Creativity comes from constraints
At work, during one of our last team meetings of the year, we were challenged by a startup founder Nadia Masri, to elevate our internal game. Using several lessons so dear to the startup world, she advised us each to fully embrace one in 2020. Perusing the list, my eyes stopped on “Creativity comes from constraint” and decided to take on the challenge.
What is creativity? Creativity is the product of human thinking, an output of a mental process. Creativity is the last bastion human intelligence has to protect in our game versus the machines. It’s the engine that pushed our people from Homo Erectus to Artificial Intelligence; it’s the beauty that mesmerizes us every day in music, painting, or written word; it’s the act of doing anything different than it was done in the past.
What can be a constraint? Trying to define constraints, I come back again and again around the lack of a particular resource. When thinking about financial support, this could mean a lower budget in 2020 or no budget at all. For a specific project, it can be human resources: a temporary smaller team, due to maternity leaves or no team at all. Lastly, it can also be a lack of available time, resulting in shorter availability periods, faster project timelines, and increased expectations.
But what will I do in 2020? I understand the challenge and set myself three goals, which will enhance my year (time/people/budget). I will embrace constraints in the following way:
- All Skype meetings I initiate will be limited to 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes.
- Provide backup to my team to manage their off-time without seeking replacements.
- Slash my budget for Comms design by using my free resources and Fiverr more.
Wish me luck in 2020 to embrace constraints!
