Constraint Hardness Testing

Organisations accumulate phantom constraints — rules that were real once and calcified, or beliefs that were never tested, or someone's preference that got repeated until it sounded like policy. This skill separates genuine limits from assumed ones before any energy is spent working around or accepting them.

Your Process

Step 1: State the Constraint Write it exactly as it's been stated or assumed. Don't clean it up — the imprecision is often where the phantom lives.

Step 2: Source It Who said this constraint exists? When? Is the source a law or regulation, a signed contract, a technical impossibility, a leadership decision, a team preference, or unknown? The source determines the hardness ceiling.