Put Your Thumb on the Hose
The Magic of Using Constraints to Gain Velocity
TL;DR - Rivers flow fastest where they are constrained. The same thing applies to organizations. To gain velocity in Q1, try doing fewer things, having tighter deadlines, and assigning smaller teams to get things done.
In a recent call with my former client Jonathan Neman, CEO and founder of Sweetgreen, he talked about the concept of “constraints” as a guiding principle for how he’s been able to nearly double the number of stores the company has in less than two years.
Anyone who has ever used a garden hose understands that when you put your thumb over the end of the hose the water comes out with more force. Less water might actually be coming out, but the water that IS coming out has the power to scour the sidewalk or wash your car. Take your thumb away and you’re just wasting a lot of water that isn’t really doing anything.
The same is true for business. When we spread our energy and attention across too many projects, things move slowly. When we allow our teams to set deadlines in months or quarters rather than days or weeks, things move slowly. When we assign large teams to work on small projects, things move slowly. Basically, when we don’t have our thumb on the hose, things move slowly.
If you feel there’s a lack of urgency in your business, maybe it’s time to experiment with using constraints to gain velocity. Here is an incomplete list of what that might look like in practice:
1) Have Fewer Priorities – Scope and feature creep undermine the effectiveness of most products and organizations. Being creative is fun, we get it. “What if we/it also did THIS?!” Yeah, well what if it didn’t?
As Steve Jobs said, “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
When you narrow your focus, you force the entire organization to move together in the same direction. There’s nothing more powerful and impactful than that.
2) Set Tighter Deadlines – As the old adage goes, work will expand to fit the time allotted. I normally set aside two hours to write these blog posts; today I only had 45 minutes before a flight. But, you know what? It’s just as good, or perhaps even better than the posts I’ve written with unlimited time. Tight deadlines create focus. They snap us into flow. They stoke our creativity and allow us to perform at a level we otherwise don’t have access to.
Will people complain if you raise your expectations and tighten your deadlines? Yes, some will. But others will love it. And that is how you distinguish the B-players from the A-players. Should you set completely insane deadlines no one can ever meet? No. As soon as you start setting unrealistic goals and deadlines, people will assume you’re not serious, and they won’t even try. You want to increase the velocity of flow in the river, not dam it entirely.
3) Assign Smaller Teams to Work on Bigger Projects – While it might make logical sense to spread the work of a 100-hour-long project over a large number of people to get it done faster, a smaller group will likely do better, faster work. Unless you’re doing something mindless like stuffing and labeling boxes, of course, but our clients aren’t stuffing boxes. Creative and innovative work requires focus and close coordination. Diluting that creative juice across too many people generally leads to a watered-down and delayed end product.
We suggest teams of 5-7 for maximum creativity and productivity. Jeff Bezos agrees. He was often quoted saying that the ideal team can be fed with two pizzas. Any more than that, and you lose agility and decision-making velocity. Any less than that, and you may not have enough contrarian viewpoints to arrive at high-quality decisions.
Put Your Thumb on It
Creating constraints can feel counterintuitive and messy. Some people may complain about the urgency and pace, or about feeling left out. But disappointing people well is part of the job description if you are a leader. Besides, the best people will love it – they’ve actually been craving it.
What constraints have you been experimenting with to increase velocity? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me an email or post in the comments below.