Constraint Inspires Creativity
The Impactmaker Movement should be anything but limiting.
We are here to develop creative solutions to some of the world’s deepest problems. The things we may be missing though is that creative doesn’t necessarily mean complex.
It’s great to desire a world changing result but results aren’t measured by how complicated it was to get them.
The Simple Solution
When I was 16, I went on my first Spoke Folk trip. See E-Impact 62 for more information on this ministry.
Some bikes cost $1,000s.
I don’t remember too much about the orientation meeting that we had on this trip that took place back in 1999 but I do remember learning a lot about bicycles. We would be touring around OH on bikes and many of the forty of us had never done anything like that.
There was an adult on the trip whose job it was to make sure everyone’s bike on the trip was in working order and that people understood how to operate them.
We were made aware of various things about a bike including how to adjust the seat, how to shift gears, pump up a tire, and even signal to traffic but perhaps the most important lesson was how to use the brakes.
Most bikes have rim brakes (see Types of Bike Brakes Explained to learn more about bike brakes). I see these type of brakes as somewhat of a necessary evil. You don’t want to lack a way to stop but sometimes they cause problems.
We learned how the brakes worked and that the lever on the right side of your handlebars contracts the brake pad on your back wheel and the left side does that same for your front wheel. This is important to know because in a sudden situation you don’t want to squeeze your left hand to fast and tight because you could lock your front wheel and flip over your handlebars (ouch, I’ve seen it happen).
This also might seem complicated and brakes always seem to cause problems for novice cyclists. One thing that tends to happen is over a twelve day bike tour, wear and tear sets in and brakes tend to wiggle out of place. You can end up with a problem without even realizing it.
I spent most of this first Spoke Folk tour figuring things out “on the fly” or I should say, “on the ride”. At one point, I was really struggling to ride and propel my bike - which consequently, was a heavy mountain bike that I borrowed from my friend. A hybrid or road bike was much more appropriate for this type of trip.
On the hilly days especially (OH has plenty of them), it was expected that those of us novice cyclists might struggle. We were told to take breaks, walk up hills (mountains to this FL boy), and shift gears efficiently. I tried to use any techniques I knew of to push through.
Little did I know, my problem had a simple solution. I didn’t need any special techniques, a downhill, or a gust of wind. I just needed to adjust my brakes ever so slightly. The rubber pad had shifted just a bit and was rubbing up against the rim of the wheel. In other words, I was constantly braking without even knowing it!
This was so frustrating. I had spent miles of physical and mental struggle trying to fix a problem that would take 5 seconds and about .1 inches to fix.
Impact Problems
The Impactmaker Movement is not perfect. It has, and we have, our share of problems. However, I would pose that most of the day to day limitations that we experience, require only simple solutions.
We complicate stuff!
The cumulative issues we are trying to solve are no doubt complex situations. But, most of the things we encounter don’t require complex solutions.
We need to communicate better, manage risk more effectively, and check on those important systems that we often take for granted.
When I was cycling through Ohio on my first ever trip of that kind, I had a lot of things on my mind and my experience was limited (nonexistent initially). Anything that wasn’t broken got no attention…until it broke. I, along with most of my fellow tour mates, took our brakes for granted.
What are the things you take for granted that could cause problems in your every day efforts?
Here’s some that come to mind for me:
Your e-mails are going to spam
Your voicemail is full
Your Internet is out
Your batteries are dead
You’re in a “dead zone” for cellular service
There’s a timezone confusion
You can’t open document or physical item
Interestingly, many of these things seems like modern or “first world” problems.
This tells me maybe we’ve actually made life more complicated by all the luxuries that we have. You might say that, but either way, these things are not complex problems.
We’ve created so much opportunity that we’ve given ourselves a false sense of complexity. What if we limited some of these things and avoided relying on them to be productive?
Doing Work
In my sports and in my business career, I’ve always admired people that get things done regardless of the scenario. It was said that they were “doing work”. Earlier in life, I believed there was a special ability that these people had. I may or may not have been right.
Certain people do have a special talent for things, but a lot of times, it’s the simple things that most people can do that give them the edge.
The best athletes have a level of athleticism that most don’t, but their work ethic can be repeated by anyone. The leaders in business have great skills, but their execution and dedication can be matched.
This tells me the “secret ingredient” required for success is available to all.
We can “do work” just by concentrating on and putting our best effort to the priorities. Limit the items and maximize the effort.
Constraint
I often call myself the classic visionary that lacks integration.
See Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters, which I first mentioned about two years ago in the July 21, 2020 edition of E-Impact. The text is six years old and still holds up. In fact, I imagine the concepts would have applied since the beginning of time. Human minds are not all that different now. We’re just dealing with different issues and technology.
You might have too many ideas. Pick the best one.
I have a tendency to seek innovation, change, and new ideas. It’s great in the early stages of things but it is limiting when it is time to execute. Wickman and Winters posit that visionaries need to be paired with integrators for success, and vice versa.
I’m thankful to have integrators in my personal life and my business life at Initiate Impact. They provide the needed constraint for me to be effectively creative. I never thought of myself as very creative until more recently in life.
A good integrator will show the visionary the need to focus on the best ideas rather than creating more.
Creativity is not just for artists and musicians. There are many ways of expressing it. Unfortunately, problems arise when there are no boundaries. This is because a deeply creative person who finds themselves overwhelmed and completely without direction will struggle to find substance in their thoughts.
Constraint is actually what is needed.
Simplify the Playing Field
You may want to tackle multiple problems at once and make the biggest impact you possibly can. I’m here to encourage that but tell you you can’t do it all overnight. It takes time - a lot of time.
I heard an interviewee on a podcast recently say she doesn’t agree with the cliché that “life is short”. She thinks it’s “long” and that we are impatient. I would agree that for the average person life is long. I tend to be concerned it is too short because I almost lost it at the age of eighteen (listen to Speaking of Impact episode 1).
Another podcast guest I heard made a profound statement. He said his fear of flying (which I also have despite traveling that way many times) was not about death and eternal life, but that he had too many things left to do on this side of heaven.
Whether you think life is short and you have a lot to do on Earth, or you think you have plenty of time left, you can only handle so much at once.
Give yourself some constraint, especially if you are a creative visionary.
Less is certainly more because you have to concentrate on doing one thing great before you can do the next great.
Making a Consistent Impact
The best organizations have great systems. These systems take time to develop and they build on each other. As one is perfected, the next can be developed.
The visionaries and the integrators work together and time up their efforts well. As a result, the impact is consistent.
Inconsistencies can be avoided by limiting the scope of your work. For example, even the smallest of impact projects are likely to uncover multiple needs. It is the nature of helping people. Unfortunately, you can’t solve multiple problems at once. It’s better to solve one and build on that. Otherwise, you’ll never eliminate an issue or risk it resurfacing for lack of attention.
In my opinion, it would be better to never fix something than to fix it temporarily and have it come back.
Consistency comes with simplicity.