Positive Friction: Strategies to Support Compliance and Ethical Behaviors

This online public lecture will be given by Ruth Schmidt of the Institute of Design on the topic, “Positive Friction: Strategies to Support Compliance and Ethical Behaviors"

Making actions frictionless and streamlined in the name of efficiency—making things “too easy not to do”—is usually seen as a desirable organizational strategy for encouraging compliant behaviors. However, too little friction can also contribute to auto-pilot shortcuts, increase the likelihood that errors will slide through, and heighten opportunities to rationalize away inappropriate or dishonest actions. Research has shown that applying various forms of “positive friction”—inserting deliberate delays to increase reflection, interrupting automatic or biased behaviors, or prompting new perspectives and mindsets—can be reduce these known tendencies and improve the chances that people adhere to rules and take more thoughtful, equitable, and ethical actions. This talk will explore different kinds of positive friction and discuss when, why, and how inserting reflection or pause points can contribute to more compliant and ethical behaviors in organizational contexts.

This lecture will be moderated by Todd Haugh, ICGE Director, Kelley School of Business.

Lecture date and time: Thursday, 5 February 2026 | 12:00 – 13:00 EDT (18:00 – 19:00 CET)

The public lecture series is organised by the Kelley School of Business Institute for Corporate Governance (ICG+E), in partnership with Ethical Systems and ECGI.