Constraints Make You Faster: Standardize Without Killing Creativity

Written by: David Carneal – Digital Efficiency Consulting Group – DECG

Read Time: 3 min

The myth: standardization kills creativity

People hear ‘standardize’ and picture a beige cubicle where ideas go to retire.

LEGO proved the opposite: once they reduced part chaos, they got faster and more creative because the system stopped fighting itself.

Constraints don’t choke creativity. They give it leverage.

• What a one-page standard should include:
  • Purpose (one sentence)
  • Inputs required (and where they come from)
  • The default steps (7 or fewer)
  • Owner + backup owner
  • Top 3 exceptions and what to do
  • Definition of done

What standardization really is (and what it isn’t)

Standardization isn’t ‘one way forever.’ It’s ‘one default until we learn a better default.’

It’s a shared starting point, so every team doesn’t reinvent the same wheel, badly, in different fonts.

• What a one-page standard should include:
  • Purpose (one sentence)
  • Inputs required (and where they come from)
  • The default steps (7 or fewer)
  • Owner + backup owner
  • Top 3 exceptions and what to do
  • Definition of done

A concrete example: quotes, orders, and the ‘creative’ free-for-all

Take quoting. If every rep can invent a quote layout, discount rule, and approval path, you don’t have a sales process. You have improv theater.

Standardization here doesn’t mean removing judgment. It means creating a default quote package and a short list of approved options.

Then, if someone wants to go off-menu, that’s fine. They just do it knowingly, with an approval rule, and with the exception logged so it doesn’t become the new normal by accident.

The 3-layer model: where to standardize first

If you try to standardize everything at once, you’ll create… wait for it… more complexity. Start with these layers.

• Layer 1: Inputs (what comes in)
  • Required fields on forms
  • Naming conventions
  • Data definitions (one meaning for one number)
• Layer 2: The default workflow (what people do)
  • Steps that don’t change 80% of the time
  • Who approves what
  • What ‘done’ looks like
• Layer 3: Exceptions (what breaks the default)
  • A short list of allowed exceptions
  • An escalation rule
  • A place to log exceptions so you can eliminate them later

• What a one-page standard should include:
  • Purpose (one sentence)
  • Inputs required (and where they come from)
  • The default steps (7 or fewer)
  • Owner + backup owner
  • Top 3 exceptions and what to do
  • Definition of done

Make the standard easy to follow (or it won’t be followed)

Standards fail when they live in a binder, a SharePoint graveyard, or a PDF nobody can open on the floor.

A good standard is more like a recipe card than a textbook: short, visual, and located where the work happens.

If people ‘forget’ the standard, it’s usually not because they’re rebellious. It’s because the standard is hard to access or harder to understand.

• What a one-page standard should include:
  • Purpose (one sentence)
  • Inputs required (and where they come from)
  • The default steps (7 or fewer)
  • Owner + backup owner
  • Top 3 exceptions and what to do
  • Definition of done

Micro Steps

• Quick win recipe (30 minutes):
  • Pick one high-frequency task
  • Write the ‘default path’ in 7 steps or less
  • List the top 3 exceptions
  • Decide who can approve exceptions (and who can’t)
  • Publish it where work happens (not where policies go to nap)

Guardrails

• Guardrails that keep standards from becoming bureaucracy:
  • Standards are defaults, not shackles
  • Exceptions require a reason code (one sentence)
  • If an exception happens 5 times, it becomes a candidate for a new standard
  • Review standards monthly, not annually

If your process requires heroics, it’s not a process. It’s a hostage situation.

Build a solid default. Let exceptions earn their keep. Your team will move faster with less stress and fewer surprises.

Standard work isn’t anti-people. It’s pro-time. It gives your team their brain back.

CTA: Write one ‘standard menu’ for a process and publish it where people actually work.

Footnotes

1. Roland Berger (2019) – Restacking the rules of innovation
2. The Guardian (2017) – How Lego clicked: the super brand that reinvented itself