No safety net, fewer options, and the value of constraints

Only one shot

The magazine National Geographic was a pioneer in the use of photographs as a way of capturing and presenting the essence of a subject to new audiences. Its contributors would spread out to obscure locations equipped with an array of cameras and related equipment, carrying hundreds of rolls of film.1 When shooting was done the exposed film would be carefully transported home, developed, and reviewed in detail at editorial meetings at headquarters. Only a select few photos would make it into an article, and every month just one would merit the cover, framed by the iconic yellow border. A photographer could literally take thousands of frames to produce the dozen or two that would ultimately make it into print.

But for a 1997 cover article on Minnesota’s northern wilderness, veteran photographer Jim Brandenburg upended this entire paradigm. His concept was typical save for one critical, self-imposed constraint: he could only take one picture per day, for 90 days straight. All of them were to be printed in a complete series. This raised the stakes considerably, given the vagaries of an outdoor environment where little was controllable. There would be no do-overs, no opportunity to retake a poorly-lit or out-of-focus shot, no chance to switch lenses or fix an equipment failure, no backup if wildlife behaved unpredictably. This being the pre-digital era, there wasn’t even a way to check the outcome of a shutter press until the film was processed back in the darkroom. 

If a few days into it he found the process tougher than expected he couldn’t just drop the one-picture limit; the premise of the article would collapse if he didn’t stick with it.

The result was one of the more remarkable pieces in the history of the magazine. The finished product was an immersive, impressionistic exploration of a wild and unfamiliar place. It simultaneously set the record for most photographs printed in a single article and the least amount of film used to produce one. Brandenburg later expanded the narrative into a bestselling book based on the experience.

Supermarket overload

As with the magazine editor sorting through hundreds of photos in search of the right one, the average consumer can discover that having more options isn’t necessarily better. Having a greater variety of choices or paths to pursue may just lead to stress and indecision. This “paradox of choice” was first brought to the public imagination in the canonical study of grocery shoppers, who were offered an assortment of gourmet jams to sample.2 Some were presented with a display table featuring 6 varieties while others encountered 24. The researchers found that those who were shown fewer were more likely to make a purchase. Those choosing among more had too many options to process comfortably, or perhaps were afraid of making a suboptimal choice and so didn’t choose at all.

Analysis paralysis is a conveniently-rhyming way of describing this. It has been observed and described in numerous circumstances. Although most in the West currently enjoy an array of options—for food, travel, media, information, and so on—that would be unimaginable just a few decades prior, this has led to a proliferation of ways to meet needs that may not increase long-term satisfaction.3 Social media presents multiplying, idealized visions of others’ lives that may appear better than one’s own, or at least are different in some intriguing way.

The related “fear of missing out” and the desire to partake in every variety of the human experience leads to a frantic flitting from one thing to another, hindering the ability to deeply enjoy one thing.4 In such cases, judicious restriction could actually be more effective.

Constraints that enable growth

Most of us don’t work like photographers, taking hundreds of tries to yield the desired outcome. In general we have also settled on a preferred jam (or jelly, or marmalade) and hardly give it a second thought. However there are parallels in the way we use backups and options that may keep us from maximal engagement and growth.

This is not to suggest that a novice can just wing it without the benefit of learning through repeated attempts. The National Geographic piece worked because Brandenburg was a very experienced photographer, with a command of his craft honed over many years of practice, plus deep familiarity with his subject matter. But to achieve a different level of performance, Brandenburg abandoned the “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality of many of his peers. By dispensing with the usual practice in his field, he could focus more intensely on making every single shot count and achieved a singular result.

You can pilot this concept in small ways in your own life. It can be as simple as committing travel directions to memory and then leaving your phone with GPS behind, trusting that you can get to your destination and knowing that you must figure it out if you get lost.5 The next time you have an important meeting to lead or speech to deliver, consider what it would take to do so without any notes to rely on. You might experience a level of preparation and focus far deeper than your previous efforts. Knowing that you have no safety net raises the incentive for complete mastery.

If you haven’t ventured beyond grape jam by all means try a few others, but recognize the world of options is so large that you can’t taste them all. What might result if you made one commitment to the exclusion of others, and then kept that inviolable?

Too many options will not always make things better. Beyond a certain point more iterations distract rather than illuminate. Surrounding yourself with structures that support your work can be constraining growth in ways you have not fully realized. Try leaving them behind, committing fully to a narrow focus, and find out what happens when you do.

And if such steps are too extreme to contemplate, ask yourself just exactly what you are worried will happen, and what does that say about where you are?

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References

National Geographic’s contributor page on Jim Brandenburg has background, and the September 1997 print issue has the resulting article, “North Woods Journal”.

Details on the jam study from Harvard Business Review.

Deeper review of validity of the paradox of choice by NPR.