Quantity Beats Quality

This is the formula we've used to grow on Youtube (688k subs with over 1k new subscribers per day, and 240k followers on Instagram). Want to know how? Keep reading.

Before you roll your eyes, allow me to explain. This is not a click-bait article. I know this goes against every creative instinct you might have. We've been told, after all, quality over quantity. Do the best work that you can. The cream rises to the crop. You're only as good as the last thing you created. Still with me?

It's gotten to the point that the pursuit of perfection has creatives everywhere doubting themselves. It is debilitating. For some, it's become an excuse to not create. 'I can do better' becomes 'This is not ready'. We're paralyzed with fear, doubt and insecurity. What will others think of me? Am I good enough? So, we remain silent—comfortable in anonymity. At least, no one can judge us. This is true. No one can judge you because no one is aware of your existence. So while you are safe, you probably aren't getting any job leads or work opportunities.

But I'd like to offer an alternative. There is a point to this post. The secret that I've learned, is that the discipline of quantity is what will lead to quality. Focus on creating many iterations, and being prolific. Enjoy the process, concentrate on experimentation, and discover who you are and what you want to say through your art. Temporarily delay judgement.

If you stop being self-critical, and just create, without expectations, you will make more, and higher quality work than those waiting for "perfection" to happen. I've seen it happen time and time again with my former students, staff, people I mentor and in our own work. This is how we've been able to create huge growth spikes (40k+ subs per month on YouTube and 5k+ new follows on Instagram). By creating consistently, we learn, grow, earn more, and are generally happier as creatives.

Here's an interesting story from the book 'Art and Fear' - A ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. 

It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay. (As told by Bharat Sharma)

Here's my 10 step plan of action (TLDR) version:

1. Make a commitment to be consistent. Once a day is great but it doesn't need to be this frequent. Adjust the frequency based on your individual skill, time and needs. The important part is to have a regular deadline. Stick with it.
2. Create without expectations. Your intention should be to just try. Have fun. Experiment. Make mistakes. Some of what you create will be terrible. Embrace it.
3. Post. No matter what, you must post. Put your work out in the public. If you're worried about criticism, skip the analytics (for now).
4. Each time you create, ask yourself, what's one thing I can try next time? Then do it.
5. After you've created 12 pieces of content, take a break.
6. Look at the analytics. Study which pieces had the highest engagement. Find the metrics that matter to you. It could be views, likes, comments or follows.
7. Form a hypothesis for what you think works. Write down 3 things you learned and apply it for the next 12 pieces of content.
8. Don't let any one piece of content derail you even if you deem it as a total failure. Remember, in life, you either win or you learn. This is how you get better. You can always delete it later.
9. Learn to love the process of creating. Stay out of the results.
10. Repeat this formula over and over. One day, you will look in the mirror and be surprised by the person that looks back at you (having completely transformed).

Give it a try. Let me know how things are working for you. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment. Happy to hear your thoughts.

Additional resources:

• Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
• Perfectionism is a Trap video
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter: @TheChrisDo

www.thefutur.com