Art and Fear

During a ceramic pottery class, the teacher divided the class in two groups. The two groups should produce clay pots, however, while the first group received the target to produce as many pots as possible, the second group was instructed to produce only one – perfect pot.

After completing the task, the teacher was surprised to find out that the best quality pots have all been produced by the group targeting to produce the highest quantity.

How is that possible?

While the “Quality” group spend time theorizing about how a perfect pot should look like, the “Quantity” team got busy producing pots, experimenting, failing, and learning. With each pot, the team improved their technique, perfecting and improving.

That precisely is the power of improving in small, incremental steps.

Reference: “Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking” by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

“Black Box Thinking” by Matthew Syed

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