific types of communication within the organization.

The first type of communication is top-down: the CEO must effectively communicate her broad strategy and goals to everyone, helping the whole workforce understand and align with her intent for the organization. If the CEO does this well, everyone will understand her priorities and will be better equipped to make in-the-moment decisions aligned with those priorities as friction arises. The employee can, in a sense, do what he guesses the CEO would do were she in his shoes. This is what Bungay, in The Art of Action, calls “directed opportunism.”

The second type of communication is bottom-up: employees must deliver feedback to leadership that explains on-the-ground reality. The CEO needs to understand whether various parts of the organization are on track to achieve their goals on time, and what types of friction they’re facing. As challenges arise, this communication allows leadership to step in and offer resources and assistance to keep execution on track.

With these two types of communication in place, the organization can be dynamic and adaptive as it faces friction. Employees aren’t trying to execute a detailed plan to the letter; instead, they’re adapting to the moment within the intent of leadership.

An Example

Let’s look at how these types of communication might look in a real organization. First, the CEO might communicate to the team that his goal for the quarter is to generate $50 million in revenue. This is a statement of intent, not a detailed plan as to how to generate the revenue. The translation into specific actions takes place at each level below the CEO in the organization. It’s up to the executive team to consult with the CEO and determine what actions they should take; it’s up to the next layer down to consult with executives to determine what actions they in turn should take.

So the sales VP might set a goal to sell $25 million of Product X; at the next level down, the goal might be to sell $10 million of Product X in the Western region. This continues all the way down to an individual salesperson having a goal of hosting ten meetings with qualified prospects in the quarter. As the goals move down the organization they become more specific until at the bottom level they become actions that an individual can take to move the organization forward. (Khorus was designed to help teams carry out this process efficiently and transparently.)

Importantly, this process involves autonomy and flexibility. Each person has a hand in setting his or her own goals in support of the CEO’s intent and, as the quarter plays out and friction is encountered, can adjust his or her approach within the bounds of that intent.

Once alignment between the CEO’s intent and employees’ goals is achieved, it is then critical for the second type of communication to kick in: all levels of the organization must communicate about the challenges they’re facing as they execute the plan. Field reps, sales managers, and the whole chain should take stock each week and communicate how their part of the revenue-generating plan is going. Will they hit their target? If not, what’s going on? What can we do about it?

Khorus, again, was built specifically to facilitate this type of information-sharing. In the platform, all employees deliver feedback every week, rating each of their goals’ Likelihood (how likely are you to complete this goal on time) and Quality (how do you feel about the quality of work done so far?).

With this information captured in one place, CEOs, executives, and managers can quickly review the latest on how the plan is progressing. When friction arises—whether internal or external—it shows up in Khorus, and the team can work together to adjust the plan accordingly.

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When your organization gets good at recognizing and overcoming friction, it’s able to both sidestep unanticipated problems and capitalize on unanticipated opportunities. Mapping out a complex plan and trying to stick to it at all costs—similar to marrying your organization to a rigid budget—allows friction to throw off your game. A much better approach: communicate intent clearly and then listen to your organization each week.