81. Quantity Creates Quality
We often hear the saying, “quality over quantity,” but have you ever considered how quantity could potentially create quality?
If you’re prone to overthinking, over-planning, over-perfecting, or over-tweaking aspects of your interior design business, this is a must-listen episode. You might be under the illusion that you’re ensuring the highest quality outcome by delaying taking action, but this is far from the truth. That’s why, this week, I’m flipping this common saying on its head and showing you how your business would benefit from putting in the reps, rather than waiting on perfection.
Join me on this episode to learn how quantity creates quality and examples of where the concept can be applied in your interior design business. I’m showing you why overthinking creates an illusion of productive action, how increasing the number of actions you take is what will increase your skill, and what to expect once you begin practicing the belief that quantity creates quality.
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What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
How quantity creates quality.
Why overthinking your ideas leads to avoidance and procrastination.
How taking delayed action is keeping you stuck.
Examples of where ‘quantity over quality’ can be applied in your interior design business.
Important caveats to keep in mind as you practice increased consistency and frequency of your actions.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you’re listening to episode 81. This is the one where we’re going to talk about flipping the common saying, quality over quantity, on its head and talk about how quantity is actually what can create quality. This is going to help you get out of perfectionism, overthinking and save you so much time while actually getting you better, higher quality results in your interior design business faster and with way less stress.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer, welcome back to the podcast. I am recording this after a nice little break. I outlined the episode and then I signed on – I don’t know, probably not many of you know this about me, but a few years ago I did inner voice facilitator training with Jess Lively. She goes by Bella Lively now, but she’s someone that I have followed and worked with for over a decade.
And this training is really all about tapping into your intuition and helping others do that. Separating out the mind chatter with that inner knowing. And she hosted a group call where we did a group inner voice session and it felt like such a lovely reset. So that’s what I have been up to today, and now I’m going to record this for you.
Today what we’re going to be talking about is how quantity creates quality. Usually you hear the saying quality over quantity, and I’ll address that for sure. But I want you to consider that quantity can be what creates quality. And if you notice resistance to this idea, that’s even more reason to take this in and consider what I’m about to share.
What prompted this episode in particular was I was coaching a private client this week on being consistent with her Instagram marketing. I seem to be coaching designers on this all the time lately. I’ve been joking that I need to start a social media support group. I don’t know, maybe I will. But regardless, it is coming up a lot, creating social media content to promote your interior design business.
And I was working with this private client, like I said, on being consistent. She had gone from not doing it at all to starting to do it. And we wanted to support her in increasing the frequency and the consistency of that particular marketing stream. As I talk about this idea of quantity creates quality today, I’m going to be sharing this example around social media, but I want you to know that this really applies to anything you’re doing in your interior design business.
What was going on for this client was that she was getting tripped up in writing the Instagram captions to promote her interior design projects that she was going to share images of. What to say, how to say it. She didn’t want to sound too boring or too salesy. And all of this overthinking and believing she wasn’t good enough yet, or that she should be better at writing these captions already was preventing her from posting as often as she wanted to.
What I said to her in the session was quantity creates quality. And then she paused and said, wait, can you say that again? It was one of those moments where I thought, oh yeah, this is a way that I think differently. And it’s been a really useful belief for me and my clients. And I thought I need to share this with you today.
What I want you to take in from this episode is that overthinking the quality or how to create the quality that you have set that expectation for in your mind, doesn’t increase your skill in something or create a higher likelihood of a successful outcome. Overthinking and over-perfecting and over-tweaking and all the overing has the illusion of action, but it’s an illusion. And this is really different from letting an idea marinate and knowing when something needs to sit for a little while, be revisited or considered.
What I’m talking about are those circular thought patterns or avoidant behavior patterns that lead to the avoidance and procrastination and delayed action. This is really important because the doing, evaluating, and tweaking is what creates the outcomes and skill levels that you desire. So the doing, evaluating, and tweaking is what creates the quality. And that’s where quantity comes into play.
When you do more and increase the quantity of the actions you’re taking, not in a scattered I’m going to try everything in every way, but taking whatever it is that you’re focused on and doing more of it and running it through an actual completion cycle, that doing creates results.
