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I was talking to a coworker recently when I had a thought:

If our workplace were a workplace comedy, I would absolutely watch this shit.

And naturally, my brain immediately started casting it.

What role would this person play?

What about that person?

Who would I be?

Easy.

I’m most definitely not the protagonist in this comedy, but I’m a strong supporting character.

I’d be the guy who comes in, does his job well, drops a quippy one-liner when asked about something, but most importantly

Refuses to take on more than I’m required to.

I act my wage at the workplace.

But once I started thinking about everybody as characters, something else became ridiculously easy to see:

Conflict.

Because workplaces are basically conflict factories that may or may not include dental insurance.

When we hear “conflict,” it’s easy to picture a blowup.

But conflict can be much quieter.

One coworker wants everything done yesterday. Another needs 3-5 business days.

One person believes seniority means authority. The organizational chart strongly disagrees.

One person thinks a meeting is for discussion. Another came prepared to make a decision and go home(and is a meetings’ biggest hater who insists it could’ve been an e-mail)*that one is me.*

Point being, nobody has to flip a table or raise their voice for conflict to bubble up.

Think about The Office.

Michael Scott creates conflict with damn near everybody, but the type of conflict changes depending on who’s across from him.

Take Stanley and Dwight.

Stanley sees Michael as a professional idiot. Michael may be his boss on paper, but Stanley gives him almost no social or personal status.

So when Michael tries to exercise authority, there’s friction between formal power and perceived status.

Dwight is almost the opposite.

Dwight endlessly admires Michael, somewhat to a fault. He treats Michael’s authority, status, and rank like they’re sacred.

And Michael is often visibly annoyed by him.

Dwight is basically, “You are my leader. My mentor. My king.”

And Michael is like, “Dwight, please go away.”

That’s friction too.

Sometimes it’s about power.

Sometimes it’s status.

Sometimes it’s expectations.

Sometimes it’s two people looking at the exact same situation and reading it completely differently.

That’s why I like thinking about conflict as friction.

Because once you stop looking only for confrontation, you start noticing all the smaller forces rubbing against each other.

And that makes conflict way easier to identify, which is a nonnegotiable ingredient in story.

🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:

Cast Your Workplace Comedy

Think about one of your workplaces throughout your career.

1. Choose three characters. You have to be one of them.

2. Give each person one defining characteristic.

3. Choose two and identify the friction between them.

Working style?

Power?

Expectations?

Status?

Goals?

And please resist the temptation to simply drag everybody. That’s not productive here.

Try describing what someone actually does instead of labeling who they were.

By doing so, you should be able to identify one clear source of conflict between two characters.

Can you picture that scene? Would a stranger who doesn’t know any of the characters be able to learn about them and their habits?

That’s strong characterization that could drive conflict.

How’d I do?