Moving Beyond the MVP in Hyper-Constrained Contexts: The Generative Power of Constraints Work

In a world of increasingly numerous and contradictory constraints, this study reveals how individuals can navigate hyper-constrained contexts to rapidly develop new deployable products. We draw on an in-depth field study of seven projects developing affordable, open-source ventilators in just 75 days during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis shows that innovation outcomes are fundamentally shaped by what we call "constraints work"—how individuals actively deal with and manage constraints—and find two types of constraints work that lead to divergent processes and outcomes. Four projects conducted “reductionist constraints work,” as they scanned, prioritized, and sequenced the key constraints. They then followed the well-known lean innovation process to sprint to a functioning minimum viable product (MVP). In contrast, three projects counterintuitively slowed down at the outset to conduct “generative constraints work,” extreme-mapping the full landscape of constraints and loading the design space even with additional hidden constraints. They then followed a “multiplex innovation process,” surfacing interdependencies among constraints and treating the resulting contradictions as design problems to be solved simultaneously. This process resulted in deployable products that went beyond the MVP, surpassing experts’ expectations. Regarding temporal pace, the multiplex innovation process entailed V-shaped acceleration—braking at the start, resisting the time pressure, to confront the full complexity of tensions, then sharply accelerating to resolve them in parallel, while the lean innovation process entailed a linear acceleration. Our findings contribute to theories of innovation and new product development processes and temporality, advancing understanding of how individuals can successfully navigate an excess of multiple, contradictory constraints.