Constraints & Progress (#27)

When we have complete freedom we lack the guardrails that keep us focused. When we run into a challenge, without restrictions, it is easy to justify scrapping what we started. Our switching costs seem low because we lack urgency. Complacency begins to grow. However, we know the long-term costs of half implemented projects: aging technology without a responsible tending party, mounting security risks, duplicative solutions that require resources, and the burden of using some of our brainpower to remember how that thing functions.

When we are under a deadline to perform, that pressure keeps us in check, our eyes on the prize. Innovation happens under constraints — when it truly matters. We know this intuitively — when assigned something hard, we find we do rise to the challenge. It is also why so many leaders stress about mediocrity, they know once you settle for half of a solution, it takes tremendous efforts to rebuild urgency and strive for better.

Constraints don’t hinder progress, they encourage it.

The next time you struggle with innovation, take a look at your constraints structure. Instead of blaming them, frame them as creative challenges. -Oguz A. Acar, Murat Tarakci, and Daan van Knippenberg in the Harvard Business Review article "Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation"

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