Never Start with Constraints

This could, by far, be one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt. It came about in the most non serious environ, but it’s one that just stayed, to be applied on almost anything I take up, and I wouldn't be far from the truth if I said it’s enabled a lot of change in life since.

We were planning an offsite in Google, an offsite which is typically a day out from office. We hear this new manager say, 'how about an offsite to Goa'? First there’s silence……and then there’s questions from every side. But we need to do it in a day…what about approvals.......there’s folks who can’t come overnight……how about the budget...and so on. And he’s like…….. First, do we want to do it? If the answer is a yes, then lets figure out those constraints. If we start with the constraints, we’ll never get to the ‘ I want to go’ bit. 

And what, at that point, seemed impossible, we made happen. We actually listed the constraints and found solutions to each, initially seemingly impossible constraints started to resolve themselves out. And we did Goa, and that was one of the best offsites I had in Google, and what’s more, it almost set a trend after that.

That’s a lesson that stayed.

It's a Choice !

And if you think about it, you’ll see this as a pattern. The moment you think of something, suggest something, that little bit different, that little stretched, that little out of comfort zone; people, meaning us, are first thinking of all the reasons why it can't be done; the difficulties, the effort, the risks, the constraints…..and the strange thing is that every move out of the norm will throw up tons of those.

Can we look beyond, rather.... can we at least flip over the sequence. Say we’ll do it because we want to, and then tackle the questions. 

Once you have the want articulated, it’s amazing to see the alacrity with which things move, and what you make possible. You first need to truly want and believe in the possibility. It can be the smallest want, or even the life changing ones. The key is to separate out the thought processes. First have the want clear. And then the issues. 

Next time you hit that situation, just become that little bit more aware.......just have this thought in your head of ‘never start with constraints’ and you’ll see how things start to unravel differently. It will make life that much more beautiful. Its again about moving out of comfort zone in order to grow, in order to experience life in its amazingly differing dimensions.