Reading time: 4 mins
Summary
Mental Ability = Quantity * Quality.
Quality = Lagging outcome of Quantity.
Or… Quantity = Leading indicator for Quality.
Or… Quantity leads to Quality.
As such, the most important thing you can do to improve quality over the long run is to increase quantity!?!
This idea in its simplest form: ‘Quantity > Quality’.
This study was eye opening… The Power of Quantity :)
https://austinkleon.com/2020/12/10/quantity-leads-to-quality-the-origin-of-a-parable/
From the article:
“Quantity leads to quality (the origin of a parable)
[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 pounds 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.”
Put another way:
Break work into the smallest unit sizes possible and then crank out units of work as fast as you can.
Those judged on output (50 lb of pots for an A) vastly outperformed the perfectionists. Why? They iterated fast, learned on the go and improved with each pot.
Don’t fixate on perfection, fixate in improving quality through quantity!
Levels of learning:
Level 0: You believe people are just naturally good (smart) or bad (dumb) at things.
Level 1: Doing work in large unit sizes.
Level 2: You break work down into the smallest unit size needed to get a unit of learning.
Level 3: Level 2 + qualitative feedback—thoughtful, detailed input on how you did.
Level 4: Level 3 + quantitative feedback—clear data or metrics about your performance.
Real world example:
For my ne startup Edsemble, we’ve started creating our own in-house books for children aged 0–5. Our goal is to produce at least one new book each week and get it straight into the hands of our customers.
What’s been surprising (and exciting) is how much better our 6th book is than our first would have been - even if we’d spent six weeks perfecting that first one.
Since our books go directly into our subscription, we’re able to measure quality quickly and clearly, which is pretty awesome.
We’re not aiming for every book to be a bestseller. What matters to us is the fastest path to creating hits. And the best way I’ve found to do that is: Quantity + Feedback = Quality.
Strategies for making hits:
Strategy A: We aim for 10 hits by making 1 book a month for 10 months, hoping each one is a success.
Strategy B: We create 1 book a week for 40 weeks, use feedback to improve along the way, and only need 25% of them to be hits.
Based on both my experience and research, Strategy B is the better path. It gives you more chances to learn, improve, and create winners.
But this also applies to your mind.
Your mind is your ultimate possession, your mind is your ultimate creation.
I focus on building mine step by step. One key approach? Lots of upgrades. Some don’t change much, but others make a big difference. I care more about how many upgrades I make than how perfect each one is.
Also… done well, quantity is both fun and rewarding :).
Typically I find the more one knows about something the more interesting (fun) it is.
And the better one is at something, the more rewarding it is.
Or… Working hard can make it feel like you are hardly working :)
Jingles
The best strategy I have for quality is quantity.
Doing more is the shortcut to excellence.
To boost quality, crank up quantity.
Work Ethic & Mindset - If you don't work nothing will.
Hungry = Good work ethic / high work ethic
Entitled = Poor work ethic.
“Smart” = Hard worker = Cumulative outcome of lots of work to upgrade
“Not yet smart” = Not harder worker = Low cumulative number of upgrades done
Comment
IMO one of the best gifts you can give your children is a strong work ethic—and the best way to teach that is by showing it yourself.
Just get started and keep showing up. Research in education shows that a sense of achievement is a big motivator. We tend to enjoy things we’re good at - and avoid things we struggle with.
So:
Working hard → You improve a lot → You get better at something → You’re more likely to enjoy it
Over time, hard work doesn’t feel quite so hard—because you're good at it, and you enjoy it.
On the other hand:
Poor work ethic → You don’t improve → You stay bad at it → You don’t enjoy it → You avoid it
The trick is to start early and work hard.
Quotes
“Quantity has a quality all its own.” Stalin.
“Quantity leads to quality.” — Austin Kleon
“To have a good idea you must have many ideas.” — Linus Pauling
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” — Thomas Edison
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King
“Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.” — Vince Lombardi
“The more I practice, the luckier I get.” — Gary Player
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” — Pablo Picasso
“It is only by practice that anything very excellent is performed.” — Samuel Johnson
If you only take away one thing
Working hard is the best way to work smart? Yeah, I think so on a 20 year timeline.
But also, try to work smart.
Related blogs I’ve written in the past
Optimal unit of work size = Smallest unit of work needed to get a unit of learning. - Apr 2023
Mind ability = Improvable = 1. Knowledge level * 2. Thinking speed * 3. Synthesis ability - Mar 2023
Mental Ability = Number of ideas * Interconnectedness of ideas - Aug 2022
1. Problem solving ability = 2. Generic problem solving ability * 3. Problem space knowledge - Sep 2020
Brain upgrading: there is no such thing as intelligence - June 2020
Geniuses: built not born - Feb 2020
This is one of the best posts I've ever read. Simple yet profound.