Quantity → Quality
A teacher split a class of pottery students into two groups:
- Group A: the students would be evaluated by their one best pot (quality)
- Group B: the students would be evaluated by the weight of their total work (quantity)
At the end of the semester, their pots were evaluated.
The highest-quality pots, were produced by the students in the quantity group.
Crafting many pots and not worrying about quality, the students created better pots.
Quality is hard-wired
We appreciate quality stuff:
- Well-written books
- Well-composed songs
- Tasty meals
- Reliable tools
- Bug-free code
- Good service
Quality is the unit through which we evaluate if the creator has spent the time and poured their soul into “it”.
It’s an indicator that “it” will enrich us, and not harm us.
We want to experience quality in our lives.
How the experts do it
When Gordon Ramsey started cooking, was he awarded a Michelin star?
No, after many burnt steaks, he figured out how to cook better meals.
When Pablo Picasso started painting, did he knock out masterpieces?
No, after countless sketches and paintings—in total about 50,000—he found (and reinvented) his style.
When Billie Eilish records a song, does she nail it on the first try?
No, after many takes, she completes a song and releases it.
I once met a famous photographer and I asked if I could shadow him during his latest assignment.
He said no. I later found out his process:
- Take forty to fifty thousand photographs of a subject.
- Pick the best five photos. The 0.01%.
That’s how experts do it.
Problem: Quantity is invisible
What we often fail to see is the quantity behind the quality.
The hidden part of the iceberg.
The countless:
- bland or burnt meals,
- deleted sentences,
- recorded outtakes,
- trashed photos,
- wrong decisions,
- tries.
We forget this especially when we’re in the Creator’s seat.
We put absurd pressure on us to nail it on the first try.
To get it in one perfect take.
To finish quickly without too much effort.
To be the noun without doing the verb.
It’s impossible.
It’s like waiting for a tree to grow without planting it first.
Quantity is the seed which births quality.
How to create Quality:
- Do many versions.
- Start again.
- Don’t quit.
Write a lot. Sing a lot. Cook a lot. Edit a lot. Practice a lot.
Only after Quantity comes Quality.
Remember this the next time you start something new.
Craft many pots.