Book Summary

A Beautiful Constraint
How to Transform Your Limitations into Advantages,
and Why It’s Everyone’s Business
Book by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden Published by John Wiley & Sons | © 2015

Synopsis
Do you suffer from a lack of time, materials, or other resources that have been impacting your progress in your work?
Do you need sources of new ideas to boost your business and lead you in new directions? Authors Adam Morgan
and Mark Barden claim that limitations are a catalyst for innovation: by embracing constraints, you can promote
insights and breakthroughs that you would never have otherwise found.

A Beautiful Constraint (Wiley, © 2015)

The key concepts of A Beautiful Constraint can be distilled

provides a step-by-step approach to turning

into the following steps:

the limitations that currently hold you back
to your advantage. Using the method
presented in this book, you may come to
view constraints as benefits, rather than
obstacles, and not only make use of
constraints imposed externally, but actually
choose constraints as a way of promoting
innovation.
Develop a New Mindset
When you move through the mindsets of what the authors call “Victim”
and “Neutralizer” to become a “Transformer,” you’re in a position to
take advantage of the opportunities created by constraints.
Break Path Dependence
What you take for granted—from language to habits—is worth
interrogating to reassess its usefulness to progress.

Ask Propelling Questions

Tying ambition and constraint together in a question helps break path
dependence and unveil new solutions.

Form Can-If Answers

Answering propelling questions with Can-If answers maintains a focus
on moving forward rather than getting bogged down in discussions
about whether forward movement is possible.

Create Abundance
Expand your view of resources from what you control to what you can
access.

Activate Your Emotions

Your success is tied to your emotional investment in your goals.
Fantasizing about success and imagining failure both serve as prompts
to full engagement.

“The beneficial power of constraint is all around us, whether we recognize it or not.”
Based on A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform Your Limitations into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business by
Adam Morgan and Mark Barden, we discuss the steps that can lead you to see the beauty in constraint. We share
our interpretations of these practices in the following pages.
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2

What Is a Constraint?
In order to leverage your constraints, you need to see them as something beyond simple limitations keeping
you from doing things and making choices. Seeing a constraint as a potential source of new possibilities and
opportunities begins with a clear identification of the constraint. Only then can you begin to examine it to see
where it might lead you.

sThe Four Types of Constraintss

According to the Morgan and Barden, taking a new view of your constraints begins with recognizing and
categorizing them. Constraints can be viewed as belonging to four categories:

• Foundation constraints are a limitation in an element that is fundamental to success

• Resource constraints are a limitation of an asset, such as people, money, or materials
• Time constraints are a limitation in either the project duration or individual’s time to invest in a
particular activity
• Method constraints are a limitation because of a requirement to accomplish something in a particular
way, as opposed to alternative approaches

Not all examples of constraints—for example, those the authors call “extreme constraints”—have the potential
to provide a benefit. But it is possible to re-envision a constraint in any of the four categories.

sWho Benefits from Rethinking Constraints?s

People who typically work to specification, such as creative and problem-solving professionals, find that
working within constraints helps to channel their energies and focus. Challengers who are taking on big or
established businesses have constraints by definition, and working within them is a fundamental part of their
entry into markets. Computer science kludges (workarounds) are solutions within constraints, and this
attitude of solving whatever obstacle comes your way is used by others, such as farmers. Large companies
may also seek to change their historic approaches with methods that allow them to creatively rethink
constraints.

From Victim to Transformer

Morgan and Barden suggest that one way of looking at attitudes toward constraints is to see them as a balance—
equal or unequal—between ambition and constraint. It’s possible for constraint to dominate ambition, for
ambition and constraint to find a balance, or for ambition to dominate constraint. It’s the third relationship that
opens the path to recasting constraints.
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3

sThe Stages of Response to Constraints

The authors demonstrate that dealing with constraints begins with recognizing how you characteristically
respond to them. They name three characteristic types of responses to constraints:

• The Victim reduces ambition in the face of constraint

• The Neutralizer maintains ambition, but finds an alternative way to deliver
• The Transformer finds ways to increase ambition while casting constraint as an opportunity

Although initially postulated as personality types, the Victim, Neutralizer, and Transformer are now viewed by
Morgan and Barden as stages that may be passed through each time a constraint is faced. Even those who have
transformed constraints in the past may still initially react to a newly recognized constraint as a Victim.

sGetting Beyond the Victim Stages

There are three areas in which you can work to transform your attitude about constraints: Mindset, Method, and
Motivation. Working through each area involves asking yourself a series of questions.

