The Gift of Constraints: Part Three

Loving limitations. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But, if we are to move up the S Curve of Learning?, we need to embrace constraints, love our limitations.

Today we are concluding our three-part series on constraints.

In part one, we shared how constraints provide three specific ways to help you grow by 1) providing necessary feedback; 2) forcing you to focus on what is truly important, and; 3) by helping decrease your sense of overwhelm or being overwhelmed. 

In part two, we examined the constraints of time, rules, and money and effective strategies to deal with each.

If you haven’t had a chance to read those other two columns, I would encourage you to check them out (read part one, read part two)

We are now going to look at effective strategies to deal with the constraints of space, expertise, buy-in, and emotions.

Space: We have all had a crash course in dealing with space constraints during the pandemic. One or two adults can be working from home at the same time. Add children grappling with distance education to the mix and it can feel like utter chaos… ever blurring the line between where our work stops and our personal lives begin.

So, how is this constraint good? On my Disrupt Yourself podcast, we interviewed Erik and Emily Orton, who when they aren’t on a sailboat exploring the world, live in a two-bedroom apartment in New York City with their five children. Yes, you read that correctly, their five children. How is this even possible?

They leaned into their constraints and got creative.

In their bedroom they created a loft bed, then artfully placed their office / workspace underneath the bed. And, all the kids sleep in the same room. Because of the close quarters the kids and their parents have learned to get along. But that small space required them to look at using space in new and imaginative ways… ways that worked for everyone.

How can you apply the Orton’s creative approach to space into areas of your work and personal life? How can you adapt to what is so?

Lack of Knowledge or Expertise: Not knowing how things are supposed to be done can be a distinct advantage. I have interviewed many people on my podcast that have become successful in areas that were new to them. They were able to thrive, because they didn’t have the limitations of “we’ve always done it this way” or “this is how it's supposed to be done.” Fresh eyes, fresh approach.

This is one of the reasons that we recommend that at least 15-percent of your people on your team are at the low-end of the learning curve. They don’t know how it’s always been done, so they are able to ask, “why do we do it like this?"

Lack of Buy-In: When you don’t have buy-in, or it is given begrudgingly, the tendency might be to be a victim, or even a neutralizer, and look for the workaround. But what happens when you approach this like a transformer? How can figuring out what the objections are, and seeking to resolve them become a steppingstone to a better idea, product, opportunity, and relationship? For more on this topic, you may want to listen our podcast episode with Kara Goldin, CEO and Founder of Hint, Inc.

Emotions and Illness: Anxiety, insecurity, depression, imposter syndrome, illness, etc.— are all the constraints that are most often, invisible to others. Every constraint, whether physical or mental, external or internal, is an opportunity for you to grow and develop.

I don’t say this casually. Suffering with any one of these ailments can be debilitating. But there are excellent examples of people that used this constraint to inform their career or approach to life.

For example, Laura Hillenbrand suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, and has been mostly confined to her home for twenty-five years. In 2001, she published the New York Times bestseller Seabiscuit, the unlikely story of a small horse that became a champion thoroughbred. This horse was a symbol of hope during the Great Depression.

In 2010, she wrote another bestseller, Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini, a military officer during WWII who crashed at sea and, after forty-seven days aboard a life raft, was captured and tortured by his enemies. Zamperini summed up the secret to Hillenbrand’s successful writing career–––

“Because she’s suffered so much in life, she was able to put my feelings into words.”

How can this constraint, whatever it is, be a catalyst for your growth?

Constraints are most imposing when you start something new. You are at the low end of your S Curve of Learning?. The difference between stumbling blocks and steppingstones is how you use them. The question for all of us is then, how can we reframe whatever constraint we are dealing with as a tool of creation?

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Think about something you’ve accomplished to date that you are proud of? What constraints did you encounter? And how did they help you?

How can a lack of space help you become more creative?

How can you not knowing how to do work to your advantage? If you were CEO for a day at work or home and ran the organization on the basis of expertise, what would you differently?

How might overcoming objections to an idea you have help you create something even better?

How might your internal struggles, whether anxiety, depression, chronic illness, spur you on?

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Whitney Johnson is the CEO of human capital consultancy WLJ Advisors, an Inc. 5000 2020 fastest-growing private company in America. One of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world as named by Thinkers50, Whitney and her team are experts at helping high-growth organizations develop high-growth individuals. Whitney is the author of the bestselling Build an A Team and critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself, both published by Harvard Business Press. She is a world-class keynote speaker, frequent lecturer for Harvard Business School's Corporate Learning and an advisor to CEOs. She is a member of the original cohort of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches, and was selected as MG100 / Thinkers50 #1 Coach on Talent. Whitney has 1.8 million followers on LinkedIn, where she was selected as a Top Voice in 2018, and her course on Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship has been viewed more than 1 million times.?