And then with the results and the doing, you can reflect upon those. You’re going to see what worked and what didn’t work and what you might try differently next time. And this is where you’re going to increase your skill and up the quality. This is inevitable.
I want you to think about your interior design career, for example, maybe even reflecting on designs from when you started, those very first things that you designed and compare that to what you create now. There is a good gap there. What you are capable of now has been elevated.
And if you were waiting to design something that was ready for the pages of Architectural Digest or House Beautiful before you actually started designing, you would never start. You’d never produce the quality of work that is required to be in those publications.
Or let me give you a non-business example. Let’s say you want to start to run or maybe get faster at running if you already are a runner. The more you run, the better your performance will be. You don’t get better at running just by reading blogs on running technique or researching the best shoes and shorts to wear. That can be helpful. And getting out and running and seeing how your body feels, how fast you go, if there’s certain things that you need to fuel your body or equipment changes you need to make, that creation of quantity and the miles and the routine is what’s going to help you become a better runner.
I was sharing the example of my client and Instagram, but what I want you to know is that this idea of quantity creates quality is applicable in so many areas of your interior design business. I’m going to give you some examples so you can really start to think about how this applies to you.
First, consider systems and processes. A system needs to be used to see what works and what’s still broken or inefficient. The using of the system is going to be what allows you to see what can be improved and then take action to improve it.
Or think about time management and planning. The more you plan your days, the more you understand what works for you, when you’re most efficient, when you like to be out of the office or move around a little bit and how long things actually take. No amount of rearranging squares on the Google calendar or using your paper planner is going to give you that data. And so the quantity there creates a better outcome and a more useful set of data for you to evaluate.
You could also think about networking in your interior design business. The more times you meet people and tell them what you do and talk about how you help your clients, actually speaking the words out loud, the more natural and refined it becomes.
Or you could think about marketing and PR. The more ways you proactively practice storytelling and communicating your own story, the more you see what lands for people. And it’ll increase the likelihood of crafting your message in a way that resonates with others.
Or even hiring and managing a team, it applies there as well. You can do all the things to try and create yourself as the perfect manager or employer, and at the same time, until you’re out managing and having interactions with employees and holding them accountable and giving reviews and doing all the things that is really required of somebody leading a team, you’re not giving yourself the opportunity to create the actual leadership skills and confidence.
Now, I just gave you a lot of examples, and I’m hoping that that has shifted the way that you’re thinking about this. And I also know that you’re probably thinking, this sounds good, but... To be honest, I like to think about you all listening and saying the yes, but so I can make sure we talk about it. So let’s address the but here.
I am not telling you to throw things out into the world, not care if something’s good or put something together half you know what. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is, yes, there are times to pause, times to learn something or get input and advice and practice.
And at the same time, I want you to notice when you’re expecting the preparation and thinking about eventually being good at something or getting some result in your business is getting in the way of actually doing what will create the excellence that will only continue to exist in a perfectionistic fantasy if you don’t create some level of quantity.
My challenge for you this week is to begin to notice when the overthinking, over-planning, over-tweaking is in the way of creating the quantity that will create the quality you’re after. One of the ways you can do this is kind of just start to notice what your tells are, maybe certain thought or behavior patterns that you notice in yourself. And decide then what your protocol is for relaxing out of this quality obsession so that you can get into quantity creation.
I really encourage you to decide what in your business could benefit from putting in the reps, creating that quantity and getting going with it. And then notice your improvement and your ability to create shifts and results in your business because it will speed up.
You’re also going to feel a lot more relaxed and can release that pressure valve inside your brain around getting it perfectly right the first time or maybe even after the 10th time. It might take a lot of reps and that is okay. The reps are going to be what creates the ultimate level of skill and excellence and quality that you want.
And if this feels like a, whoa, Desi, this is really new, I’m not sure about it. Even give it a try with something that feels low stakes in your business or even in your personal life and just give it a try.
That is what I have for you today. Before you go, I have a favor to ask of you. I would so, so appreciate it if you would take a minute and go wherever you’re listening to this podcast right now, whether that’s in Spotify or Apple podcasts and leave the show a review. Tell me what you love about it, why you keep tuning in, maybe why another designer might want to check this out.