Mindset: Believing that a Constraint Can Be Transformed

• Have I made a similar transformation in the past?
• Do I consider myself a Transformer?
• Has my organization made a similar transformation in the past and incorporated it into its corporate
story?
• Does my organization celebrate Transformers?
• Do I know of similar transformations that might be useful, even if they are not within my organization?

Method: Knowing Where to Begin to Effect Transformation

• Do I understand why a new problem-solving approach may be needed here?
• Do I understand the most productive way to frame the challenges posed by this constraint?
• Do I understand how to proceed with the search solutions without losing forward motion?

Motivation: Maintaining Perseverance Through the Process

• Have I tied this challenge to my emotions?
• Is my sense of the importance of this challenge commensurate with my organization’s view of it and
the perseverance it may require?
• How can I recast my current challenge to engage my perseverance?

This analysis leads individuals (and groups) to be able to clearly visualize their initial attitude concerning
transforming any given constraint, providing a jumping-off point for action.
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4

Setting a New Path

Research has shown that organizations move through three phases concerning how they treat approaches to
problem-solving. They begin with a fair amount of path flexibility, progress to developing a favored approach,
and end up with particular paths that become locked-in and expected. At this third phase, the path that worked
well yesterday becomes the path that’s applied indiscriminately today as part of “our way of doing things.” But
this needs to change for a productive approach to constraints.

sPaths from the Pasts

The third phase, when paths from the past are used exclusively, creates a variety of problems in organizations.
Along with paths, other things are locked into place. These include assumptions about the business, criteria
for success, organizational biases, and organizational priorities. Locked-in paths also create blinders; you might
not see what’s possible given a different approach; you may fail to take account of information that doesn’t
serve the established path; or you may choose to follow approaches that might not best serve in the current
situation.

sRevealing and Breaking the Cycles

Identifying ingrained paths is the first step toward moving beyond them. Next, identify and name the underlying
assumptions, processes, routines, sources of solutions, internal and external relationships, and measures of
success tied to those paths. Question each one to see if they are serving or hindering progress. Is it acceptable
to stick with the status quo of continuing value in each case, or is it time to rethink? Propelling questions assist
in this analysis.

Propelling Questions and Can-If Answers

Propelling questions ask things that cannot be answered by any of your previous approaches. According to the
authors, the nature of propelling questions forces you to reevaluate your assumptions. The key to the propelling
question is a built-in constraint: it is this aspect of the question that forces you out of your “business-as-usual”
approach.

sHow to Construct a Propelling Questions

The propelling question is constructed to take into account the discoveries about moving from the stage of
viewing constraint as a Victim to viewing constraint as a Transformer. That is, the propelling question combines
ambition with constraint to move the conversation in new directions. When tension is created between constraint
and ambition, the constraint drives the solution to achieve your ambition.
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5

To frame a propelling question, you align one of the four types of constraint—foundation, resource, method, or
time—with one of five types of ambition—growth, quality, superiority, experience, and impact. There are three
other requirements for framing the question:

1 it must be maximally specific, given the situation, in naming the constraint

2 it must be taken seriously enough by those who matter to legitimize and authorize the investigation it
prompts
3 whoever provides the authority for asking the question must receive the answer

For example, to combine a constraint of time with ambition for growth, you might ask how to double
(triple/quadruple) growth within a specific timeframe (six months/two years).

sAnswering Propelling Questionss

It’s easy, but not productive, to aim at figuring out if the propelling question can be answered. Skip that. Also leave
behind Can’t-Because answers. If the conversation revolves around answers that begin with “We can if,” you’re on
the road to answering your propelling questions. Can-If answers focus on the way in which something may be
possible, rather than on whether it is possible. For example, instead of saying, “We can’t make that change because
it would slow production,” the authors advise reshaping the conversation to include statements like, “We can if we
can use another company’s faster production line.” These answers stoke optimism, forcing those in the conversation
to problem solve (rather than obstruct) and progress. Such answers also promote a Transformer mindset.

