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Home > Circular Economy Podcast > 140 Catherine Weetman: focusing on fuel AND friction


	Podcast:		Circular Economy Podcast
	Episode:		140 Catherine Weetman: focusing on fuel AND friction
	Category:		Business
	Duration:		00:46:00
	Publish Date:		2024-09-07 23:01:00
	Description:		Are we focused on adding more fuel to get the circular economy going – when, really, the problem is too much friction? Those terms stuck with me a few years ago, from a book helping people to get new ideas going, and succeeding, by looking more closely at the ‘frictions’ that create resistance. The book, The Human Element is written by organisational psychologist Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal, a specialist in entrepreneurship, design, and innovation. They say that most people working to create change focus on increasing the appeal of the idea itself – we’re convinced that if we add enough value, people will say “yes.”’ Whilst it’s definitely helpful to ‘sell the sizzle’ of our idea, to help move it forward, we tend to overlook the power of all the concerns, confusion, and other factors getting in the way of the change – the friction. Of course, fuel is necessary for success. Frictions, on the other hand, are difficult to spot. We are naturally convinced that our idea, our project, our new service, is the best thing since sliced bread. So it’s hard for us to see what’s getting in the way for our audience, customers, or investors. Understanding and overcoming frictions requires empathy. We have to see the world, and our idea within it, from the perspective of those affected. Over the last series of podcast episodes, we’ve talked about quite a few fuels and frictions relating to the circular economy. Reflecting on those conversations helped me see some recurring themes, including: Systems thinking, and the need for seeing a connected whole instead of separate parts, or sub-sections Culture, language and how we understand and interpret the circular economy Mindsets – what’s our worldview, and does this mean we’re stuck in our ways? Information technology, especially ‘legacy’ software systems. In this episode, I’m going to pull out some of the fuel and friction insights shared by our guests.