The Quantity-Quality Paradox
There’s a famous story from the University of Florida that challenges everything we think we know about quality. On the first day of class photography professor Jerry Uelsmann divided his “Beginning Photography” class into two groups. The “quantity” group would be graded solely on how many photos they submitted - 100 photos for an A, 90 for a B, and so on. The “quality” group only needed to submit one photo, but it had to be perfect.
Most people who hear this story intuitively thinks that the Quality group would win. Most people are wrong.
The best photos came from the quantity group. While the quality group sat theorizing about perfection, the quantity group was learning through trial and error, developing intuition through practice, and accidentally stumbling upon creative breakthroughs.
Quantity Creates Quality
This counterintuitive result reveals a powerful truth: Sometimes, the path to excellence isn’t through careful perfection - it’s through rapid iteration and deliberate imperfection.
This approach feels wrong at first. Shouldn’t we aim for perfection? Isn’t that what separates great work from mediocre work? But look at how excellence actually emerges in the real world:
Every Friday morning, I sit down with a blank page and a deadline: finish by noon. No exceptions. The time constraint forces me to press ‘publish’ even when I think it could be better. Every week I finish with a list of things that I know I could improve. But the goal isn’t to write one perfect newsletter - it’s to write 100 newsletters, each time getting a little bit better at writing them.
TikTok creators who dominate their niches rarely obsess over individual videos. Instead, they publish consistently, often multiple times per day. Their “quality” comes from volume, not polished perfection. A typo in one of 1,000 videos doesn’t matter. Not producing enough videos does.
This pattern can also be seen with top standup comedians. Jerry Seinfeld often talks about how he writes every day and test his material night after night in small clubs, refining through repetition and reaction.
But - and this is important - this principle doesn’t apply everywhere. Consider launching a new consumer product. When you’re ordering a million bottles of your energy drink, you better make sure the name is spelled correctly and the ingredient list meets FDA requirements.
A single mistake means scrapping the entire production run, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars. The same goes for legal contracts, medical labels, or safety instructions. When mistakes mean massive recalls, regulatory fines, or legal liability, taking time to get it perfect is the right approach.
So how do you know which approach to take? Ask yourself this simple question:
“What’s the cost of being wrong?”
High cost? Aim for getting things right. Low cost? Aim for volume.
This question reveals something surprising: What we often call “perfectionism” isn’t actually about quality at all. It’s about fear. When we obsess over making something perfect in a context where speed and iteration would serve better, we’re not pursuing excellence - we’re avoiding the vulnerability of shipping something imperfect.
Real perfectionism means applying the right standard of excellence to each context. Sometimes that means meticulous attention to detail. Sometimes it means embracing imperfection in service of a higher goal.
Consider this newsletter again. Could this edition be more polished? Absolutely. But that’s not the goal. The goal is to develop a writing practice, build a relationship with readers, and improve through iteration. In this context, consistency and volume create a higher quality outcome than occasional perfection.
Wrap up
The quantity group in Uelsmann’s class didn’t just make more photos - they produced better photos. They discovered what creators throughout history have learned: the quantity path often leads to higher quality than the pursuit of perfection.
The key is knowing when to apply this principle. In low-stakes situations where iteration is possible, embrace volume. Ship it, learn from it, improve it. Your hundredth attempt will be better than your perfect first draft.
Think of it this way: Perfection is a destination. Quality is a practice.
PS. If you want to explore how to turn quantity into quality in your organisation book a discovery session to dig deeper into with me using this link.
