Understanding friction in software engineering | deadSimpleTech

That, in short, is how friction works in war: things start out organised, prepared and informed. Then the bullets start flying, and little by little, things go wrong and start to break apart. Co-ordination breaks down, people get tired and demoralised, and eventually what started out as a well-oiled, effective machine that was more than capable of achieving objectives ends up as a tired, worn-out blob that cannot fight any more or go any further. This seems simple, but as Clausewitz has it, "in war, everything is very simple, but the simplest thing is hard".