A 2021 McKinsey study found that 84% of executives consider innovation essential, yet only 6% are satisfied with their innovation performance.
Innovation performance typically reflects how well the innovation process is being implemented.
The innovation process involves asking yourself a series of questions and making decisions when developing an innovative solution which if done correctly can change how things are done in an industry or society on a local, national, or international scale.
Otherwise, you can lose it all.
You are investing your finite resources (time, capital, labour) either coming out of your own or an investor’s pocket to create something that you hope will not only provide value to society but also return on investment.
You are taking a gamble.
When you start a new project that aims to innovate, having this at the back of your mind can be overwhelming.
If you don’t make the right decisions, you lose. Some factors are in your control (decisions) whilst some are out of your control (e.g. the market) within this process.
This can feel like an uphill battle, but there is a solution to help improve this process and the answer might surprise you. It's not about doing more.
It's about doing less
"Innovation increasingly means using fewer resources rather than more."
-Matt Ridley
In a world obsessed with more—more options, more features, more everything—it's counterintuitive to think that constraints could boost innovation. Yet, some of the most innovative designs and successful businesses have emerged from limitations. Here's why:
Focus: Constraints narrow your options, helping you concentrate on what truly matters.
Creativity: Limited resources force you to think outside the box. In a future article, we will be talking about how the CMF phone recently released by Nothing does this.
Efficiency: With boundaries in place, you're less likely to waste resources on irrelevant ideas.
In 2000, a study was carried out by Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper to understand how people make decisions.
They set up a table with 24 varieties of jam on one day and 6 varieties of jam on a second day.
Out of all the people who saw the large display, only 3% of them bought the jam. On the other hand, out of all the people who saw the smaller display, 30% of them bought the jam.
People were six times more likely to buy a jar of jam if there were 6 options rather than 24 even though the larger display attracted more people than the smaller display.
Image source: sheenaiyengar.com
If we were to look at this through the lens of design, innovation and entrepreneurship, it’s a bit more nuanced than that.
Making decisions during the innovation process requires a very fine balance of logic, intuition and emotion to create something impactful and valuable.
However, having too many choices will overwhelm us causing paralysis by analysis resulting in no work being done. By embracing constraints, we can focus our creative energies more effectively.
We’ve mentioned constraints so far, but we haven’t described what constraints are and how they should be implemented.
Types of Constraints
Definition
The dictionary definition of constraint is a good starting definition but it’s a little generic. Let’s redefine it from the lens of innovators & entrepreneurs:
At Design Zindagi, we think there are two main types of constraints, and these are:
Conventional Constraints
Conventional constraints are common, widely recognised restrictions or conditions that are typically inherent to the medium, industry standards, or practical considerations of a creative project. These constraints are often expected and considered standard challenges within a given field.
In terms of design, innovation and entrepreneurship, these typically include:
Budget
Material
Timeframe
Size
Colour palette
Shape
Team size
Environmental
Legal
Unconventional Constraints
Another type of constraint which isn’t commonly talked about is unconventional constraints.
Unconventional constraints are deliberately imposed, unusual, or unexpected restrictions that challenge traditional approaches to innovative work. These constraints are often self-imposed or externally introduced to stimulate innovation, encourage novel thinking, or push the boundaries of standard creative processes.
Whilst conventional constraints like budgets and deadlines are familiar to us all, unconventional constraints have the potential to spark innovative thinking in ways not seen before.
What are some examples of unconventional constraints?
For curiosity’s sake, I asked Claude AI to try coming up with some “unconventional constraints”. Here is what it came up with:
Temporal constraint: Complete your entire project within a single 24-hour period, or conversely, work on it for only 5 minutes each day for a year. This could be interesting for entrepreneurs developing a business plan, filmmakers creating a short film, or novelists writing a story.
Minimalist extremism: Complete your project using the absolute minimum resources possible. For hardware tinkerers, this might mean creating a functioning device with the fewest components. For chefs, it could mean creating a gourmet meal with only three ingredients.
Reverse assumptions: Challenge industry norms. Airbnb revolutionised hospitality by asking, "What if a company could run hotels without owning any properties?"
I like these examples but to add a bit more clarity, unconventional constraints are often very counter-intuitive.
Unconventional Example
To help cement this idea better I’d like you to imagine a person that is training to run faster:
To achieve this, they are sprinting for an hour every day but find they’re not making any progress.
They search online for different ways to get faster with different suggestions such as incorporating strength training, having the right running form, optimising their breathing and all sorts.
Eventually, they come across a piece of advice that confuses them. It tells them to wear a weighted vest. A weighted vest doesn’t make you run faster; it slows you down.
Why would anyone suggest this when you’re trying to run faster, not slower?
Nonetheless, they start wearing a weighted vest during their runs out of sheer desperation and because it was the most actionable advice they had seen.
It’s challenging but they get through it. Their times don’t get any better, but they still do it nonetheless as instructed by the guide.
One day, they reach a breaking point, having grown frustrated at the very small improvements in their running times, and decide to take off the vest and return to running like normal.
To their surprise… they end up besting their times… repeatedly.
Why is this happening?
Running with a weighted vest requires you to exert more force than normal. If you take off the vest and proceed to run again, your body will exert the same amount of force as if you were still wearing a vest resulting in you running much faster than before.
This is the same effect we are looking to emulate through the introduction of constraints to the innovation process.
Applying Constraints
As we’ve explored in this article, constraints are not the enemy of innovation but rather an enabler of it.
Now that you (hopefully) understand the importance and benefits of constraints, we encourage you to start experimenting with constraints to see how they might improve an aspect of your life.
We are of the firm belief here at Design Zindagi that improving your life will improve your innovative process. Here is a step-by-step for how you could start experimenting with constraints today:
Pick a work or personal project.
Brainstorm various conventional and unconventional constraints.
Apply them to the project.
Inform others to hold yourself accountable.
Document and measure the process and outcome. Did it positively or negatively impact your innovation approach?
We’d love to hear your thoughts down below. Can you think of any unconventional constraints that would be interesting to try?
Until next time,
Design Zindagi Team
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