In 1960 Dr. Seuss’s publisher, Bennet Cerf bet Seuss that he couldn’t write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 words.
With $50 bucks on the line, Seuss took the bet and won.
The book, Green Eggs and Ham sold over 200 million copies and is regarded as one of the greatest children’s books of all time.
It wasn’t luck, a fluke or merely a super-talented writer at work. It would be too easy to attribute his success to that.
My point?
It’s a lesson in the power of constraints. We all have constraints, the question is how you view them…
Are they happening TO you or happening FOR you?
My coaching career was largely spent running underfunded programs at geographically disadvantaged universities. I found those constraints made me a better and more creative coach. Which coincidentally brought about results we never could’ve achieved without those constraints.
Too often people complain about a lack of time, money, contacts, or resources. In reality these constraints are your greatest asset.
My book Seeds of Success is an inspirational story about how a leader can use the power of constraints to their advantage. Grab a copy:
P.S. I deliberately gave myself two constraints for this article, less than 200 words in less than 20 minutes. (196 words & 16 min. later here you are.)