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Why does less freedom make you more creative? How can you use constraints effectively to help you get the most out of your creativity? Is AI helping you solve or avoid the real problem?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses the book Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better with NYT bestseller David Epstein.
Podcast Sponsor: Valant
Something I hear over and over again from practice owners in this community: “The one class I was never taught in graduate school was how to run my business.”
And honestly? That’s not a personal failing; that’s a gap in how we train clinicians. You built something real. But nobody handed you the playbook for intake, billing, team management, or what it actually takes to scale past a handful of clinicians.
That’s what Valant is built for.
Valant is the EHR designed exclusively for behavioral health group practices. With two decades of experience, 13 million patients engaging in their EMR and 28,000 providers using their platform, Valant offers the tools that close the gaps in your documentation, billing, and operations — including AI that handles the admin work so your team can stay focused on patients.
Valant created a free interactive resource specifically for group practice owners like you. It’s called the Breaking Through the Growth Ceiling and in literally five minutes, it pinpoints your biggest bottleneck right now, with a 90-day playbook to fix it.
Meet David Epstein
David Epstein is a bestselling author, investigative journalist, and science writer whose work explores how people develop skills, achieve excellence, and perform at their best. He is the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, the #1 New York Times bestseller that challenges the idea that early specialization is the key to success, as well as The Sports Gene, which examines the science behind extraordinary athletic performance. His latest book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, explores how limitations can actually fuel creativity, problem-solving, and innovation. Epstein has worked as an investigative reporter for ProPublica and a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, and holds master’s degrees in environmental science and journalism.
Visit David’s website and connect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
In This Podcast
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Total freedom doesn’t allow for real creativity
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How to use constraints effectively and successfully
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The relationship between AI and creative problem solving
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David’s advice to private practitioners
Total freedom doesn’t allow for real creativity
Too much freedom makes people really uncreative … In the introduction, I cite this international survey that was recently done by psychologists about creativity myths … and the most popular one was [that] people are most creative when they’re most free … That’s not the case at all, because … to be creative you need the convenient path blocked. (David Epstein)
David cites many other researchers, psychologists, and academics who study the human brain on creativity. Surprisingly, one of the most interesting pieces of research David came across – in favor of constraints – was that total freedom does not allow for creativity.
When the mind is allowed to think untethered, it often still seeks the path of least resistance because thinking still requires energy, and the human body is always trying to conserve it.
If you truly want to think creatively, you need to block convenience and set up some structure that keeps your brain on the track you need it to be on.
The quickest way to make people more creative is, whatever the status quo way is that they do something, or the convenient solution [they often choose], is to say, “That is blocked,” and instantly they start becoming more creative. (David Epstein)
Whatever blocks you from doing what you would usually do is what forces you to actually dip into your creative thinking.
How to use constraints effectively and successfully
Do regular subtraction audits with your time and schedule. Essentially, you:
1 – Make your current commitments visible.
2 – Then, take something away.
When you put everything out you are working on, you can easily see which small or medium-priority tasks are competing for your time and attention with the high-priority action items, which are more urgent to get done.
Make all your current [commitments] visible and then do a subtraction audit where you say, “If I had to take something away in the next 90 days, what would it be?” Because humans have what appears to be a hard-wired bias to … solve problems by adding, and to overlook solutions that involve taking things away. It’s called subtractive neglect bias. (David Epstein)
Another way you can use constraints effectively is to stop starting new things and start finishing what’s already started. This tends to reduce multitasking and allows people to get more done.
The relationship between AI and creative problem solving
Many companies, big and small, and everyday people are rushing to implement AI in their workflows because it is currently cutting edge, new, and alluring.
However, they miss the crucial point David is making: if you don’t curb the convenience, you will still miss out on the creative solution. If you are not careful, AI just becomes another misused tool that makes the outcome less effective and less creatively impactful.
The implementation [of AI] often sprawls because they haven’t stopped and identified, “What is the job to be done?”, or, “What is the problem to solve, and what tool fits the problem?” So they end up with this sprawling implementation, which leads to what researchers in this area are now calling “Work slop.” (David Epstein)
If you are not using the tool correctly to solve a problem you haven’t understood yet, you risk producing a massive amount of mediocre work and unhelpful solutions that aren’t aligned with the goal.
David’s advice to private practitioners
It has never been more difficult and still more important for people to have some regular human connection where they feel heard. The work that you are doing as a therapist is incredibly necessary and worth it!
Sponsors Mentioned in this Episode:
Valant created a free interactive resource specifically for group practice owners like you. It’s called Breaking Through the Growth Ceiling, and in literally five minutes, it pinpoints your biggest bottleneck right now, with a 90-day playbook to fix it. Download it for free.
Discover your best-fit membership group to join to help you reach your next level!
Books mentioned in this episode:
David Epstein – Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
David Epstein – The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
David Epstein – Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
Joe Sanok – Thursday is the New Friday: How to Work Fewer Hours, Make More Money, and Spend Time Doing What You Want
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Visit David’s website and connect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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Check out these additional resources:
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- Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women with Oona Metz | POP 1402
- Practice of the Practice Network
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- Group Practice Boss: www.practiceofthepractice.com/grouppracticeboss $149 a month
- PoP Group Practice Owners Facebook Group
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- Practice of the Practice Network
Meet Joe Sanok
Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners who are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.
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