Him: “Oh wow George, you must be running out of ideas to choose to write such a clichéd statement.”
Me: “Nah fam! It’s just that no one has ever explained it.”
The “him” in question quits his job and leaves on a journey to find his soul.
Alright, the joke is over. Let’s dig in.

You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, they’ve heard it and he’s most certainly heard it too. Yet, it was never explained to you, me, them and most importantly to him (who is this guy, anyways?). As simple as you might think it is, most people still struggle to find the balance in that statement and subsequently, cannot apply it. Therefore, an intervention is being staged via this article.

Let’s go back to the roots: quantity is a product of a time lapse applied to a defined, systematic process. Meaning, you know how to do something, you do it over and over again to produce carbon copies, bi-products, or derivatives from the initial model. Be it art, a product, work, or whatever the case may be, you’re expected to attend to a list of quotas.

In its notion, quantity encapsulates stress. When you quantify whatever it is you’re trying to do, you lose the sense of pleasure of producing it, and all of your focus falls into that digit you are trying to entertain. Therefore, you would be stripping the
process of its essence by pushing yourself to optimize the process to solemnly be on time, or to meet a production deadline.

Now, looking at quality, the game changes: it is the product of a time lapse applied to an undefined, unsystematic skillset. To elaborate, you know how to do something, you are satisfied with it but you are also certain that it can be done with more soul, so you put all your own resources into it, such as time, effort, discipline etc. Because your aim is to push the experience, the pleasure zones in your brain are fired up. Even if the process is stressful, unknown and ends up in failure, you’re still excited to see where you will reach with it.

In doing so, you are retaining the truthfulness of your inner voice. You are not accepting that gleeful high accomplishment creates, you are rather challenging it with a self-inflicted downer to keep your ego in check.

Your creation, art, or whatever you want to call it, is a mirror of your soul being poured into the work to perfect its purpose. Yet the trap of time remains embedded in the qualitative process.

When do you stop? When is the quality good enough for the product to be rolled out? When it achieves a different purpose than it was originally intended for. That last statement especially rings true for art. When your painting surpasses in its beauty your initial intent for it, then it is a work of quality. It is undoubtedly a masterpiece that is worthy of its label. To broaden the view to the world, even in product design, it is proven that the biggest companies have made their success out of their products being used for something other than their intended designed purpose.

Then, the following question is posed: “Yes George, but these companies mass produce, isn’t that quantity?” This is true. But, those who care about growth, real growth, create an entire division for Research and Development and allocate a huge budget to it.

Because, great products or art, are not the result of a one-time hit. It is a product of the brain manipulating the heart and vice versa. Great things do happen when this infinite exchange is mastered. I also believe that, the more you gaze at a product that you’ve already rolled out, the more you become inspired. Therefore, the product feeds your imagination once more, after it was already finalized with the magic of time and perspective.

That is the type of quality that you can touch in space, in your brain and in time…and that, is just priceless.
Oh, and about that “him”? That’s was just my ego doubting this article.

George Tarabay is a marketing expert/comedian/ Podcaster. Follow him on Instagram @GeorgeTarabay, Facebook.com/Georgethecomic, and on Youtube/ GeorgeTarabayComedy. Listen to his latest podcast on soundcloud.com/George-tarabay.

Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash.