In any endeavor you attempt, there are always limitations. Sometimes there are the limitations of the context and circumstances, sometimes of the actors. But there are always limitations. Which isn’t always a bad thing. Limitations set boundaries, define the terms of engagement, and can actually promote creativity. What I find interesting about limitations, however, is how often we set them without even knowing it. And often these kinds of limitations are artificial, at best, and often both unnecessary and unhelpful. This kind of limitation is not likely to be productive because it prematurely closes down possibilities and restricts our...

Phil Hansen’s ten minute TED Talk is as important as it is poignant. Faced with a condition that made his hand shake and thereby seemed to destroy his dreams of being an artist, he took his neurologist’s advice to “embrace the shake.” When he did, he eventually discovered a number of remarkable ways to make art that didn’t compensate or overcome or even transcend his shaking but rather employed it to lead him to new creative ventures and vistas. What Hansen discovered was that far from reducing creativity, limitations actually increase it. Limitations set boundaries, close off the obvious routes forward, and invite – actually...

Do you have three minutes? Then watch this video and afterward ask yourself a simple question. The video is about Tommy Carroll. Tommy’s a skateboarder. A good skateboarder. Which means he’s got great balance, and loves a little risk, and falls down from time to time, only to get back up and skate some more. In all these ways, Tommy’s not that unusual from a lot of other kids who love to skateboard. But though Tommy’s been skateboarding since he was ten, he’s been blind since he was two. Yeah. Tommy skateboards by sound. But while that makes him unusual, I’m still not sure that’s what sets him apart. Because I think what makes...