Constraints are a Gift

We view constraints as limitations

that keep us from achieving our goal.

We either fall victim to these constraints

and revise our ambition downwards, or

we confront these constraints head-on

and look for ways to eliminate them.

But there is a third option:

To embrace our constraints AND

still find a way to achieve our goal.

In the early days,

Southwest Airlines had to sell one of their planes.

The could have accepted downsizing or

knocked on many more investor doors

but they instead asked themselves:

“How can we keep our existing routes with 3 planes instead of 4″?

They did this by reducing gate turnaround times

through a new boarding process with no assigned seating.

They didn’t stop there.

They kept optimizing for gate turnaround time by

imposing additional constraints on themselves:

Like flying only a single type of aircraft,

and flying only short point-to-point routes.

These constraints turned them into

the most profitable airlines in the industry.

Embracing your constraints

creates space for innovation.