Creativity loves constraint. People often think of it in terms of artistic work—unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you’ll find that some of the most inspiring art forms—haikus, sonatas, religious paintings, are fraught with constraints. They’re beautiful because creativity triumphed over the rules…Creativity, in fact, thrives best when constrained.
When I think of creativity, one of the first things I think of is being told to "think outside the box" or "color outside the lines." But as Marissa Mayer points out, that open-ended process is not the only way to be creative. Sometimes, perhaps even often, having absolutely no constraints can hinder our ability to be creative. We hit an "analysis paralysis" wall and have trouble coming up with ideas because there are just too many options and we don't know where to begin.
So what does this mean for us? It certainly doesn't mean that free-form creativity doesn't happen or doesn't have its place. But it does mean that there are many times where coming up with basic constraints can help get the ball rolling. For example, you may be in a brainstorming meeting where a request is made for ideas, but it is met with a wall of silence. At this point, try suggesting a basic framework, like focusing on ideas geared for one particular type of customer or where the budget is much smaller than usual. This should help get the ideas flowing.
