Welcome to the fifth issue of In Pursuit of Quality. This one's all about quality itself.
Numbers are awesome. We love them. Businesses love them. Our reliance on data to drive decisions runs so deep that asking for metrics and ROI on, well… everything … has become a knee-jerk reaction.
The other day I was talking to a wise friend who holds a big marketing position for a sports organization. He asked what I was up to. I told him about focusing on better outcomes in my life (quality) instead of the accumulation of more stuff (quantity). He loved the idea but then asked something like:
"Have you come up with a way to quantify quality?"
We both paused. And then he laughed. "I guess that was kind of a dumb question, wasn't it?"
Not dumb! I told him it was a perfectly reasonable question given that marketers are asked about metrics every time they take a breath. So, not dumb. But definitely misguided.
It’s Subjective.
The thing about being in pursuit of quality is that it's entirely subjective. This makes people uncomfortable because we crave certainty! There are even theories built around how to reduce uncertainty across social interaction.
In business we mitigate uncertainty through data and metrics. Numbers make us feel safe. They justify decisions through the abstraction away from mere opinion — even if the metrics are complete garbage. Opinions make us skeptical; data makes us feel secure.
But that's not how life works. We don't put a number on how much we love our kids (at least I hope not). We don't ascribe a KPI — that's a Key Performance Indicator — to the quality of our romantic lives (at least I hope we don't). Embracing a quality life is about leaning into what quality means to you, which is likely not what someone else would call quality. Quality is murky and, yes, subjective.
We’re Sense-makers.
But I have good news! We are experts at navigating subjectivity. This is what we do as inherent sense-makers — we make chaos feel coherent. For most of us, there is no set path in life. We create that path, carving out stories that fill our universal buckets of time and energy.
That's what the pursuit of quality is about. Each of us has a container of time to fill during our waking hours. Lots of that time is gobbled up with obligations: family, work, commuting, whatever else rests on your non-negotiable plate. And within that container time, we have pellets of energy to give. Energy is consumed by life's obligations – but never all of it!
Maybe that bothers you. Every day can feel like a race against the clock, ending with a forced collapse on the bed. But, really, it doesn't have to be that way. Take a look at the things eating away at your time and energy. Outside of things you can't control — and there are always those things — are you focused on the stuff that matters to you? Do you know what those things are?
It's understandable if the answer is no. But that may be because the lure of quantity is so omnipresent. Numbers — quantity — are easy to measure; we don't have to think about them much. Subjective quality is impossible to measure because better outcomes for me are not the same as better outcomes for you.
Better Outcomes.
The ROI on quality cannot be overstated. For me, better outcomes means spending time on building meaningful connections and fostering thriving communities. There are obligations that make this pursuit of quality really hard. But many of the deepest connections I've made have been in the midst of working on things I didn't really like and that I was doing mostly for the paycheck.
The key has been to be intentional about it. One thing that helps is identifying what some of your quality outcomes could look like. Prioritizing those outcomes goes a long way in transforming tedious energy-drains into more joyful and fulfilling experiences. We can all squeeze a little more quality into every aspect of our lives. If we want to.
Finally, there is nothing to measure here — no hard numbers or metrics. That should feel liberating, not scary. This is your pursuit of quality, not anyone else’s. The beauty is that it's your time and energy to own, even if you don't think you have enough of either.
And, no, you don't need to find a way to quantify your quality. It's up to you to tell that story. There are no right answers. No silver bullet.
But you'll never regret adding more quality to your life. And you’ll know it when you see it.
With warmth, gratitude, and respect.
“We are experts at navigating subjectivity.” I’m certainly not an expert and maybe that’s why it’s so scary. Great piece. Will be mulling on this one for awhile.