–Terrace Crawford
http://www.terracecrawford.com
http://www.twitter.com/terracecrawford

There is the thought that you are freeing people to be more creative but instead it opens up the “Well, that’s not what I was looking for.” but as the creative person you did not know that when there was no direction or constraint given.

Creatives like to have some ability and openness to be creative, but with a vision or goal given. If you don’t give that “constraint” then you are wasting the time of everyone.

Some of the most creative ____ (fill in the blank) happened due to constraints on money, time resources/people. It forces people to think different and be creative to get through the challenges.

Unless I am missing Tony’s point there needs to be a balance on what the constraints are.

Give direction without suffocating.

One of the most maddening sentences that a Pastor/Church leader can say to a creative when asked to provide direction on a project/campaign/series/etc is “Just make something (insert creative adjective here)”.

When constraints are completely eliminated, it dilutes the creative process. Often times a creative, when not given any constraints, will chase down concepts that aren’t effective. When constraints are in place, and vision in clearly communicated, then the creative can pursue options within a framework that will yield much more effective and creative results.

Its been a philosophy of mine for some time that “creativity loves constraints.” You can read some more about it here. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/b3971144.htm

Many think that the lack of a framework means creativity will explode when in my experience that isn’t necessarily true.

I understand why some of your readers could misunderstand this. Likely because many new church leaders feel like they are trying to eliminate lifeless traditions and thus they associate traditions with constraints.

I think a set of strong purposeful constraints can be one of the most empowering aspects of the creative process.