The gift of constraints
My son, Tobias, has a pretty extensive Lego collection. When he shoves the box (or boxes) of blocks in front of me and instructs me to ‘build something!’ I have to confess my mind goes blank – or reaches for the predictable car or house. In that moment, I see Lego, I see what the pieces were bought to make (a fire engine, a police car etc) and I can’t see past it. In hindsight I could try to build a dragon or space station or submarine, so why don’t I? I think of myself as a creative person and a creative thinker. I come up with ideas and help others with theirs all the time. What do I do at work that I don’t do during our Lego playtimes?
Quite often in the work environment, I am aware of certain constraints. Constraints can be objectives (the why), parameters (bigger than this, but smaller than that), they can be specifications, conditions and/or requirements. I don’t see these as restrictive, but helpful, they can be seen as the framework by which to design and build or the hook on which to hang ideas.
Having such a wide range of options or possibilities in front of us can be overwhelming and this is not limited to the vast world of Lego building. What do we do about cyberbullying? Systemic racism? Climate change? Does it not feel like the world is groaning, pleading, even more desperately than my five-year-old, for us to, ‘do something!’
At Goodmakers Society we agree it is hard to design a solution to a complex problem from a blank sheet of paper and whatever is going on in our head. Simply reciting the mantra, ‘I can do anything, I have infinite time and resource and there is no cost if I get it wrong’ doesn’t help the majority. This might seem an unpopular view, where previously we have been encouraged to ‘reach for the stars’, ‘the world is your oyster’ and ‘just believe you can do anything’. All perfectly nice, uplifting statements but not helpful for problem-solving really tricky problems.
Perhaps there are a few out there that would relish this kind of challenge, but most of us will be the proverbial rabbit in the headlights. So, while some might have you believe that constraints are inhibiting. I do not agree. Constraints could very well be the best gift you’ve been given.
If Tobias asked me to build something with just the red Legos or pulled out one of the more unique pieces that would definitely have helped. If I’d timed myself to do it in 10 minutes or if he’d put me in competition with his friend’s mum to build something to race down a slope, that all would have been so much more fun and would have got me moving to get on and build something.
Our game Mission Possible takes a process known as design-thinking and applies it to social problems. You’re given a problem, a bit of information (but not a lot) about this problem, a few *ahem* resources (circus equipment, glass jars and a camera) and facilitated through a process to come up with a creative project, campaign, social enterprise or charity. It is a game because you are pitted against teams of other people with similar constraints and challenged to use your *ahem* resources more creatively than your competition. Every time, every team presents a unique idea that could make a transformative difference.
If you have ever experienced idea paralysis or felt like you don’t have good ideas – this does not mean you are not creative, nor does it mean you are not a creative thinker. It might just mean you need a few constraints to add a bit of pressure and direction to that is creativity that is absolutely in all of us.
“Mission Possible was a workshop that didn’t feel like work. It was a really fun exercise for learning how to solve the most complex of problems. We had no idea we could be so creative with such a random collection of resources, but we really believed our idea could make a difference. The game was well facilitated and gave us the confidence to design a real project that has a lasting impact.”
If you’d like to try Mission Possible, see our website for our latest showcase event.