A deadline approaches and we feel somehow it is not helping us be creative.
Two blogs I subscribe to - and recommend - recently came at the 'problem' of constraints very positively, but from slightly different angles.
The first was Roger von Oech's article called Set A Deadline to Goad Your Creative Juices. Roger writes:
When I assign specific open-ended problems to groups in my seminars, I've found that those groups that have less time to generate ideas (e.g., 15 minutes vs. 25 minutes on the same problem) often have better and more creative solutions than the groups with more time. That's because they seem to get right to the point, have less self-censorship, and are less concerned with proper protocol.
The second was from Joyce Wycoff on paradoxically deciding what the constraints are before embarking on a brainstorming exercise. In her article called Criteria .. or Not? she advocates establishing the evaluation criteria at the beginning of an innovation process. I think Joyce is talking about something rather more specific and particular than Roger von Oech here. She concludes:
Knowing and working with the critical constraints seems to help people think far more strategically and creatively as they thread their way through the maze that leads to concepts that create new value for customers and for the organization. Life and the market impose criteria on us, why should we act as if anything goes?
Also, this seems to fly in the face of conventional 'brainstorming' or 'brainblooming' techniques, where the emphasis on the early iterations is on 'no censorship' of ideas. What Joyce says has the ring of truth, and I plan to try this approach.
All this talk of constrains reminds me of the work of Eliyahu Goldratt. I value and respect the work of Goldratt and other on the Theory of Constraints (TOC), as illustrated in such works as Critical Chain
What stories do you have where constraints have enabled you rather than have limited you?
. In fact he is something of an authority now on online PR, social media and reputation management.
full of heath land with the gorse a riot of mustard-coloured bloom, and coastline that is tranquil and graceful. My vacation from blogs is deliberate … because I want to blog better.
This particular format follows five men who enter a Benedictine community for ten weeks. I find that there is so much guff in the usual fare of reality TV, but this is a welcome exception. This first episode explored issues of freedom, commitment, community versus individualism, as well as of faith. I find that in the West we live in trivial, superficial ways. The monks impressed me by their winsome acceptance of these men, whilst being very clear of their own values, and the profound effects these have made in their own lives.
