Role Friction Map
A diagnostic that surfaces the gap between the reader's hired role and the work their thinking actually wants to do.
Name the official shape of your role: what is assigned, rewarded, and expected.
Name the product questions you notice, even when they are not formally yours.
Name the decisions you cannot stop caring about and the direction your work is pulling you.
Name where you have opinions but no authority, or where you are brought in too late.
Name the moments where your attention sharpens; this is the clue to your next identity.
What it helps you see
It exposes the questions or checks that need to be answered before the product behavior can be trusted.
How to use it
Write a short answer next to each line. The output is a role-friction diagnosis: the recurring edge where your attention outruns your formal role.
Use it when
Use this when a product question in Introduction — You Are Probably Not Misaligned. The Role Is needs structure before it becomes a screen, roadmap item, or portfolio claim.
Practice prompt
Choose a real product, project, or career decision and answer the framework's items in order. Carry forward the answer that changes the next move.
Source chapter
This framework was authored in Introduction — You Are Probably Not Misaligned. The Role Is. Read the chapter for the full argument and the worked examples that produced this shape.