Those ratings and reviews are so valuable to me and it’s so valuable to the design community in helping me get the word out in the design community about this podcast. Speaking of Instagram, speaking of all the things that require the algorithm to work in your favor, this is one of the ways that you can support me and support the podcast going forward, is by leaving a rating and review.
And I still have the giveaway going on where you can leave that rating and review and be entered to win a one-on-one coaching session with me. So I’ll leave the link in the show notes for where you can submit that quick form after you’ve left your rating and review, and then you’ll be entered to win. If you have already left me a review, I thank you, thank you, thank you. I really, really do appreciate it. And if not, I would love for you to take a moment to do that today.
I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. And until then I’m wishing you a beautiful week.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you'll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I'll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer, welcome back to the podcast. I am recording this after a nice little break. I outlined the episode and then I signed on – I don’t know, probably not many of you know this about me, but a few years ago I did inner voice facilitator training with Jess Lively. She goes by Bella Lively now, but she’s someone that I have followed and worked with for over a decade.
And this training is really all about tapping into your intuition and helping others do that. Separating out the mind chatter with that inner knowing. And she hosted a group call where we did a group inner voice session and it felt like such a lovely reset. So that’s what I have been up to today, and now I’m going to record this for you.
Today what we’re going to be talking about is how quantity creates quality. Usually you hear the saying quality over quantity, and I’ll address that for sure. But I want you to consider that quantity can be what creates quality. And if you notice resistance to this idea, that’s even more reason to take this in and consider what I’m about to share.
What prompted this episode in particular was I was coaching a private client this week on being consistent with her Instagram marketing. I seem to be coaching designers on this all the time lately. I’ve been joking that I need to start a social media support group. I don’t know, maybe I will. But regardless, it is coming up a lot, creating social media content to promote your interior design business.
And I was working with this private client, like I said, on being consistent. She had gone from not doing it at all to starting to do it. And we wanted to support her in increasing the frequency and the consistency of that particular marketing stream. As I talk about this idea of quantity creates quality today, I’m going to be sharing this example around social media, but I want you to know that this really applies to anything you’re doing in your interior design business.
What was going on for this client was that she was getting tripped up in writing the Instagram captions to promote her interior design projects that she was going to share images of. What to say, how to say it. She didn’t want to sound too boring or too salesy. And all of this overthinking and believing she wasn’t good enough yet, or that she should be better at writing these captions already was preventing her from posting as often as she wanted to.
What I said to her in the session was quantity creates quality. And then she paused and said, wait, can you say that again? It was one of those moments where I thought, oh yeah, this is a way that I think differently. And it’s been a really useful belief for me and my clients. And I thought I need to share this with you today.
What I want you to take in from this episode is that overthinking the quality or how to create the quality that you have set that expectation for in your mind, doesn’t increase your skill in something or create a higher likelihood of a successful outcome. Overthinking and over-perfecting and over-tweaking and all the overing has the illusion of action, but it’s an illusion. And this is really different from letting an idea marinate and knowing when something needs to sit for a little while, be revisited or considered.
What I’m talking about are those circular thought patterns or avoidant behavior patterns that lead to the avoidance and procrastination and delayed action. This is really important because the doing, evaluating, and tweaking is what creates the outcomes and skill levels that you desire. So the doing, evaluating, and tweaking is what creates the quality. And that’s where quantity comes into play.
When you do more and increase the quantity of the actions you’re taking, not in a scattered I’m going to try everything in every way, but taking whatever it is that you’re focused on and doing more of it and running it through an actual completion cycle, that doing creates results.
And then with the results and the doing, you can reflect upon those. You’re going to see what worked and what didn’t work and what you might try differently next time. And this is where you’re going to increase your skill and up the quality. This is inevitable.
I want you to think about your interior design career, for example, maybe even reflecting on designs from when you started, those very first things that you designed and compare that to what you create now. There is a good gap there. What you are capable of now has been elevated.
And if you were waiting to design something that was ready for the pages of Architectural Digest or House Beautiful before you actually started designing, you would never start. You’d never produce the quality of work that is required to be in those publications.
