QUALITY vs. QUANTITY   

So many people want “it all.” I get it. Whether that means stuff or experiences, people want a full life – they don’t want to miss out. But, our time is limited, so we have to make choices, and that means not “having it all.”

So, being in control of your life is really about priorities. The problem with “having it all” is that it reduces priorities and turns everything into the same… just another piece of having it all – thus the “quality vs. quantity” battle.

More is usually not more… in terms of making things better. A big problem that I have working with events is that many of them think, “more is more.” I try to explain that “less is more,” the point being to focus on priorities. Too often they get focused on trivial things at the expense of what creates a good golf event. Ironically, they want a quality golf event, but don’t focus on quality – they focus on more.

I’m not trying to pick on people – I’m trying to make a point. A successful golf event is a pretty simple formula: uncomplicated format, fast round, good food, friendly atmosphere. You blow that with the opposite formula: complicated format, slow round, bad food, stressed atmosphere… and you have an unsuccessful golf event. All of the goofy add-ons to make it better only clutter it up and slow it down, and stress people out.

Many people resist my attempts to simplify their golf event. Lots of people resent priorities – they see that as “judging”… they believe that everything is equal and its value is relative. Wow. They may say that, but they sure don’t live that way. We are all constantly judging and choosing. How else can you do anything? You can never make a decision without choosing. Maybe every decision some people make is just random – a roll of the dice… sounds pretty reckless to me.

That attitude leads to being easily controlled by others. Rather than choosing quality – choosing quantity leads to pursuing more than is necessary, choosing short term, and choosing what marketers want you to buy. There’s an old saying, “Buy quality and cry once, buy cheap and cry forever.”

Buying quality is really investing. Investing should be about the long term. As Warren Buffett said, “No one buys a farm on whether it’s going to rain next year. They buy it because they think it’s a good investment over 10 or 20 years.”

Business in America has become too short term in its thinking. People invest too short term. None of it is about quality. It’s about quantity. Life is not about numbers. Numbers are a tool – and a valuable tool. A good businessman knows his numbers. But a good businessman also knows his numbers reflect how well he runs his business. If you want a good business – do things well. If you want a poor business – do things for the short term instead of doing things right… quantity instead of quality.

This makes some businessmen nervous. They don’t know quality. Quality is a judgment. Quantity is a number. So for some businesspeople: a shoe is a shoe… a sandwich is a sandwich… etc. These are the people who take over a business, cut corners and drive it into the ground. They hope to fool people on the former reputation before the customer realizes the lack of quality.

Everything is not quantifiable. Stats don’t always tell the story. Remember the movie “Billy Ball?” Where the stat guy knew more than the old-school scouts and coaches? Really? Do you buy it? I’ll tell you right now about some Minnesota Twins who don’t “have it” though their stats say they do. The stats don’t measure the intangibles that really matter.

Quality is a judgment. Quantity is a fact. But for those who get it… quality is a fact. And quality is what matters in terms of friends, employees, teammates, investments, possessions, and values. Quality is long term. If you really “want it all” – choose quality over quantity. Less really is more.