Can constraints lead to creativity?

After discussing in class the 140 characters on Twitter and if it can promote creativity, I started debating in my head whether it could or not... It is a struggle trying to figure out if character count constraints or rhyme scheme constraints can actually lead to conveying a message in a more creative way. 

Because we have 140 characters on twitter, are we really thinking of a more creative way to tweet something, or are we just figuring out what spelling errors or grammatical errors are "okay" to publish. Instead of creating a more clever way of saying something, we could easily be just shrinking our original thought. Then I started thinking about examples in my life; I have wanted to tweet something long once and then thought about how to say the same thing but less characters and it worked. Was I being creative by just shortening my thought? By definition, yes I was being more creative. I created a whole knew way of conveying my thought BUT, did the constraint lead to a MORE creative tweet?... I believe so. 

Because I built on one tweet and the new one was shorter and more concise, I believe it was more creative. I ended up using more effective words and that is most likely the case for others that have been in the same situation. 

Also in class I brought up the idea of hip hop and the constraints they face. A typical verse is 16 "bars" and normally have a specific rhyme scheme. Now, in some cases songs are not very creative and rhyme schemes are fairly easy. But sometimes, a rapper will put a constraint on his or herself and I believe that can make for a more creative song. For example, there is a rapper from Maine named Spose. In one of his songs he gave himself a constraint; the constraint was rapping using only the letter "r" for every word and the song is called "All R's." With this constraint he gave himself, he was able to formulate a story with just words that started with r. If he had not given himself this constraint, I don't think he would have just written a verse in the same manner. 

This poses the question: can constraints lead to creativity?

I believe they can and they do.