What’s Holding You Back? Use It To Move Forward!

There’s a tendency to look at constraints as obstacles — whether they’re internal issues like budget, head count and resource limitations, systems log-jams, work-flow bottle-necks, bureaucratic red tape — or external issues like regulatory compliance, the distraction of audits or the pressure to respond to intense competition.

If handled right, every one of these constraints can be used to unleash some untapped creativity in your company.  Think about it: The 45 rpm recording was once seen as an arbitrary 3-minute constraint on the songwriter’s creativity. Well, the 45 is gone and so is the constraint — but how long are the digital tracks we listen to?  Check ’em and see.  Yep, still about 3 minutes.  It turns out that working within the constraint is actually a boost to the songwriter’s craft.

You can apply that same creativity-generating process to the constraints in your business:

1.  Budget and head count limitations.  Feel like you need more hands on the project to get all the work done but there’s a hiring freeze and no budget for consulting or part-time help? Ask yourself and your team:  Is every associate in every area really 100% busy every day of the year? Is there an opportunity for one manager to lend an associate to another area for a temporary assignment?  In addition to the organizational benefit of bringing resources to bear on a project as and when they’re needed, think of the cross-training, re-energizing and change-of-scenery opportunities for the loaned associate.
2. Systems log jams:  Does every capability somebody might ever need really have to be there on Day 1?  Right now, right in the middle of the project, how about going back to stakeholders for a fresh look at what they want and expect the product to do. There’s a good chance there’ve been some new developments in your user community since the specs were locked down that might mean some of these capabilities aren’t really needed right away or at all!  And there may be one or two brand new, high-value ideas to work into the mix.
3. Work flow bottle necks:  At one particular Friday morning stand-up staff meeting,  I got complete silence when I asked the assembled group whether we were going to make the delivery date.  So I looked directly at one of the spec writers and asked her the same question. Her response was “Don’t ask me.  I’ve already got my part done! I’ve already moved on to the next project.” I realized I was asking the same question to not one, but three distinct groups: The Front-End People — those who wrote the specs, whose part of the project was already complete, the Middle People — programmers who were at that moment knee-deep in their work, and the Back-End People — the testers who who hadn’t even started on theirs!  Look at your projects.  Can someone whose role is in one stage of the development cycle be moved over to help out in the work of another stage?  Once again, think cross-training and re-energizing of staff as well as smart resource allocation.
4. Compliance reviews:   What is the business goal of the feature that’s running into objections? Is there a simple, different, better, easier, cheaper way to do it that might also satisfy compliance?  Engage your compliance reviewers to join with you to come up with a solution. (Nobody likes having the sum total of their job being “Dr. No.” Making them part of the solution team will help them be more invested in the forward movement of your projects.)
5. Distraction of audits:  When companies goof up and are hit with sanctions and new oversight requirements, you often read quotes from their executives to the effect that “The fine’s not so bad, but having the auditors breathing down our necks is going to be intolerable.” Wrong attitude! There is no better way to improve your work processes than to have to explain everything you’re doing to strangers. You get the chance to hear yourself describing your work and answering their questions, and you can’t help but ask yourself whether there’s a better way. Use the questions and observations of the auditors to help make your company or department run better, and schedule your own end-of-day meetings with them to debrief what they’ve seen and heard.
6. Competition:  How do the products customers are buying from you really differ from the ones they get from competitors? Is there something they value and appreciate that they get with yours that they’re not getting with your competitors’ products? Years ago, the financial services industry tried to explain the reason for its high fees by saying clients get advice that comes bundled-up along with the product. Then a few companies started offering the product without the advice as a self-serve, stand-alone product.  Soon enough, these same companies started offering advice as an add-on. The key thing here was that customers now had the choice of whether to take the cheaper bare-bones product or pay more for the one with the advice. This became known as the disaggregation movement. Then guess what happened? Sure. Some companies started offering advice as a separate service! Then what? You guessed it: Re-aggregation, but this time advice bundled up with a menu of products of not one, but multiple companies. What’s included with your product that’s not going into theirs? Is there an opportunity to offer a scaled-down version as an option?

Every constraint is an opportunity.  Use it to make things better!