Because constraints often occur in clusters, Can-If answers often need to be developed in sequence, to address
the constraints that arise when the first constraint is solved. As the constraints cascade, so must the Can-Ifs. For
example, from rethinking what is considered an asset, you might need to move to dealing with a shortage of
resources to adapting existing assets to new uses.

sTypes of Can-Ifs
The authors have identified nine types of Can-If answers, each of which is characterized by the key factor in
creating possibility. The key factors are:

• viewing something familiar in a novel way

• using external resources
• removing an impediment for a specific gain
• drawing on new sources of insight and knowledge
• developing a new product or service
• substituting a new product/process/experience for an existing one
• finding/creating a new funding source for the solution
 Book Summary: A Beautiful Constraint
6

• combining previously separate elements

• finding new ways to access resources

Exploration of the various Can-If approaches forms part of the process as you and your team work to answer
propelling questions.

Re-envisioning Abundance
Transforming constraints often involves rethinking resources. This can involve both thinking differently about
acknowledged resources and figuring out how to partner with others to share resources. Morgan and Barden
point out that when you revalue your existing assets and create shared agendas that promote sharing resources,
what you thought were limited resources may turn out to be sufficient for your purposes.

sConstraints on Resourcefulnesss
A key restraint on your resourcefulness may be assumptions you have about resources. There are five
assumptions that need to be revisited and changed. First, resources are not just those assets that are under
your direct control. Second, resources are givens, not things that need to be sought out. Third, limited resources
are a reality that you need to accept as a given. Fourth, only internal organization resources can be at your
disposal. And finally, people don’t think of organizational resources in terms of how they might be of value to
those outside our organization, and thus as a bartering item.

sRethinking Resourcess
Rethinking your resources involves rethinking relationships that have potential for providing additional resources.
Stakeholders, external partners, resource owners with whom you do not have a current relationship, and
competitors are all potential sources of resources. If Ford and Toyota can jointly build hybrid trucks (and they
do), thinking about your competition is potentially fruitful. To leverage these relationships, you need to find areas
of shared agenda, and look for voids that you can fill. If neither of these is the case, working toward developing
these areas as well as considering how your assets could serve those you’d like to partner with.

Engaging Your Emotions

Although having a Transformer mindset and knowing the methods for asking propelling questions, developing
Can-If answers, and rethinking your resources are critical, they aren’t enough. Transforming a constraint to a
beautiful constraint requires perseverance, and emotion is the key motivator that helps people work through to
success.
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sWhy Emotions Are Valuables

Whether you call it grit or perseverance, the ability to hang in on a long, challenging project, despite obstacles,
failures, and seemingly unreasonable constraints, is a key part of completing transformations. Emotional
engagement strengthens your ability to endure all the steps on the way to success, but it needs to be personal,
not just attached to your organizational loyalty.

sWhich Emotions Transform Constraints?s

Just because emotion is needed to transform a constraint doesn’t mean the emotion has to be positive. People
use a wide range of emotions to fuel their solutions to the problems posed by propelling questions, ranging from
love, desire, excitement, and pride, to greed, hate, fear, and rage, including every shade of each of those eight.
Take stock of your feelings to discover your emotional engagement, trying to find at least one positive aspect to
your engagement. Thinking about what success and failure would each bring can help generate a mix of emotions.

Leading with Beautiful Constraints

The success stories of those who have transformed constraints into beautiful constraints are diverse, just as the
Transformers are diverse. On the one hand, there are those who start with no resources and no budget, who
have to seek out others to do their marketing for them and hone every opportunity they have for communication
to maximum effect. On the other hand, there are large companies that have grown to appreciate the possibilities
that constraints provide. You can draw lessons from both. The combination of scarcity and abundance in the
present-day world makes it a given that constraints will play an important role in the future of your organization
and models of all sorts will benefit you.

sTransforming Constraints into Beautiful Constraintss

Embracing constraints can lead to six benefits. First, an organization can ask productive questions about its vision
and approaches. Second, it provides an opportunity to rethink challenges and resources. Third and fourth, it
challenges organizations to find the benefit of working with less and new possibilities for having more. Fifth, it
provides a context for developing new types of solutions. And sixth, it encourages the building of new systems
and building models based on new assumptions that include scarcity.

There are a number of ways (called the ABC approach) to adapt the beautiful constraints methodology to your
particular situation:

A: Take the steps as an orientation, without following the entire process.

B: Adapt some of the thoughts or principles that resonate for you, and try them out as a start.
 Book Summary: A Beautiful Constraint
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C: Try out the tools under only several of the principles.

