Most people focus on eliminating hindrances to creativity. I’m gonna tell you that’s the wrong strategy.
Sure, allowing yourself peace & quiet or keeping your mind & body healthy is an important part of being a creative person. But:
Removing every barrier to your “great idea” will only repel it.
Constraints and limitations force us to rethink assumptions and reconsider the status quo. Identifying the actual constraints of a problem help us to generate ideas that might otherwise stay hidden by vast possibility. Invented constraints push us beyond “next step” and into “next paradigm.”
Constraints push us to the edges of what is possible. Into the improbable. Maybe even the impossible.
What constraints can you adopt to push your business and your creative thinking to the edges?
Here’s some big ones on my list – add your own ideas in the comments below:
- Time – What if you had to execute an idea in 3 hours? 3 years?
- Money – What if you had a $10 budget? $10,000 budget?
- Personality – What if your project was serious? lighthearted?
- Mechanism – What if your product was completely digital? physical? live? pre-recorded?
- Materials – What if you design had to be made with paper? metal? cloth? recycled glass?
- Teamwork – What if your idea had a team of 10? 100? 1?
The possibilities are endless.
What constraints are you working with right now? What constraints are confusing you right now? Leave your response in the comments below.
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