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L15. Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation - Coggle Diagram
L15. Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation
Recent surveys show that managers tend to consider compliance restrictions and a lack of resources as the main obstacles to innovation.
This common wisdom suggests eradicating all constraints:
By getting rid of rules and boundaries, creativity, and innovative thinking will thrive.
It is only when the constraints become too high that they stifle creativity and innovation.
Hence, the key for fostering creativity and innovation in your organization is to strike a balance by orchestrating different types of constraints.
Google illustrates this balance by, on the one hand, providing employees ample freedom to work on innovation projects that they want to pursue (Google 20% time)
And on the other hand, by embracing ‘creativity loves constraints’ as one of their main principles to guide their innovation efforts.
Examples of constraints used by Google include strict deadlines for developing prototypes and ambitious performance requirements about products in terms of its usability across different devices (it should work on all devices regardless of screen resolution) and download size or time.
Our research, however, challenges this wisdom and suggests that managers can innovate better by embracing constraints.
We reviewed 145 empirical studies on the effects of constraints on creativity and innovation, and found that individuals, teams, and organizations alike benefit from a healthy dose of constraints.
According to the studies we reviewed, when there are no constraints on the creative process, complacency sets in, and people follow what psychologists call the path-of-least-resistance they go for the most intuitive idea that comes to mind rather than investing in thedevelopment of better ideas.
Constraints, in contrast, provide focus and a creative challenge that motivates people to search for and connect information from different sources to generate novel ideas for new products, services, or business processes.
Therefore, managers can embrace and use a variety of constraints in their arsenal. These constraints take three main forms.
Second, they can enforce specific processes.
Examples include procedures on seeking early market and technological feedback (lean start-up model), guidelines on how small cross-functional work teams should interact (agile management approaches), or rules for brainstorming.
Third, they can set specific output requirements such as product or service specifications.
For example, Apple’s former Design Chief Jonathan Ive is known to have imposed use of scratch-resistant aluminosilicate glass during the design of iPhone 4.
First, they can limit inputs (time, human capital, funds, excess cash, and available materials).
For example, managers may intentionally cap resources in corporate entrepreneurship initiatives to motivate employees to be more resourceful.
But managers also need to be mindful about imposing too many constraints. When a creative task is too constraining, employees’ motivation is hampered.
If the space within which creative ideas are generated becomes too narrow, it is harder to form novel connections and serendipitous insights both of which are vital for creativity.
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Some constraints are simply a given, such as those imposed by government regulations or by nonnegotiable budget caps or deadlines.
And even when managers can control constraints, it is not a given that employees will respond positively. Here, it is important to realize that the same constraint may be interpreted in different ways:
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Constraints can foster innovation when they represent a motivating challenge and focus efforts on a more narrowly defined way forward.