Premium
EMBRACING CONSTRAINTS: THE SKY'S THE LIMIT AND GRAVITY'S GOOD, TOO
Author(s) -
Johnson Whitney
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
leader to leader
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1531-5355
pISSN - 1087-8149
DOI - 10.1002/ltl.20243
Subject(s) - constraint (computer aided design) , limit (mathematics) , path (computing) , epistemology , sociology , computer science , mathematical economics , economics , theoretical physics , law and economics , mathematics , physics , philosophy , mathematical analysis , geometry , programming language
Johnson explains that most people have a visceral, negative response to the word constraints . Yet a constraint can actually be quite positive, particularly for innovators. A life of “complete freedom” might sound tempting, yet she believes that “would be characterized by infinite possibilities coupled with debilitating complexity.” Constraints provide structure, feedback, and tools of understanding for innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. “Without parameters there is no path,” Johnson writes. “Constraints offer structure that can liberate us from the potential chaos of entropy.” She draws on such supporting research as the S‐curve concept of innovation articulated in the early 1960s by Everett M. Rogers in his classic Diffusion of Innovations .