Have you ever played tug-of-war? You know, two teams pulling as hard as they can in opposite directions, holding the rope tight so it doesn't slip through their hands.

Now, imagine how it feels to hold that rope. Your hands start to burn. If you let go even a little, there’s tension, maybe even chaos. And if you let go completely? Someone falls, and you lose all control.

That’s what go-to-market (GTM) alignment often feels like inside organizations. But here’s the thing: the problem isn’t that friction exists. It’s how we manage it. Friction isn’t inherently bad. In fact, when handled strategically, it can be one of your greatest growth levers.

Let’s talk about how to stop the GTM tug-of-war that’s quietly costing your company revenue – and how to start using friction to your advantage instead.

Reframing friction – from enemy to opportunity

We usually think of friction as a bad thing. It slows us down, causes inefficiencies, and leads to frustration. But friction, by definition, is neutral. It’s neither good nor bad – it’s what you do with it that matters.

Steve Jobs had a great metaphor for this. He once told a story about a neighbor with a rock tumbler. You put some rough rocks in a can with grit and let them roll around together. They knock into each other, make a racket, and slowly, they come out polished and beautiful.

That’s what a great team does. It argues, debates, challenges assumptions – and emerges stronger for it.

So, my goal here is to help you stop thinking of friction as something to eliminate entirely and start seeing it as something you can engineer strategically. I call this the virtuous cycle of friction: find it, manage it, and turn it into something that fuels growth.

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Where GTM friction really hurts – and how it shows up

You probably hear it all the time:

  • “Too many meetings.”
  • “We’re going in circles.”
  • “It’s always someone else’s fault.”

Those are symptoms. But the underlying issue? Poorly managed friction.

And your customers feel it too. According to Forrester, misaligned GTM teams lead to 36% shorter customer lifetimes. Stronger alignment, on the other hand, can increase closed deals by up to 67%.

So this isn’t just about internal harmony – it’s a revenue problem.

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