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Limitations are part of life and by embracing them, we can unleash innovation, synergy, and immeasurable growth.
In his Ted Talk “Embrace the Shake,” Phil Hansen tells the story of how he developed a shake in his hands while he was in art school. As you can imagine, this made it hard to draw straight lines or work in his preferred style of pointillism.
As he says, it felt like “the destruction of my dream of becoming an artist.” That’s a big deal!
After being diagnosed with permanent nerve damage and completely leaving art for a while, Phil started experimenting with different materials and methods for making the type of art he loved, and it gave birth to a whole new way of creating for him.
Here are our main takeaways from his TED Talk:
- We’re going to run into obstacles and limitations.
- Limitations lead to creative problem solving, which leads to innovation.
- Let go of perfection. Don’t get attached to outcomes.
- Change is inevitable, but we can develop the strength and adaptability to grow with change.
How We Can Embrace the Shake…
Limitations lead to creative problem solving, which leads to innovation.
“Embracing a limitation can actually drive creativity.” - Phil Hansen
Possibility is endless, but limitation gives us some parameters. When EVERYTHING is on the table, it takes forever to figure out what we should do.
When Phil Hansen got his first job that allowed him to buy any fancy art supplies he wanted, he made a beeline for the supply store and went crazy. But with all those options at his fingertips, he felt stuck. He didn’t know what to create because the possibilities were simply overwhelming.
So, he started imposing limits and giving himself parameters to work with, like creating a piece with a dollar’s worth of supplies, or painting with just hamburger grease. (Gross, but you get the point.)
Limits narrow down our choices (at first) and give us a specific challenge to solve, which is much more concrete than endless possibilities with no restrictions whatsoever.
On the flipside, sometimes we start with limitations that seem to inhibit possibility, like a tight budget, time constraints, limited materials, or physical difficulties. We have to learn to work with those, or we’ll never get anywhere. The trick is to work with those limitations and use them to spark creative thinking, rather than waste energy railing against them.
“Ultimately, most of what we do takes place here, inside the box, with limited resources. Learning to be creative within the confines of our limitations is the best hope we have to transform ourselves, and collectively, to transform our world.”
Sure, at Redmond, we LOVE exploring possibilities and what could be. But we also acknowledge what is and the limits that might include. Eventually, in our exploration of possibility, we narrow things down until we can ask helpful questions like, “What’s the next right step?” “How can we shave two seconds off THIS process?” “Who can help with this idea?”
Limits can sharpen our focus. We can think “How can I work with what’s right in front of me?” Instead of thinking in huge possibilities.
Let go of perfection. Don’t get attached to outcomes.
Phil Hansen transformed his shake into a source of unlimited creativity. This is a great example of viewing challenges and setbacks not as dead ends, but as stepping stones to greater achievements.
“As I destroyed each project, I was learning to let go. Let go of outcomes, let go of failures, let go of imperfections. And in return, I found a process of creating art that’s perpetual and unencumbered by results. I found myself in a state of constant creation thinking only of what’s next, and coming up with more ideas than ever.”
Let go of outcomes, let go of failures, let go of imperfections.
This is CRUCIAL for success as a company or as a person.
Personal and professional growth is a continuous journey, where learning from setbacks is as important as celebrating successes.
Fear can paralyze us and prevent us from even starting something because we’re so attached to a certain outcome. We refuse to start until we’re “ready” (which, spoiler alert, may never happen).
Even if you “fail” (i.e. it doesn’t go the way you planned), you still learned something valuable. No effort is wasted, no education is wasted. It’s all preparation for future opportunities.
“I never lose. Either I win, or I learn.” - Nelson Mandela
Don’t get too attached to outcomes. We’re going for the best imaginable around here, but don’t get too stuck on what that looks like.
Change is inevitable. Strength and adaptability are constant.
Developing that shake was a huge change for Phil Hansen, and not a welcome one.
The thing is, these kinds of changes are part of life, and part of growth. Growth IS change. Structures and norms in our lives will shift, but we can develop the strength and adaptability to work with those changes.
Changes can be challenging, and even painful. Things often don’t turn out how we envision. But often you can see the good in challenging change in retrospect. Even if outcomes look different from what we imagined, even if limitations cause us to change course and try something different, that strength, adaptability, and growth remains constant.
How Do Our Core Values Apply?
Our core values serve as guidelines that help us navigate change and possibility. They function as “limitations” or guideposts to help us stay true to what we represent as a company, and as tools to help us when we aren’t sure how to proceed with a roadblock or limitation in place.
Passion for Contribution
We all have a contribution to make. When we work together, we can innovate to overcome obstacles and work with limitations.
Learn more about Passion for Contribution.
Occhiolism
This value is all about acknowledging the smallness of our perspective so we can seek out other perspectives. To seek out other perspectives, we must first embrace the limits of our own perspective.
Learn more about Occhiolism.
Ubuntu
“It's not that we ignore our weaknesses; rather, we make our weaknesses irrelevant by working effectively with others so that we compensate for our weaknesses through their strengths and they compensate for their weaknesses through our strengths.” - Stephen R. Covey
Get to know yourself and others, your strengths and weaknesses. When we see each other and collaborate, our personal limitations become irrelevant.
Learn more about Ubuntu.
Reflection
“Every experience becomes useful if we make it useful.” - Rhett Roberts
Reflection is key for learning from challenges and assessing what is, so that we can move forward and work with any limitations life has given us, or that we’ve put in place ourselves.
Learn more about Reflection.
Renew
When one thing doesn’t work, try something else.
Part of renewal is allowing yourself to show up differently if you bump up against a limitation that changes how you may need to respond.
Phil Hansen was a pointillism artist, and for a while, he tried harder to create those tiny dots by gripping the pen tighter, but that only made his shake worse and caused physical pain.
Instead, he decided to renew his approach and work bigger, with different materials, to create the type of art he was drawn to.
We might need to show up differently than we planned in order to meet a limitation. We can still be ourselves, but we might need to find a different version of ourselves to be truly effective. Don't get locked in to who you THINK you are. Give yourself room to surprise yourself.
This is part of growth!
Learn more about Renewal.
How can we work with limitations or even use them to our advantage?
“What I thought would be the ultimate limitation turned out to be the ultimate liberation.” -Phil Hansen
Would Phil Hansen have explored the way he did if he hadn’t developed that shake? Would he become the artist he became? Would he have developed that character?
Limitations can be hard. They can also be incredibly helpful. Life might hand us limitations, or we can use them if we’re paralyzed by choice or just aren’t sure what to do next.
When we’re stuck, either because the possibilities are overwhelming or because we aren’t sure how to work with a limitation, we find this question helpful:
What’s the next right step?
This is part of the mindset of continuous improvement and working with what’s in front of us.
When you hit an obstacle, embrace the limitation and ask, “What’s the next right step?”
And there isn’t just ONE next right step. As Dewitt Jones says, there are many right answers. A former National Geographic photographer turned speaker, he jokes, (imagine this in a deep, pompous voice) “There's one great photograph in this forest. Whoever finds it will be the winner and the rest of you will be hopeless losers."
Life just doesn’t work like that. There are many right answers, and we’re just looking for one of them.
Questions to think about:
- When have you or your team overcome a limitation, or even used it to your advantage?
- What modifications or collaborations can you work with to make your weaknesses irrelevant?
- When might it be helpful to put some limitations on yourself?
- Was there a time when something turned out differently than you imagined, but still great, thanks to a limitation?