D: Try out the steps on a particular instance of constraint and work through it fully before applying it beyond
the one situation.
E: Try out a self-imposed constraint.
F: Imbed the processes proposed by Morgan and Barden to a greater degree, integrating them deeply into
your workflow.

Depending on your starting point and the level of challenge you face, you may use only a part of the ABC process,
rather than the full-blown approach.

sLeadership and Constraintss

Besides deciding how to integrate the transformation of constraints into their organization, leaders can do eight
things to effect change in the way their organization handles constraints:

• believe in the ability of their colleagues to become Transformers

• stop avoiding constraints in their organizational planning
• increase the level of ambition and provide the legitimacy that ties success to organizational well-being
• understand when and where to compromise ambition and when to hold firm
• convince others, even those initially skeptical, that a transforming solution is available and that they
can discover it
• foster emotional buy-in with story-telling
• support challenges to the organization’s assumptions and givens
• know when to accept the limits—and when to push them

With the current emphasis on sustainability, and the problems faced in the present related to scarcity, poverty,
and disease, for example, the ability to work with constraints and find abundance will be a much-needed trait
for the world’s leaders.
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Insights—Reimagining Your Constraints

Even experienced problem solvers can end up back in

the Victim mindset when constraint hits. Remember
When Constraint Hits, that the three mindsets can be stages, and work your
Review Your Mindset way out of the Victim mindset, through the Neutralizer
Mindset, and back to being a Transformer.

Organizations move toward preferred paths for prob-

lem-solving. When transforming constraints, break the
cycle to provide solutions. Start by tackling one or two
small, but outdated assumptions first, and then move
Question the Givens
on to more difficult and impactful challenges as your
confidence grows.

Tying ambition and constraint together in a question

helps in the move toward new ways of working. Can-If
answers both prevent negative thinking and maintain
a focus on solving the limitations imposed by the con-
Ask Propelling Questions
and Offer Can-If Answers straint. Even if you initially know how to provide the “if”
factor, bringing it to light is the first step in making it
possible.

Your resources go beyond what’s directly under your

control. Consider whether assets can be revalued or
repurposed, whether stakeholders have assets they
Rethink Your Resources could bring to bear, and how your organization could
barter with others that share your vision, even your
competitors.

Emotion directly affects the level of emotional engage-

ment and motivation you feel to follow through chal-
lenging situations. Use emotion—preferably a
combination of negative (what if you fail?) and positive
Tie-in Emotion
(what if you succeed?)—to drive continued engagement
in the face of obstacles, setbacks, or even failures.
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Conclusion
At one time or another, everyone faces shortages of time, money, materials, skill, and other key elements that
make business happen. It’s a given. And sometimes it can be overwhelming. A Beautiful Constraint provides you
with a methodology to move on from feeling victimized by circumstances, and guides you through regaining
control and reworking the barriers into transformative plans that will help you keep your business moving ahead
when you’re operating under constraints.

“The capability to make constraints beautiful is increasingly important to all of us. We all live at
the nexus of scarcity and abundance, and the capability to turn constraints into sources of
opportunity will increasingly be a key definer of progress in our personal as well as our business lives. ”
If you’ve enjoyed our insights on Adam Morgan’s and Mark Barden’s A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform Your
Limitations into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business, we encourage you to access the other A Beautiful
Constraint assets in the Skillsoft library, or purchase the hardcopy.

About the Authors

ADAM MORGAN is an international best-selling author who introduced the concept of
challenger brands to the world of marketing. His ideas have been widely cited as a key
influence by a new generation of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders around
the world. He is founder of eatbigfish, a renowned marketing consultancy that works
with international clients to develop their own breakthrough strategies.

Also by Adam Morgan

1 Overthrow: 10 Ways to Tell a Challenger Story (with Mark Holden), PHD, © 2012,
ISBN 978-0956972811.
2 Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders, Wiley,
© 2009, ISBN 978-0470238271.

MARK BARDEN runs the West Coast business for eatbigfish in the US. Over his career,
he’s won the Platinum Award for direct response marketing, taken a dot com public,
warmed up a crowd for Ellen DeGeneres, and played a Buddhist monk in a Kleenex com-
mercial. His advice on how to create breakthrough thinking with outsize results is much
sought after. He is a popular speaker, world class facilitator, and occasional coach. This
is his first book.

A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform Your Limitations into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business,
by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden. Copyright © 2015, John Wiley & Sons, 288 pages, ISBN: 978-1118899014.