Andrew Davis’ 4-sided Cube of Creativity

a solution as quickly as possible. These questions not only provide answers, but additional questions. The more dialog and information that is available, the more quickly I believe we can find a path to a solution. With the more focused deliverable, I can use the confined resources to provide a deliverable. I believe that finding the constraints can help me to work to streamline the creativity necessary to find a solution.”

Embracing the Cube of Creativity

American designer, architect and filmmaker Charles Eames once said that “creativity is the sum of all the constraints.” Truth be told, out-ofthe-box thinking does not work because all it provides is a bunch of ideas that nobody has the time, energy, resources or clarity to actually pursue. So while the concept of getting “out of the box” may inspire ideas, too often they’re not ones you have the budget or time to invest in.

Best-selling author and keynote speaker Andrew Davis believes in that premise wholeheartedly. Davis, who has founded and sold a digital marketing agency, served as a producer for NBC and worked on “The Muppets,” spends his time these days teaching business leaders how to grow and transform their businesses with a process called “The Cube of Creativity.” The premise offers four simple constraints you can add to any initiative or project, which inspires better solutions faster.

Davis calls it “thinking inside the box,” as each side of the cube represents one of the constraints you need to add. “When you embrace all of your specific constraints—re -

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source constraints, time constraints, budget constraints and creative constraints—you can be very creative. I think constraints breed creativity by flipping all the obstacles into opportunities for solutions that work for you.”

By eliminating the unnecessary, Davis says you do not have time to take on anything new. “If you aren’t killing two projects every time, this is a very hard one. I struggle with this one myself, but the more clear you get about what you’re doing, the more effective you’ll be with the other stages in the four steps.”

Embracing the unembraceable

When Ted Ford joined Knepper Press, the Clinton, Pennsylvania printer was a much smaller company surrounded by better known local competitors. From what Ford, who serves as CEO, saw, Knepper needed to greatly increase its name recognition with regional print buyers. which guests eagerly awaited the arrival of their invitations.

“Constraints are a part of our daily lives both on the business and personal sides, so you have to embrace them,” Ford says. “I view them as a given, so the better our company works within them versus how our competitors react to theirs, the more successful we will be. Constraints really become a focus on optimization—a way for you to use your limited resources to your best competitive advantage.”

Constrained by its budget and time to make it pay off, Ford decided to hold an annual open house. But this was not just any open house; this one would be an annual summer lobster fest with a memorable invitation. Buyers were encouraged to bring their spouses or friends. Eventually, the Knepper Press lobster fest became a community staple for

By staying focused on all the options around you, successful organizations can embrace situations quickly, establish constraints, assess resources and define clearer outcomes.