The Paradox of Creativity and Constraints

Craig 00:00 

Welcome to Live Well and Flourish. I'm your host, Craig Van Slyke. 

One of my favorite sayings is “See your possibilities, not your limitations.” I like that saying so much I did a whole episode on it a while back. That saying embodies the attitude that's kind of governed much of my life. But we often don’t see the possibilities that lie in the constraints we face. To be fair, it’s really hard to see beyond your constraints. Limitations are just so visible.

It turns out, though, that constraints aren’t just limitations, they’re freedom. Yeah, I know, constraint and freedom seem like they're polar opposites … and I guess they are. But, constraints also open up a world of possibilities. There is a tremendous amount of freedom in constraints.

A few years ago, actually it was more than a few years ago, one of my favorite television shows was “Whose Line is it Anyway” which involved some very funny, clever people doing improvisational comedy … improv. These folks were very quick witted and downright hilarious. I can remember bursting out laughing more than a few times. What makes well done improv so funny … is the cleverness that leads to the unexpected. Improv theater or comedy often starts out with an MC asking for ideas from the audience. The more implausible the better, so audience members shout things out until the MC settles on a setting, such as a horse in a coffee shop. That setting severely constraints the actors and comedians. But, within that setting, almost anything goes and if you ever watched that show, you know almost anything goes. Yeah, I know, bad improv is bad, but good improv is just awesome.

Craig 01:46 

Here's another example, what we call Cajun engineering in my part of the world. (Cajun culture in Louisiana is heavily influenced by descendants of exiles from Canada's Acadia region.) The old saying is that a Cajun can fix anything with bailing twine and duct tape. Country folk are often very innovative and clever when facing practical problems. Trust me, when you live in the sticks like we do, you learn to make do … it can be a LONG way to a hardware store. The pinnacle of my Cajun engineering is a garden gate made of PVC, zip ties and hose clamps. Don’t judge me. The whole thing cost a fraction of what a manufactured gate would cost and it’s on its third year and still going strong!

What makes improv so funny and Cajun engineering so fascinating is the creativity and cleverness that they are able to find within the constraints. Buying a gate is easy … and kind of boring, but a PVC, zip tie, and hose clamp gate … now that’s interesting.

Craig 02:49 

There are lots of other examples of how constraints lead to creativity and cleverness: Artistic forms like haiku and sonnets in poetry, TED Talks, which have significant time limitations … even this podcast episode in which I’m trying to explain all of this in 5 minutes or less … well 5-ish minutes. We'll see.

We all face constraints related to virtually every aspect of life. So, you're gonna face a choice … be limited by the constraints, or embrace the freedom that lies within. Easy to say, sure, but how can you pull off this amazing feat?

First, you have to embrace the fact that you have constraints. Get this through your head up front, there are ALWAYS constraints … always. Then, recognize that constraints actually let you throw out a bunch of possibilities. There’s a phenomenon known as the tyranny of choice … too many choices can lead to decision paralysis and that prevents you from taking action. Constraints reduce that possibility.

Craig 03:52  

You also need to identify key constraints … time, budget, materials, skills … lots of other things. All of these can and often do serve as limitations. Then take some time to really understand the problem or objective. A big part of this is separating out your needs from your wants. Most problems have relatively few true requirements, these are characteristics that any acceptable solution MUST have. And it’s important to distinguish these from “wants” which are characteristics that are nice to have, but aren’t strictly required.

Then you want to generate a list of relevant resources. What DO you have that can be brought to bear on the problem? Get resourceful. Around here we use zip ties A LOT. They really are little bits of plastic magic. We use them for all sorts of things, attaching feed buckets, temporarily mending a fence, cat toys … around here we use them even more than duct tape. Our ranch hand Beau used zip ties to help fix a wheelbarrow. (I’ll leave it to you to picture how this worked!) Look at the resources you have on hand or that you can easily get. What’s possible with those bits and pieces?

Craig 05:03 

Next, generate ideas. Go wild … come up with any crazy thing that comes to mind and consider it as a potential solution. Sure, many, even most of these are gonna turn out to be bad ideas, but the seeds of greatness are often embedded in terrible ideas. Don’t be afraid to put ideas together … take parts of one, combine it with bits of another. You can com up with some really interesting things that way.

This approach works for all aspects of your life. Don’t have money for a big vacation? What can you do nearby? You know who are the masters of being creative under constraints? Talk to some teachers. It’s amazing what motivated teachers can do with relatively few resources. My Mom was amazing at finding ways to stretch the budget to feed three ravenous boys. Lots of us got very creative trying to find ways to work and learn from home during the pandemic. Examples of creativity under constraints go on and on and on … I'm sure if you stopped to think, you could come up with a few yourself.

Craig 06:08 

So, whenever you face constraints, whether they’re budgetary, time, space, skills … embrace the constraints and unleash your creativity. Remember, see the possibilities, not the limitations.

That’s it for this week. For more thoughts on how you can live an excellent life, check out livewellandflourish.com. You can find other episodes that might be of interest, you can read my blog, or sign up for my email newsletter.

Talk to you next week.