Forcing Functions

A forcing function is a task, activity, or event that compels you to act and achieve a specific outcome.

Here’s a personal example to clarify. I struggled for a long time to maintain a consistent gym routine. I’d often start strong, only to lose motivation within a month. That changed when I hired a personal trainer. I realized two things: one, I value the money I invest upfront more than merely committing to a routine, and two, I feel more accountable when someone else is involved. It’s easy to procrastinate on a promise to myself, but harder when someone else is waiting on me. Two years later, I’m still training consistently.

This principle isn’t limited to personal habits; it applies to organizational settings as well. Take the daily standup meeting in many companies: it serves as a forcing function by ensuring team members update each other on progress and address any challenges.

In essence, a forcing function consists of three components: motivation, a trigger, and a response. The key is to get the motivation right. Without strong motivation, a trigger—like an alarm clock—can easily be ignored or snoozed indefinitely. This is also true for organizations. If employees find standup meetings tedious and repetitive, they might simply go through the motions without truly engaging, saying something like, “Still working on my stuff,” day in and day out.

An effective forcing function should be tailored to the individual or team. For me, it took some trial and error before I found the right motivator to keep me going to the gym. The real work often lies in understanding what genuinely drives you. Once you’ve pinpointed that, the rest becomes much simpler.

This brings us to a challenge: how can personalized forcing functions be scaled up in larger organizations?

While I haven’t tried implementing this system on a massive scale, I believe the solution might be found in cascading delegation, akin to how OKR work. Defining responses or outcomes is straightforward; for example, a company might decide to resolve customer support tickets within 24 hours. But triggers and motivations are trickier, because they’re personal.