Obstructions
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[edit] Problem
(In Mario's case, it's Bowser!)
- Loss of motivation or creativity
- Getting caught in a rut, recycling old ideas and approaches
- People not going through with plans
- Running out of money or not having any to begin with
- Getting sick
[edit] Context
Constraints from within or outside of your project can limit resources. Obstructions can be set by you, as a way to challenge yourself and your team members and ideally result in new creative ways of finishing a project. Obstructions can also be road blocks, unexpected problems that come up and slow the progress of your project. Again, with road-block obstructions, creative solutions can potentially result in an original and improved project. Or, obstructions just make things really difficult.
[edit] Discussion
There is an almost infinite amount of things that could obstruct the progress of a project, the key is to expect something of this nature to happen so you can be as prepared as possible for it.
Obstructions can sometimes be used to get somebody out of a rut, reinvigorate creativity, or find new solutions to problems. The main reference I can point to now is "The Five Obstructions," a movie by Lars von Trier, in which he develops "obstructions" that filmmaker Jurgen Leth must overcome in remakes of his 1967 art film, "The Perfect Human."
[edit] Solution
The broadest solution here is to plan for disaster. If you give yourself ample time to deal with any obstructions then if something were to happen you wouldn't be in as much trouble. To restore creativity or motivation sometimes a group or individual brainstorming session or journal is a good way to get any and all ideas onto paper and then work with them from there. Money can be taken care of by loans, grants, fellowships, fund-raising events, donations etc. As far as holding people to their commitments it's best to make plans far in advance and then when a the date is coming up, call them to confirm.
And if something happens that you weren't prepared for, don't freak out. There can often be surprisingly simple yet powerful ideas that fix a problem, it just requires reevaluating how your project functions.
