Embrace constraints

This past year I have experienced working within constraints more than ever while working at my company’s recently acquired manufacturing plant. Two years after the acquisition and one massive reorganization later, we have found ourselves understaffed, overworked, and operating under a tight budget.

But our situation is not all that unique. Companies everywhere today undergo organization restructuring and cost cutting initiatives that place increasing responsibilities on a smaller workforce. Rare is the corporate employee or independent business owner who operates with abundant resources.

We all must adapt to an environment of constraints and scarcity. Given this new reality, we face two possible responses. We can either choose to wallow in our frustration, or we can embrace the constraint as an opportunity for creative problem solving.

Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.

Rework

I’ll admit that I still fall too often into the trap of feeling frustrated and discouraged when I think of a possible solution that I know cannot be implemented with our current resources. It’s easy to use a lack of resources as an excuse for stalling on a project or producing poor results.

I am much more productive if I start my week with a mindset primed to embrace constraints from the onset.

You will be amazed at the creativity you can unleash from your team when you lead with an attitude that embraces constraints as opportunities. The solution to most problems are far less complicated than we like to assume. Use the lack of resources to your advantage and find a simpler solution.