Or let me give you a non-business example. Let’s say you want to start to run or maybe get faster at running if you already are a runner. The more you run, the better your performance will be. You don’t get better at running just by reading blogs on running technique or researching the best shoes and shorts to wear. That can be helpful. And getting out and running and seeing how your body feels, how fast you go, if there’s certain things that you need to fuel your body or equipment changes you need to make, that creation of quantity and the miles and the routine is what’s going to help you become a better runner.
I was sharing the example of my client and Instagram, but what I want you to know is that this idea of quantity creates quality is applicable in so many areas of your interior design business. I’m going to give you some examples so you can really start to think about how this applies to you.
First, consider systems and processes. A system needs to be used to see what works and what’s still broken or inefficient. The using of the system is going to be what allows you to see what can be improved and then take action to improve it.
Or think about time management and planning. The more you plan your days, the more you understand what works for you, when you’re most efficient, when you like to be out of the office or move around a little bit and how long things actually take. No amount of rearranging squares on the Google calendar or using your paper planner is going to give you that data. And so the quantity there creates a better outcome and a more useful set of data for you to evaluate.
You could also think about networking in your interior design business. The more times you meet people and tell them what you do and talk about how you help your clients, actually speaking the words out loud, the more natural and refined it becomes.
Or you could think about marketing and PR. The more ways you proactively practice storytelling and communicating your own story, the more you see what lands for people. And it’ll increase the likelihood of crafting your message in a way that resonates with others.
Or even hiring and managing a team, it applies there as well. You can do all the things to try and create yourself as the perfect manager or employer, and at the same time, until you’re out managing and having interactions with employees and holding them accountable and giving reviews and doing all the things that is really required of somebody leading a team, you’re not giving yourself the opportunity to create the actual leadership skills and confidence.
Now, I just gave you a lot of examples, and I’m hoping that that has shifted the way that you’re thinking about this. And I also know that you’re probably thinking, this sounds good, but... To be honest, I like to think about you all listening and saying the yes, but so I can make sure we talk about it. So let’s address the but here.
I am not telling you to throw things out into the world, not care if something’s good or put something together half you know what. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is, yes, there are times to pause, times to learn something or get input and advice and practice.
And at the same time, I want you to notice when you’re expecting the preparation and thinking about eventually being good at something or getting some result in your business is getting in the way of actually doing what will create the excellence that will only continue to exist in a perfectionistic fantasy if you don’t create some level of quantity.
My challenge for you this week is to begin to notice when the overthinking, over-planning, over-tweaking is in the way of creating the quantity that will create the quality you’re after. One of the ways you can do this is kind of just start to notice what your tells are, maybe certain thought or behavior patterns that you notice in yourself. And decide then what your protocol is for relaxing out of this quality obsession so that you can get into quantity creation.
I really encourage you to decide what in your business could benefit from putting in the reps, creating that quantity and getting going with it. And then notice your improvement and your ability to create shifts and results in your business because it will speed up.
You’re also going to feel a lot more relaxed and can release that pressure valve inside your brain around getting it perfectly right the first time or maybe even after the 10th time. It might take a lot of reps and that is okay. The reps are going to be what creates the ultimate level of skill and excellence and quality that you want.
And if this feels like a, whoa, Desi, this is really new, I’m not sure about it. Even give it a try with something that feels low stakes in your business or even in your personal life and just give it a try.
That is what I have for you today. Before you go, I have a favor to ask of you. I would so, so appreciate it if you would take a minute and go wherever you’re listening to this podcast right now, whether that’s in Spotify or Apple podcasts and leave the show a review. Tell me what you love about it, why you keep tuning in, maybe why another designer might want to check this out.
Those ratings and reviews are so valuable to me and it’s so valuable to the design community in helping me get the word out in the design community about this podcast. Speaking of Instagram, speaking of all the things that require the algorithm to work in your favor, this is one of the ways that you can support me and support the podcast going forward, is by leaving a rating and review.
And I still have the giveaway going on where you can leave that rating and review and be entered to win a one-on-one coaching session with me. So I’ll leave the link in the show notes for where you can submit that quick form after you’ve left your rating and review, and then you’ll be entered to win. If you have already left me a review, I thank you, thank you, thank you. I really, really do appreciate it. And if not, I would love for you to take a moment to do that today.
I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. And until then I’m wishing you a beautiful week.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you'll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I'll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
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