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Hey there, innovation champions!
I’ll never forget my very first performance improv class. The teacher divided our class of twelve into four teams, and gave us 60 seconds to come up with a name for our teams!
Panic ensued. “Sixty seconds?! What?!!”
The teams wasted no time, and so it was that the Melancholy Rubber Chickens and Hot Garbage battled it out with Awkward Pause and Teamy McTeamface.
Could these team names have been better? Probably.
But as our teacher pointed out, if he had given us five minutes (or ten, or twenty — or a week!) we would have used up all that time deciding on a name instead of doing improv.
The ridiculously tight time constraint forced us to bypass our inner critics and make a decision quickly. Instead of limiting creativity, this limitation actually helped to fuel it!
The Counterintuitive Power of Constraints
How many filmmakers break into the industry with independent, low-budget films, dreaming of getting the opportunity to make a big-budget movie, only to disappoint critics and movie-goers when they finally do?
The budget constraint, it turned out, supercharged their creativity, and when that constraint was lifted, instead of giving them freedom, they lost their edge.
This paradox has fascinated me for years: constraints don’t limit creativity — they fuel it.
Consider Dr. Seuss. When his editor bet him that he couldn’t write a compelling children’s book using only 50 different words, the result was “Green Eggs and Ham” — one of the best-selling children’s books of all time.
Or think about Twitter (now X) and how the original 140-character limit forced people to distill their thoughts to their essence, creating an entirely new form of expression.
These aren’t anomalies. They’re evidence of a profound truth about human creativity that contradicts our intuition: limitations aren’t creativity’s enemy — they’re its catalyst.
The Blank Canvas Problem
Have you ever sat down to write, draw, or create something with absolutely no constraints? No deadline, no budget limitations, no brief to follow — just pure creative freedom?
If you’re like most people, this scenario isn’t liberating — it’s paralyzing.
I call this “The Blank Canvas Problem.” When anything is possible, the weight of infinite choice crushes our creative spirit. We become overwhelmed by possibilities, paralyzed by the pressure to make the “perfect” choice among endless options.
I experienced this firsthand years ago when I was trying to reignite my creative practice after a long hiatus. I had all the art supplies, plenty of time (or so I told myself), and complete freedom to create whatever I wanted.
The result? Nothing. For months, I created absolutely nothing.
It wasn’t until I imposed strict constraints on myself — 15 minutes a day, using only materials I could keep by my bedside — that I finally broke through and started creating again.
Constraints Through the Create the Impossible™ Framework
This counterintuitive relationship between constraints and creativity maps perfectly to my Create the Impossible™ framework:
1. Play Hard: Embracing Constraints as a Game
The first element of my framework is “Play Hard” — approaching challenges with a spirit of play and experimentation. Constraints transform creative challenges into games with clear rules.
When my improv teacher gave us 60 seconds to name our teams, he wasn’t just being efficient. He was turning the naming process into a game with clear parameters that bypassed our inner critics and engaged our playful instincts.
The magic of constraints is that they invoke the play state. Think about any game you love — chess, basketball, Wordle. None of these would be fun without rules. The constraints are what make them engaging.
Similarly, innovation thrives when we approach constraints as the rules of an exciting game rather than as limitations to overcome.
2. Make Crap: Using Constraints to Overcome Perfectionism
The second element of my framework is “Make Crap” — giving yourself permission to create imperfect first drafts rather than waiting for perfection.
Constraints are perfectionism kryptonite. When you only have 60 seconds, or 50 words, or a shoestring budget, you can’t possibly be perfect — and that’s liberating!
I experienced this when I started creating daily doodles in bed each morning. By limiting myself to just a few minutes and whatever drawing materials I could keep on my nightstand, I bypassed the perfectionism that had paralyzed me for years.
The constraint of time and materials forced me to embrace imperfection, which ultimately led to a more prolific and joyful creative practice.
3. Learn Fast: Constraints as Learning Accelerators
The third element of my framework is “Learn Fast” — turning every experience, especially challenging ones, into learning opportunities.
Constraints accelerate learning by creating clear feedback loops. When you limit your variables, you can more easily identify what’s working and what isn’t.
Think about cooking. If you’re following a recipe with just three ingredients, it’s much easier to identify what went wrong (or right!) than if you’re working with thirty ingredients.
The same principle applies to innovation. When you constrain your approach — focusing on one specific customer pain point, using only certain technologies, or limiting your timeline — you create conditions for faster and more focused learning.
Strategic Constraints for Innovation
Now, let’s talk about how to intentionally use constraints to fuel innovation in your own work:
Time Constraints: The Power of the Ticking Clock
Time constraints are perhaps the most powerful creativity boosters. They force decision-making, eliminate overthinking, and create urgency that bypasses the inner critic.
Try these:
- The 25-5 Rule: Work intensely for 25 minutes on a single task, then take a 5-minute break.
- The Ridiculous Deadline: Cut your “reasonable” timeline in half. What would you do differently?
- The 5-Minute Sprint: Give yourself just 5 minutes to generate as many ideas as possible.
Resource Constraints: Less Is More
Limited resources — whether budget, tools, or team members — can drive remarkable innovation.
Try these:
- The Budget Cut: Imagine your budget was slashed by 50%. How would you accomplish your goals?
- The Desert Island Challenge: If you could only use three tools to solve your problem, what would they be?
- The Minimalist Approach: How could you solve the problem with the absolute minimum viable solution?
Conceptual Constraints: Limiting the Playground
Conceptual constraints limit the types of solutions you can explore, forcing deeper thinking within a specific area.
Try these:
- The Adjective Challenge: Choose three random adjectives (e.g., “underwater,” “musical,” “ancient”) and incorporate them into your solution.
- The What-If Scenario: “What if we couldn’t use our current approach at all?”
- The Impossible Constraint: “How would we solve this if we couldn’t use [the most obvious solution]?”
Real-World Application: The NASA Example
Perhaps the most dramatic example of constraints driving innovation comes from the Apollo 13 mission. When an oxygen tank exploded, endangering the lives of the astronauts, the NASA team faced the ultimate constraint:
“The astronauts have only these exact items on board. How do we bring them home safely?”
Engineers on the ground had to figure out how to adapt a square carbon dioxide filter to fit in a round hole, using only the limited materials available to the astronauts: plastic bags, cardboard, and duct tape.
The solution they devised — which literally saved lives — emerged precisely because of these extreme constraints, not in spite of them.
As Gene Kranz, the flight director for Apollo 13, famously said: “I don’t care what anything was designed to do. I care about what it can do.”
That’s the essence of constraint-driven innovation: focusing not on what you lack, but on what you can do with what you have.
Your Constraint Challenge
Here’s your challenge for this week: Choose one area where you’re seeking greater creativity or innovation, and intentionally add a constraint.
Maybe it’s a tighter deadline. Perhaps it’s limiting your resources or tools. Or it could be a conceptual constraint that forces you to explore new approaches.
Remember: The most innovative solutions often emerge not when we have more resources, more time, or more freedom — but when we have just enough constraint to ignite our creative problem-solving instincts.
Stay curious, stay playful, and keep creating the impossible!
I’d love to hear from you. What’s one constraint that has unexpectedly boosted your creativity? Click here to share your story!
Senior Leaders: Ready to help your team harness the power of constraints for breakthrough innovation? Book a complimentary Innovation Strategy Session and let’s explore how the Create the Impossible™ framework can transform your team’s approach to creativity and problem-solving.