I can get cynical about “outcomes.” That word gets attached to so many different targets that it’s hard to keep track of what we’re actually talking about. That’s a challenge for leadership because it diminishes clarity. Decision-making for impact demands focus.

We don’t control outcomes. Any more than we control complexity. Too many inputs from too many microsystems. Nobody controls the wind or the waves. They harness it. We create conditions that honor it and move with it; if we’re clever, we convert it into energy.

Then the problem becomes anything that prevents the movement from happening.

Constraints.

Constraints are a powerful way to engage in decision-making because it puts our focus on the conditions that support a desired outcome. Not on the outcome itself. It’s the internal game of tennis for complexity management.

It can feel counterintuitive, but only if we come from a slow-rate-of-change, stable-environment perspective.

Look again from an emergent strategy, fast-rate-of-change perspective. Focus on the flow of information; where’s that flow getting bound up?

It’s starting to feel more intuitive, isn’t it?