What it is
Coordination Friction is failure located between competent actors. Each team is doing its job well by its own definition; the revenue system still fails, because the connective tissue between them is nobody's responsibility.
How it shows up
Handoffs with no owner and no clock. Local optimization producing global dysfunction — a team hitting its target in a way that makes the next team's target harder. Meetings that multiply as manual synchronization for systems that don't talk. Consultants implementing exactly what they were told, which is not what happens.
Why it's hard to see
There's no one to blame, which sounds like good news and functions as bad news: problems without an owner don't get budget. Every participant can honestly report success while the outcome degrades.
Where I've found it
The Build Wasn't the Problem. The Gap Was. · You Don't Have a Meeting Problem.