The power of limits: Eno’s strange exercises for innovation

Limit your field of exploration

Technology keeps developing to the point where the options available can seem overwhelming. In this scenario, you do not have time to test every option – so you need to find ways of limiting the field of exploration. This can be done by artificially deciding not to use anything in one part of the field (for example, Eno sometimes ‘bans’ musicians from using any equipment in one half of the studio).

Utilize the power of panic

Putting arbitrary limits on processes often induces panic – which can be a very creative response. As Eno says, “The funny thing is, in panic people often do very interesting things.” This includes doing things they wouldn’t risk doing otherwise because they can always blame the system.

Think in secret

This is about getting things done by looking like you are doing nothing. Eno cites how Japanese calligraphers would row out on the lake in small boats and grind ink all day then, as dusk fell, return to shore and quickly finish their pictures. Such long preparation plants the seed of something in your mind without taking any deliberate action. During this “secret thinking,” you’re not conscious of thinking about the thing and instead “work” on it subconsciously.

Get uncomfortable

Eno’s “strange exercises” include making everyone in the studio swap instruments – even if it means that people are trying to play an instrument they have never played before. This puts people in situations where they are uncomfortable, so they are less likely to fall back on what they know or have done before – which sets things up in a new way. Eno says, “Sometimes people who can’t play an instrument accidentally have brilliant ideas. They do something so outrageously stupid or simple that nobody would ever think of doing it. But it’s just the right thing sometimes.”