How innovators can leverage thinking in constraints
By Helen LiangConstraints have an impact on our creative process, on what we can do and how we can do it. They are ubiquitous and inescapable. So, how can innovators leverage thinking in constraints to get to stronger ideas with greater, real-world potential?
What comes to mind when you think about being creative? For many people, this is synonymous with having an open and curious mindset, and being able to let your imagination run free. The idea of adding constraints into creative practice can therefore seem somewhat counter-intuitive.
When it comes to front-end innovation, innovators face many constraints. Time, budget, getting buy-in from internal stakeholders, overcoming technical challenges, or regulatory requirements are all examples of what a constraint might look like. So, how can innovators leverage thinking in constraints? And, is there a way that constraints can help innovators get to stronger ideas with greater, real-world potential?
Thinking in constraints
A constraint is a form of limitation or restriction that puts a boundary on what can or cannot be done. It’s imposed by natural and physical laws, the simplest example here is gravity. Or, it’s imposed by rules that we—as innovators—might pose as requirements based on global insight studies, or signals of change. In many instances, time and budget are often the biggest constraints of any innovation project.
When faced with multiple constraints, it may be hard to reframe your thinking and imagine them as a positive, or even potential opportunities. However, it’s this shift in mindset that is fundamental to ‘thinking in constraints’. Casting a more positive lens on what constraints mean and how we might use them, opens up new and unexpected opportunities—transforming innovation hurdles into drivers for success.
Here are three ways to leverage thinking in constraints.
Using constraints to reframe and rethink your challenge
Good innovators understand the importance of a clear brief in the form of a well-defined challenge that isn’t too restricting or too open; helping us get to a good response. Yes, it’s harder to get to that ‘silver bullet’ statement than you might think. And, crafting a set of well-defined constraints can help innovators quickly focus on what outcome needs to be achieved, especially early on in the innovation process. In many ways, a set of well-defined constraints is akin to a strong ‘how might we’ statement that defines a design thinking challenge.
In the article, ‘Innovation Starts with Defining the Right Constraints’, the authors Fiona Murray and Elspeth Johnson recall how an MIT Professor was asked to design a prosthetic limb for users in developing countries and reduce the cost by 90% compared to products in western markets. The outcome was eventually achieved because the constraints forced the design team to reframe their challenge and rethink their approach. When reflecting on this story, the authors add that “some of the most innovative outcomes are produced when innovation is constrained”.
Transforming constraints to creative insight
Thinking in constraints is a good example of ‘creative desperation’. It’s one of the three action pathways to identifying creative insights in Gary Klein’s ‘Triple Path model’. Constraints add pressure to difficult situations which encourage, or rather demand teams to disrupt their usual way of thinking and resolve constraints that will have an impact on the outcome.
Design Sprints are a great example of a methodology that plays on creative desperation whereby the simulated sense of urgency—or rather a time constraint—forces teams to deliver under pressure with intense and well-structured bursts of creativity to generate insight and ideas.
Beyond time constraints, innovators often work to solve problems and resolve constraint sets that are highly technical in nature. Whilst they may limit the options for creative outcomes, they are also hotspots for where you might creatively explore a challenge space with focus, and in more depth. Often, the bigger the constraint, the bigger the creative leap which can ultimately lead to breakthrough innovations.
For a bonus read on the triple path to creative insight, grab a cuppa and read Kate Dowler’s article, ‘Where Do Insights Come From?’
Getting to real-world potential
When innovators define a constraint set, it’s important for these to be grounded in reality so that they can lead us to ideas which can eventually be implemented in the real-world. It helps us to use what we know here and now—to also discover what we don’t know—and apply a laser focus on what we have to achieve with our ideas.
One example here, is the use of ‘plausible scenarios’ in future thinking where innovators imagine realistic events as future scenarios that may radically change our current past; helping innovators to build resilience into their existing innovation programmes or in seeking their next big breakthrough.
In addition, a well-defined set of constraints can also be translated into measurable end-goals and objectives that help innovators converge their ideas and avoid dangerous pitfalls such as mission creep where the focus moves too far away from the un-met consumer needs that have been identified early on. In this way, constraint sets can also act like a North Star at a tactical, or even strategic level.
Choosing the right constraints
As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility—and caution must be applied to choosing the right constraints in order to avoid creative paralysis.
A challenge that is over-constrained is one where there are so many restrictions that there is a limit on the creative output that can be achieved. What’s more, a challenge that is under-constrained, where there are not enough limitations, specified boundaries, and too much uncertainty, will also have the same effect. Choose your constraints wisely!
In conclusion
For innovators, thinking in constraints is a great way to help deliver a stronger outcome by choosing to reframe and rethink our challenges, to focus creative insight, and have a laser focus on delivering those ideas that have real-world impact not just today, but far into the future.
I’m certainly an advocate for constraints being a friend to creativity and especially fond of the phrase, ‘creativity loves constraints’. So, what do you think? Reach out and drop me a line at helen@industryofus.com.