accepting the premise
Most projects come with constraints. It's just a fact of doing business. Usually you'll be asked to hurry up, spend less, or sacrifice quality. (a.k.a. Fast, cheap, or good; per the standard project management triangle)
Working within the guidelines requires creativity, intelligence, and perseverance. It also requires confidence. For people who approach projects with a first thought of 'I can do this', these constraints often melt away. Those people familiarize themselves with the challenge, work within the defined area of success, and demonstrate their extraordinary value.
Others attack the constraints. They question the boundaries and try to push out the defined area of success to increase the possibilities. In my experience, this is usually an attempt to make their job easier or more fun. (or to keep the people around them busy so they can have time to come up with the 'right' idea, thereby avoiding some personal pressure.)
Questioning the assignment can also be a trap of ego: a person who doesn't trust their teammates will dismiss any setup work, assuming that whatever thinking led to limitations must be by definition wrong. Some even take it as a point of pride that they never accept the facts of an assignment - they think it demonstrates their toughness to whomever crafted the assignment.
There's also a trap of comparitive greatness: The most amazing and revolutionary thinkers really do redefine the parameters and create whole new paths to success. But those people are few and far between - not everybody is in that special elite group, and mid-level talent can do some serious damage to their cause by emulating hall-of-fame players. Just ask Clint Eastwood.
The fact of the matter is that the best work is always done in the face of challenges. Sometimes, it's only by embracing the limitations of an assignment, believing in our fellows and charging forward that we can even hope to complete an assignment. Sure, it's good to think critically, ask questions, and familiarize oneself with the realities of challenging situations. But truly talented people can learn and work at the same time, and great teammates know that every game has rules and victory comes as a result operating to the best of your collective ability within those rules.
