We live in a world obsessed with the analytic construct of volume. We continually crave more, more, more. We’re in a constant cycle of more.
We are told this cycle is good. More productivity, more efficiency, and more predictability are what we crave so that we can get even more.
But more of what exactly?
When looked at analytically, volume becomes a mindset that champions more but has little regard to what that more might be. It may be that, yes, you are getting more—but it may be more waves that are battering your boat. Or more wind taking you off course. Or more issues thrown in your way.
More isn’t always necessarily better.
But when looked at creatively, volume becomes an antiquated relic that champions only what is quantifiable, missing out on a whole host of other things that creativity sees as more important—like the quality of more, which is really the founding cornerstone of the new 21st-century economy.
But time and time again, we are instead drawn to quantification that we can touch and feel. And volume being the pursuit of more is something we constantly seek and desire, because we feel it is tangible. We feel it is real. We crave its multitude.
However, the endless worship of the analytical and quantifiable takes us away from creativity in any real sense. While we are on an endless search for more and more, the casualty is any meaningful development of a Creator Mindset.
This quest for volume and quantity clouds our vision when we try to think creatively. So instead, to become more creative in all that we do, we need to shift our focus away from quantity and onto quality. The quality of what we are doing is far more important than the quantity of what we are doing. Quality is the only scalable product which will ensure a Creator Mindset, no matter what you do. If you scale quantity, you end up making a lot of nothing. But scaling quality is a sure way to embrace creativity in your career or business.
With the quest for more, more, more so ingrained in us, how can you recognize when your hunt for quantity and volume overshadows your drive for quality and creativity? Taking a quick gut check can help. No matter what your career or what type of business you are running, here are a couple of questions to ask yourself to ensure a Creator Mindset blooms:
1. Why am I doing this?
So much of our time and energy is spent producing volume that the reason we produce it in the first place is outside the realm of our understanding. We are just ‘doing’. The ‘why’ is essential because without the why, we are just doing for doing sake. There has got to be some reason in the first place we are doing what we are doing. And that reason will unlock the creativity we have traded for blind repetition.
