💡 When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also work as an executive coach for CEOs of venture-backed startup companies. For the first time in a long time, I have a few slots opening up! If you are a CEO and are looking for a coach, or want to learn more about it, I’d love to talk to you - just reply here. Or you can read more about me here.
If you couldn’t tell from all the cartoons, when I’m not working on my day job I’m an artist. I’ve made art most of my life, and it has become a welcome distraction from the stresses of building businesses. Along the way I have gotten pretty good!
However, I still run into roadblocks. Some days making art feels like a struggle, and it’s hard to create anything at all - let alone something good. These days come pretty often, so I’ve had to find ways to work through them. After trying a lot, I found one that works.
When I get stuck, I make bookmarks.
Bookmarks might not sound like an artform! Physical bookmarks are small, and using them as a medium for art is challenging. To squeeze something meaningful into a small space requires thinking and skill, as well as trial and error. Even if you do it well, people never compliment you on the quality of your bookmarks.
However, it’s exactly those constraints that help me unblock. Having to fit something into such a small space clears out all of the distractions and hang-ups that hold me back, allowing me to create something. They are not always good, but that’s not the point! The point is that they unclog the logjam in my head so I can get back to performing at my best.
The same is true in business! You’ll never have enough capital, people or time. No, it doesn’t matter if you’re a startup or a Fortune 10 business. No one ever has “enough”. In business we live in a world of constraints.
Too often, we think of these constraints as liabilities. We see them holding us back from achieving our vision, and lament how others have more than we do.
You have a choice to see these constraints as opportunities. Constraints require you to be creative and perform at your best. Instead of complaining about how you don’t have “enough”, consider it a challenge and rise to the occasion!
Here are some examples:
You don’t have enough time. That means you have no room for distractions and need 100% focus on the one thing that matters. While others waste time, you don’t have that luxury. Executive and focus are a necessity.
You don’t have enough people. A smaller team can do less, but it also requires less overhead to run. Empower your team to learn fast and make decisions, give them the room to do the work that other companies need entire teams to get done. See exactly how fast everyone can grow.
You don’t have enough money. You can’t spend money to solve your problems, you need to be creative. Grass roots marketing strategies, bare-bones products and innovative approaches to making money. Without money you lack resources, but you also have infinite flexibility so make the most of it.
Yes, it is harder to accomplish anything with constraints. However, if you can reach your goals despite those constraints you have built something valuable. If you can reach that goal with more constraints than others, you have built a competitive advantage.
So, instead of complaining that you don’t have more, see your constraints as a challenge. You can do so much more than you might know, and this is the time to show it.
And, if you’d like some bookmarks you can download them below! They are ready to print PDFs that should work on any printer, but you’ll get the best results on a high resolution laser printer.
For more on Leadership, see:
I heard the term "Enabling Constraints" for this.
Great post.
Reminds me of a passage from Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance in which the professor at one point deals with a student that is stuck on a writing assignment. He tries getting her to write about something specific (a town)...then more specific - still stuck....write about a house - nothing - ...a brick in the house....Frustrated he then he tells her to write about her thumbnail (or something like that) and it all gushes forth. The point is constraints can indeed unlock value.
Also if memory serves many great/durable companies get started during recessions.